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Matchup: Kansas State Wildcats 14-14 (6-10) at Texas Tech Red Raiders 22-7 (11-5)
Where To Watch: ESPN2
Money Line: Texas Tech -13 O/U 132.5
Coming off of Saturdays disappointing second half performance in a loss at TCU, Texas Tech is looking to bounce back in their home finale against Kansas State. The Wildcats took the first matchup 62-51 in a game that looked like it would be the catapult to a fantastic season that was followed by a win against Texas. That was not the case as they went on a three game losing streak and are currently on another three game losing streak that sees them at an even .500 record heading into their last few games of the season.
Looking back at their last matchup, it was the Bryson Williams show and that was it. He lead the team with 20 points, but was the only player that was in double-digits. Kansas State had three guys in double-digits and were able to do enough to close the gap late and beat the Red Raiders at home.
The key to this matchup is going to be offense. Playing offense not just one but both halves and pulling the trigger when the shot is there instead of trying to find a perfect shot. The second half against TCU was an example of the offense just trying to do too much and eventually shooting themselves in the foot with turnovers and taking too long to find the shot. As much as you would like to find the perfect shot these guys have proven that they can make contested shots and don’t need to be completely unguarded in order to make it.
Defense has become a mainstay for this squad as you can expect them to hold most teams under 70. The next step is being able to feed Bryson Williams and getting Terrence Shannon the ball while using the pick-and-roll more often. One thing that has been pointed out throughout the season is that we don’t have a true point guard, but we can’t use that as an excuse to continuously turn the ball over like we have been these past few games.
My prediction for this game is a 77-58 win in the final home game of the season. The Wildcats have regressed tremendously and are not the same team that beat Texas Tech earlier on while the Red Raiders have improved in all aspects of the game.