The men’s basketball team (5-9, 1-5) visits Norman, Oklahoma, on Tuesday night to take on the Oklahoma Sooners (7-4, 3-3), a team coming off an impressive 82-46 win over TCU (9-5, 2-4) a week ago. Oklahoma didn’t play last Saturday after the in-state rival Oklahoma State (9-3, 3-3) postponed the annual Bedlam matchup because of COVID-19.
At 7-4 and 3-3 in Big 12 Conference play, the Sooners sit at fifth place in the conference. Their resume boasts a win over at-the-time No. 9 West Virginia (75-71) and close losses to at-the-time No. 15 Texas Tech (69-67) and No. 6 Kansas (63-59).
In their matchup with TCU, the Sooners cracked down on defense, only allowing the Horned Frogs to shoot 35 percent from the field and 21 percent from three-point range.
Sophomore guard De’vion Harmon put down four threes on his own in the matchup en route to a 22-point performance. The Sooners rely on Harmon as well as senior forward Brady Manek and senior guard Austin Reaves. They all play high-minute games repeatedly.
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Manek missed the Sooners two previous games because of COVID-19 protocols, but he is likely to return to practice Monday and be available Tuesday night, according to the Norman Transcript.
Reaves, a 6-foot-5 guard, leads the team in scoring with 15.8 points per game. The Wichita State transfer has shown an ability to shoot in his career — as a freshman he was over 50 percent through 33 games — but is only shooting 26 percent from three this season.
Reaves averages over five rebounds and five assists per game, leading the team in both categories.
Kansas State continues to add healthy bodies to their roster after playing with the minimum number of scholarship players against Oklahoma State and then postponing their game with Iowa State because of a lack of players.
In Saturday’s blowout loss against Texas, K-State debuted freshman guard Luke Kasubke and returned sophomore forward Antonio Gordon. With the additions to the roster on Saturday, K-State has up to nine available scholarship players.
The Wildcats are losers of four-straight games heading into the contest and are 1-5 in Big 12 play.
The game tips off at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday from the Lloyd Nobel Center and will be broadcasted locally on Fox Sports Kansas City. Live game audio can be heard through the K-State Sports Network.
