The K-State men’s basketball team returns home to play the Missouri Tigers tonight in Bramlage Coliseum. The Wildcats have won six of the last eight meetings against the Tigers, including four in a row at home.
K-State (12-7, 1-4 Big 12 Conference) is coming off its first win in conference play as the Wildcats defeated Colorado 77-75 in overtime last Saturday in the Coors Events Center.
“When you have a young team like we have and have done some things right that doesn’t result in a win, the team becomes frail,” head coach Frank Martin said. “But anytime you win a conference road game you have to feel good about the team.”
During the game, K-State posted Big 12 highs for points, field goals (26), field goal percentage (46.4), assists (17), free throws (18) and free throws attempted (28).
“When we take good shots and keep the silly turnovers down, it allows us to win,” Martin said.
Sophomore guard Jacob Pullen led the Wildcats with a team-high of 17 points. Denis Clemente scored all of his 15 points in the second half and also had seven assists.
“[Pullen] has been great,” Martin said. “He’s gone from a complimentary player and has accepted a completely different set of responsibilities on this year’s team.”
Missouri (17-3, 4-1 Big 12) comes into Wednesday’s contest on a four-game winning streak after beating Texas Tech 97-86 at home on Saturday.
Senior forward DeMarre Carroll leads the Tigers in scoring with 16.3 points per game and in rebounding with 7.1 rebounds per game. Senior forward Leo Lyons is the only other Tiger who is averaging double-digit points with 14.1 per game.
The Tigers bring the most prolific offense of the Big 12 into Bramlage Coliseum averaging 85.4 points per game.
Missouri is 2-2 on the road this season and the team returns seven players, including four starters on a team that went 16-16 and 6-10 in Big 12 play during the 2007-08 season.
“We know going in that it’s going to be a tough ball game,” Missouri head coach Mike Anderson said. “[The Wildcats] will be ready to play and we just hope to go in and play well.”
Tip-off is scheduled for 8:10 p.m. and can be seen on the Fox Sports Network.