The Kansas State Wildcats (17-9, 5-6) are coming off the biggest win of the season after taking down the No. 1 team in the nation, the Kansas Jayhawks. As a result, the NCAA tournament has come back into the picture and the NIT has yet to resurface.
Kansas State has a chance to get its fifth winning streak on the season when the Wildcats host the struggling Oklahoma Sooners (12-13, 4-7) at home. The Sooners come into the game with a 4-game losing steak after winning four straight.
The last time the Sooners visited Manhattan, they walked away with a 61-52 victory and watched their star Blake Griffin have a 29 point, 15 rebound night. This year, the Sooners have really struggled on the road picking up just one true road win on the season.
The senior Cade Davis and sophomore Andrew Fitzgerald have both exceeded expectations this season and should be a matchup problem for the Wildcats.
Last season, Fitzgerald posted a 14-point, 5 rebound effort in just 27 minutes of play being sidelined with foul trouble. Limiting his production on offense will be beneficial for the Wildcats.
The Wildcats are in dangerous territory facing a squad in desperate need of a confidence building win. “We have Oklahoma coming in on Satuday,” said Jacob Pullen following Kansas State’s win over KU. “Last year we beat the No. 1 team and then relaxed and lost at home the next game. We want to try and avoid that this year.”
Pullen is coming off a career night where he posted 38 points against the Jayhawks. Kansas State will need some of the same intensity to assure the Wildcats pick up the win and get even at (6-6) in the Big 12 Conference.
Pullen has never had his way with the Sooners, averaging just 10 points and 4.3 assist during his career at Kansas State against Oklahoma.
The Wildcats have lost once at home this season to Colorado when senior Curtis Kelly was finishing up his six game suspension.
Perry Ellis will be in Manhattan
On hand to see Kansas State take on the Sooners will be 5-star high school recruit, forward Perry Ellis from Wichita Heights (Wichita, Kan.). Ellis has expressed a ton of interest in the Kansas State program and likes the coaching staff and style of the Wildcats.
Ellis trimmed his recruiting list to Kansas State, Kansas, Kentucky, Memphis, Oklahoma and Wichita State last December. A win in front of Ellis could mean a lot towards acquiring the highest rated recruit since K-State landed Michael Beasley.
The game is set to tip off Saturday at 3:00 pm Central on the Big 12 Network.
