Kansas State Basketball: Keys to move past UC Irvine in the first round

Kansas State basketball battles UC-Irvine in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday afternoon. Here are the keys to a Wildcats’ victory.

In recent history, the number of No. 13 seeds that have knocked off No. 4 seeds have grown and the South region may have the most intriguing matchup between these two seeds when Kansas State plays No. 13 UC-Irvine on Friday afternoon. The reason this game is the most intriguing is that the higher-seeded Wildcats, who finished with a share of the Big 12 title, are once again possibly playing without Dean Wade, who injured his foot late in the season. On the opposite side of the floor, UC-Irvine has a case to be called the best west-coast team not named Gonzaga.

This is a game that has the chance to be a defensive slugfest, with both teams being among the nation’s elite defensive teams. Kansas State is 3rd in the country allowing just 59 points per game while being in the top-60 in both overall field-goal defense and three-point defense. Their opponents are right there with Kansas State, allowing just 63 points per game and their opponents shoot just 38% from the field and that places the Anteaters as the 5th best team in the nation in that category.

Playing without Dean Wade is not something new for Kansas State over the past two seasons, but their record shows they aren’t as good of a team with Wade out of the lineup, going just 5-3 in the games without the senior. So, a less than full strength Kansas State faces a stiff test against the Anteaters, and to beat them here are some things they need to do.