Kansas State Wildcats Look To Rebound Against Iowa State Cyclones

Jan 18, 2014; Manhattan, KS, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers forward Nathan Adrian (11) is blocked out by Kansas State Wildcats forward Thomas Gipson (42) and guard Omari Lawrence (12) during the Mountaineers

Who: #22 Kansas State Wildcats (14-5 Overall 4-2 Big 12) vs. #16 Iowa State Cyclones (14-3 Overall 2-3 Big 12)

Where: Hilton Coliseum; Ames, Iowa

When: Saturday 12:30pm

TV: Big 12 Network

Big 12 play on the road for the #22 Kansas State Wildcats has been not to kind thus. The Wildcats are  fresh off a heartbreaking loss at the hands of the Texas Longhorns in Austin on Tuesday Night 67-64.

Texas broke the hearts of Kansas State faithful with a buzzer beater by Jonathan Holmes after Shane Southwell‘s layup tied the game late with 5 seconds left. Bruce Weber’s Wildcats team have now lost two consecutive games in conference play on road after defeating TCU early on.

With losses at Kansas and Texas, K-State now as to go into Hilton Coliseum to take on #16 Iowa State, who will be rested up following their loss to Texas last Saturday. Sitting at 4-2 in the Big 12, the Wildcats cannot afford to lose more ground. This becomes an important game.

Keys 2 Watch 4

Feed Gipson

On Tuesday clearly Thomas Gipson was a man on a mission against the Longhorns. Gipson scored a career high 24 points and 5 rebounds in the loss to the Longhorns. As very well mentioned in the last few weeks, he has played very well for Kansas State. On Saturday, K-State will look to him for more of the same, as he could be paired up against Iowa State’s Georges Niang for the afternoon.

Protect the 3-Point Line

Iowa State makes a living at the three-point line. The Wildcats defensively will need to be up for the challenge; focus will be especially important in the loud environment of Hilton Coliseum. The Cats must start off well, something they have struggled with away from home, and try to take the crowd out of the ball game.

The defense will need to set the tone by tightly guarding the Cyclone shooters, and protect the rim. K-State is going to have to rebound better than they did in the loss at Texas. Numerous times on Tuesday night, Texas got opportunity after opportunity to score by getting to the glass more than Kansas State did. The Wildcats must work the boards better or they will be in trouble.

The Opponent: #16 Iowa State

Led by Head Coach Fred Hoiberg, the Iowa State Cyclones started out unbeaten for the first 15 games. They promptly went into a 3-game slide with losses to Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas. The Cyclones are paced by all around guard DeAndre Kane, one of their leading scorers. He has been battling an ankle injury suffered in the Oklahoma contest, but he is still playing like one of the top players in the Big 12. Iowa State has other players that can step up including Georges Niang and Melvin Ejim.

X-Factor: Marcus Foster

One of the talented Freshman for K-State, Marcus Foster, has slowed down a bit after starting off his campaign well. He struggled on the road against Kansas, and he didn’t have a good night against Texas. After scoring just 8 points in the loss in Austin, the Cats need Foster to be a little more active on both sides off the court if the Wildcats are going to walk out off Ames a winner on Saturday.