Kansas State vs Iowa State: 2019 Big 12 Tournament game preview, TV Schedule
By Chris Kern
The Kansas State Wildcats and Iowa State Cyclones both picked up wins on Thursday to set up their semifinal on Friday night in the Big 12 Tournament.
TV Schedule: March 15, 7:00 PM ET. ESPN2
Location: Sprint Center in Kansas City, Missouri
The Iowa State Cyclones started off the day with an impressive win over the Baylor Bears 83-66. Iowa State had been struggling recently so this was very good to see. They got good performances from all of their key players with Talen Horton-Tucker leading the way with 21 points. The team as a whole shot the ball well and their 13-25 from three-point range was a big part in this game not being very close down the stretch.
The Kansas State Wildcats, on the other hand, had to battle more to get their win as they played from behind for a large part of the game. They would go on to win 70-61 but they were behind by as much as 12 late in the first half. They struggled early on without Dean Wade but Xavier Sneed‘s 19 points was a big reason they were able to get the win.
Kansas State has had some inconsistency on the offensive end all season and if Sneed is able to play like he did today then this team could advance far in the NCAA Tournament. He was a big part of the Elite Eight run last year which included their big upset over Kentucky.
For them to be able to pick up a couple of wins without Dean Wade in the Big 12 Tournament would be big. They have a lot of issues without him on the floor so for them to get these wins without him will give them a lot of confidence. They made a deep run in the NCAA Tournament without him last year so you would think they’re confident anyway but they need to regain some of that going forward.
Both of the regular season matchups between these teams were actually won by the road team. Kansas State won in Ames in a 58-57 thriller while Iowa State put on an offensive clinic in their 78-64 win in Manhattan. Both of those places are tough places to get road wins so it just shows how competitive these teams can be.
Iowa State has had a lot of struggles recently and if they want any chance at making a deep NCAA Tournament run then they need to continue to build confidence this week. The way they played against Baylor makes you think they have started building that but we will need to see how they play against Kansas State before we know for sure.
If Marial Shayok is playing well then that gives this team a big offensive boost. He has been the best player on this team and while this is a team full of talented guys, they need their star to be leading the way. Other guys such as Lindell Wigginton and Nick Weiler-Babb need to make plays as well but they need to be able to rely on their star.
Next. Buy or Sell - Title contenders. dark
This will be an exciting basketball game that features two teams with contrasting styles. Kansas State will struggle to keep pace with the Cyclones offense so they need to make sure they do a good job on the defensive end. If Iowa State plays as they did against Baylor then it will be very tough for them to win. I don’t think they play that well but I do think they will do enough to upset the top-seeded Wildcats.