The Big 12 2014-15 campaign has been a little bit of what everyone expected and much more.
Baylor is clearly the class of the conference, and playing its way to a possible No.1 seed in NCAA Tournament. But after Baylor, the conference is a free-for-all with two teams tied for third place, and three teams tied for fourth. One of those teams, sitting at 5-7 is K-State (15-8, 5-7), who hosts Texas Tech (14-10, 4-8) at Bramlage Coliseum on Sunday.
“We’re the only league in the country where every team has a winning record,” K-State head coach Jeff Mittie said. “We’re the only league in the country where you see teams with four or five wins. You can look at the ACC, SEC and at the bottom – those teams only have one win so our league is incredibly strong.”
K-State is looking to capitalize off a mid-week win over TCU on Wednesday by going for a season sweep of the Red Raiders. In the first matchup back on Jan. 31, the Wildcats notched their first road win of the season by defeating Texas Tech 41-38 in a low-scoring affair. Senior Ashia Woods had 11 points and seven rebounds in the contest. She’s looking forward to the challenge of stopping Amber Battle who led all scorers in the previous contest with 19 points.
“It’s always a different game playing at home; I feel like we’ll come out with a little more energy,” Woods said. “As long as we can keep battle under wraps, our chances are a lot better.”
A victory would keep the Wildcats in postseason contention, which would be an accomplishment for this team after their slow start to conference play. After suffering four-straight losses in the middle of January, K-State has won four of their last five contests.
Sunday’s matchup is another chance to grab a victory in a league that’s suddenly become unpredictable.
“It’s a unique year. It’s hard to predict what’s going to happen on any given night,” Mittie said. “I think everybody has their strengths, but everybody’s flawed. You’ve got to stay away from your flaws and play to your strengths, and that’s kind of the challenge for all of us right now.”
Tipoff between K-State and Texas Tech is scheduled for 1 p.m.
