Another game against a top-25 team didn’t faze Kansas State. They were at home, looking to continue their winning ways. Their opponent was a well-coached 13th-ranked Arizona team. The Wildcats couldn’t match Kansas State’s intensity and fell 73-70.
The Wildcats have played their best when it matters most. During their six-game winning streak, four of those wins came against ranked teams: 23rd-ranked West Virginia, third-ranked Iowa State, 16th-ranked Kansas, and now 13th-ranked Arizona. After this huge win over Arizona, Kansas State can make a serious run tournament run.
Six of their next seven games are against unranked opponents. This bodes well for the Wildcats after proving they can compete with any team in the nation. There is some concern, though, that Kansas State has peaked early and could revert to its old ways.
Their next opponent is BYU, which holds a 16-8 record and is expected to put up a fight. The Cougars are led by junior forward Richie Saunders, who averages 14.9 points per game.
BYU averages 79.8 points per game, nearly hitting the 80-point mark. Kansas State could be at risk of a letdown after two huge ranked wins, which is a legitimate concern for them. If the Wildcats can get past BYU, they have a strong chance of continuing the win streak for a while. Their next four games against Utah, Arizona State, UCF, and Colorado—feature teams hovering around the .500 mark. Still, each team will try to stop a suddenly hot K-State team.
The only other major challenge they must be concerned about is Iowa State at the end of the year. The 10th-ranked Cyclones will look to avenge an earlier loss to K State this season. Before that matchup, the Wildcats will face Cincinnati, a team on the tournament bubble with a 15-9 record. The Bearcats will be on the edge of being a tournament team with a 15-9 record. Kansas State had already beaten Cincinnati once this year when the Bearcats were ranked 16th in the nation. That will give them some confidence as they head into the rematch in March.
The upcoming schedule and their recent play suggest that Kansas State can make a run. The Wildcats have key wins that can propel them toward the tournament and significantly boost their resume.
They’ll need to, as their record of 13-11 doesn’t reflect a tournament-worthy team. That can all change if they continue their hot streak as the season winds down. There is potential for a slip-up as Kansas State has already lost games to teams with similar records as their next few opponents.
Before starting this six-game win streak, Kansas State had lost nine of their previous ten games. While the Wildcats did keep some of those games relatively close, they couldn’t turn them into wins. Recently, however, The Wildcats offense has stepped up. They have scored 80 or more points in three of their six wins. That starkly contrasts their 10 games before the streak, where they didn’t score 80 points once. The Wildcats still have work, but this winning streak came at the perfect time.
The Kansas State Wildcats can make a push toward the tournament. They could find themselves in the bracket with a favorable upcoming schedule and recent momentum. Will they keep their winning streak going? Their next game is against BYU on Saturday at 8 p.m. CT.
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