Big 12 Basketball: 2018-19 key storylines for Kansas State at Oklahoma

The Oklahoma Sooners will host the Kansas State Wildcats in a key early-season Big 12 basketball matchup on Jan. 16.

The Kansas State Wildcats will make the 300-mile trek south to take on the No.20/No.19 Oklahoma Sooners in an early conference matchup that could have major ramifications down the road. Both the Sooners (13-3) and Wildcats currently look to be firmly in the field of 68, but with several teams at 2-2 in the Big 12, this game could provide some insight into possible seeding scenarios for both the conference and NCAA Tournament.

With Texas Tech (15-1, 4-0 Big 12) and Kansas ( 14-2, 3-1 Big 12) looking like the clear favorites to win the conference, the six teams that are directly behind them look to be in a season-long tussle for positioning. With this congestion in the standings, it is even more imperative that teams take care of homecourt advantage.

This is the fourth straight week that the Sooners are ranked in the AP top-25. OU moved up three spots this week after Kristian Doolittle hit a runner with less than three seconds left to lift the Sooners over No. 25 TCU 76-74 on Sunday. Doolittle scored a season-high 24 points on 9-for-12 shooting and grabbed 10 rebounds for his first double-double of the campaign. The 6-foot-7 junior forward was one of four Sooners to reach double figures. Oklahoma shot 49.1 percent from the field while holding TCU to just 34.7 percent shooting.

With the win, Oklahoma improved to 7-0 at home and 1-3 against ranked teams. The Sooners are a team that relies heavily on their defense and rebounding. The Sooners are averaging 74.4 points a game (169th in the nation), although that has dropped to 68 points a contest during conference play. On a positive note, they are averaging over 10 offensive rebounds (third) and 22 free throw attempts (third) during conference play.

Defensively, OU ranks 66th in the nation in scoring defense as the Sooners are allowing 66.7 points a game with that number jumping slightly to 68.5 in Big 12 play. The Sooners have limited opponents to 37.7 percent shooting from the field (10th) and 31.4 percent from the three-point line. They are an excellent rebounding team collecting 53.2 percent (56th) of all available rebounds and 76.1 percent (76th) of defensive rebounds. More importantly, they don’t foul an awful lot.

Kansas State enters the contest on a two-game winning streak as senior guard Barry Brown Jr.’s layup with four seconds remaining to give the Wildcats a 58-57 upset victory over No. 20 Iowa State on Saturday. Brown had 23 points and four assists while senior guard Kamau Stokes added 12 points. The game marked the first game for senior guard Dean Wade in almost a month as he missed six games with a foot injury.

The win was K-State’s second straight narrow victory as they outscored WVU 50-33 in the second half to grab a 71-69 win. The Wildcats are 1-1 against ranked teams, but only 1-3 in true road games.

Kansas State is a deliberate team on the offensive end and one of the best squads in the nation on the defensive end. KSU ranks 329th in the nation in scoring at 65.1 points a contest and 10th in the conference at 58. At least the Wildcats don’t turn the ball over a lot (12.3 per game).

K-State has been a little more generous on the defensive end in Big 12 play than during the non-conference, but the Wildcats are still ranked fifth in the country in scoring defense (59.5). The Wildcats are holding their opponents to 40.2 percent from the field (46th) and 31.1 percent from beyond the arc (62nd). Kansas State ranks 69th in rebound percentage (52.3 percent) and third in defensive rebound ranking (80.6 percent).