A suddenly hot Kansas State team will host No. 16 Kansas on Saturday in Manhattan, Kan., as the Sunflower Showdown returns to the hardwood.
The Wildcats have won four straight games, including two against ranked teams and two on the road.
Kansas State (11-11, 5-6 Big 12) won its past two home matchups against Kansas, with both games going into overtime.
Kansas (16-6, 7-4) has been trading wins and losses recently, taking tough defeats each of the past two Saturdays.
The Jayhawks fell to Houston in double overtime at home on Jan. 25, seeing six-point leads disappear late in regulation and in the first overtime.
On Feb. 1, the Jayhawks led Baylor by 21 points in the first half in Waco, Texas, only to lose 81-70.
Kansas got a much-needed, emphatic 69-52 victory over visiting No. 8 Iowa State on Monday. The Jayhawks held the Cyclones to a season-low 19 points in the first half while building a 16-point halftime lead.
“We really guarded them, and we got them into the last 10 seconds of the shot clock, I think, (on) 10 of the 30 possessions of the first half,” Kansas coach Bill Self said.
Now the Jayhawks are focused on stopping a rare losing streak in Manhattan.
“They’re playing with great energy,” Self said Thursday. “Defensively, they’re playing at a high level. Offensively, they look fast to me. (Guard Dug) McDaniel is a hard guy to keep in front (of you). He’s getting anywhere he wants to go right now.”
The Wildcats were non-competitive early in the Big 12 season. In the first game against Kansas on Jan. 18 in Lawrence, Kan., the Jayhawks jumped out to a 14-0 lead and never trailed in an 84-74 victory.
That was the fifth of six straight losses for Kansas State. However, the Wildcats subsequently defeated then-No. 23 West Virginia and Oklahoma State at home before knocking off then-No. 3 Iowa State and Arizona State on the road. The 80-61 victory over the Cyclones on Feb. 1 snapped a 15-game road losing streak — including 12 in Big 12 play — for the Wildcats and a 29-game home winning streak for the Cyclones.
On Tuesday, the Wildcats fell behind the Sun Devils 15-0 but managed to grab a 35-32 lead by halftime. Kansas State led by 13 in the second half before holding on for a 71-70 victory.
“These guys were great through the losing streak and now we’re learning how to keep improving with wins,” Kansas State coach Jerome Tang said. “Because for every 1,000 men who can handle adversity, there’s only one who can handle success. So, we’re going to try and be that one and just keep building on this.”
Tang agrees with Self that McDaniel is a key for his Wildcats, but not the only key.
“Dug is playing at a high level right now,” the coach said Tuesday night. “What’s crazy is that he’s got three or four more levels he can get to. I’m so excited to watch his continued growth.
“When you have three guards that had four-plus rebounds, that really helps you. We’re a team-rebounding team. We don’t have one guy that’s just going to get 20, so that was really important for us.”
–Field Level Media
