Here we are once again riding the roller coaster of a season that K-State has had during its Big 12 slate.
The Wildcats started Big 12 play with an 0-4 record, righted the ship by winning four straight, dropped three games after that and have now won two in a row.
“We’re never going to die,” junior guard Kindred Wesemann said. “We’re just going to keep coming back. No matter how hard it gets, you can’t lay down because people will demolish you in the Big 12 if you do that. So you’re going to have to fight and you’re going to have to fight with all you’ve got. And that’s what we did.”
The Wildcats look to continue their winning ways tonight when they travel down to Austin, Texas, to take on the No. 8 Texas Longhorns.
This is the second time this season K-State and Texas have squared off. The Longhorns came to Manhattan on Jan. 30 and won the battle 66-51.
Texas is riding into this game on the back of its three-headed monster: senior center Imani Boyette, sophomore guard Brooke McCarty and sophomore guard Ariel Atkins.
Boyette leads the charge, averaging 12.4 points and 9.7 rebounds per game. She leads the Big 12 with 3.4 blocks per game. McCarty averages 11.8 points per game, and Atkins contributes 10.2 points per game.
“They’ve got all the pieces,” K-State head coach Jeff Mittie said. “They came out with the early top seeds and Texas was, according to at least (ESPN’s bracketology expert) Charlie Creme, one of the top eight even after their loss at Oklahoma. They’ve got all the pieces of size, athleticism, shooting ability and depth. I said that the last time we played them. Their depth is very impressive. They can run a lot of people at you.”
Although Texas sits in second place in the Big 12 standings and defeated the Wildcats the first time around, they are not unbeatable.
Texas enters tonight’s game fresh off a 56-74 loss to Oklahoma. The Wildcats defeated Oklahoma 87-71 last week. They are looking to build on that big win and their win over Kansas on Saturday.
“Every team will come out more hungry after they lose,” Wesemann said. “Like us, we lost three in a row, so we were obviously very hungry for Oklahoma. Texas just losing one, they’re going to be really angry and want a win. But we want a win just as bad as they do, so it’s going to be a fight.”
Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. today inside the Erwin Center.
