NCAA Tournament: Kansas State Must Rebound in Order to Have Any Shot in the West Bracket

The Kansas Jayhawks in the Big 12 Championship game if they are to have any shot at winning the NCAA Tournament. 

Kansas State is a good team but mentally they have to be reeling after losing for the 3rd time to the Jayhawks.  Kansas lost to the Jayhawks 72 to 64 as 6 point underdogs in the Big 12 title game. Before that, Kansas had beaten them 82 to 65.  And before that they had lost to Kansas in overtime.

Will the losses to the Jayhawks cause the Wildcats to second guess themselves in the NCAA Tournament?

West:  #2 Kansas State Wildcats

The Wildcats picked it up in the Big 12 Tournament but were cold going into their conference tourney.  Besides the 82 to 65 loss to Kansas, the Wildcats had dropped a game to Iowa State 85 to 82 in overtime.  Kansas State had lost only 2 other games during the regular season, to Mississippi 86 to 74 and to Missouri 74 to 68.  They beat two other non-conference tournament teams in UNLV and Xavier.

Offense:  Kansas State’s offense revolves around guard Denis Clemente.  He isn’t the leading scorer, guard Jacob Pullen is with 18.9 points per game, but Clemente is the reason that the Wildcats have success.  Clemente runs the show with 4.2 assist per game.  He chips in around 16 points per game.  So, his numbers scoring wise aren’t that far off from Pullen’s. 

Clemente is also the guy that K-State turns to when they need a big shot.  The Wildcats’ offense is guard-centric which is the best way to ensure success in the NCAA Tournament.  K-State averages 79.6 points per game and shoot 45% from the field.

Defense:  K-State’s D isn’t as good as one would expect.  Teams average close to 70 points per game on them.  Teams only shoot 42% against them, however, and K-State grabs roughly 5 rebound per game more than their opponents do.

Prediction:  Pullen and Clemente are the reason that K-State is in the NCAA Tournament.  They’re also the reason that the Wildcats could make a nice run to the Final Four.  The odds on Kansas State are +2000 in the sportsbook. 

That’s probably not giving them enough credit but I still can’t endorse the Wildcats because as good as Pullen and Clemente are the truth is that the West came up very tough.  Yes, Syracuse matches up well with every team in the West, but Kansas State doesn’t necessarily match up well at all with those same teams. 

Xavier, Pitt, BYU and maybe even Minnesota could give K-State a run for their money.

This team is going to find it tough to make it to the Great Eight.  If they do, they can beat Syracuse, but then they will most likely face Ohio State or Kansas in the Final Four.

I’m going to pass on betting them to win the title. 

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