The Kansas State Wildcats (6-1, 0-0) will face another tough test during non-conference as they take on the No. 21 Alabama Crimson Tide (8-2, 0-0) at the Sprint Center on December 17, 2011. Not only is this a tough task for the Wildcats, but Alabama is arguably the toughest opponent they’ll face until conference play.
The Wildcats only blemish came to West Virginia in double-overtime, where Will Spradling, Jamar Samuels, and Jordan Henriquez all sat due to foul trouble as Kevin Jones and Truck Byrant asserted themselves and sent the Mountaineers to the winners circle.
The Wildcats are also coming off a game, where they went into overtime with North Florida. It was, by all means, suppose to be an easy Wildcat victory, but only one team showed up to play. The Wildcats eventually won after waking up 10 minutes into the second half and overtime and marched to a 79-68 victory.
However, Alabama has been in a slump recently as well. In their last two games, the Crimson Tide have been 1-2, with losses to both Georgetown and on the road against Dayton.
Despite the ranking, I believe the Wildcats have the willpower and ability to pull off a major upset over Alabama at the Sprint Center.
This season, I’ve noticed that the Wildcats have played phenomenal defense. Thus far, Kansas State has forced teams into turning the ball over 17.7 times per contest, while sending back 6.9 shots per night. Kansas State is also holding teams to shooting 36 percent from the field and 28 percent from three.
Defense has been a strong point this season for Kansas State and their tenacity on that end of the floor has continually improved. Alabama, has a similar defensive scheme that is sure to rattle the Wildcats.
Alabama plays an aggressive 2-3 zone, that has held opposing teams to 35 percent from the field. However, in both of their recent losses, Alabama allowed Dayton to shoot 10-of-19 (52%) and Georgetown 7-of-17 (41%) from deep. Not only have they had trouble defending the arc, but also getting to the boards.
Kansas State is currently the No. 4 rebounding team in the country and No. 1 in the Big 12 pulling down 42.6 rebounds per game. The Wildcats are also the No. 13 offensive rebounding team in the country and No. 1 in the Big 12 pulling down 15.9 extra opportunities per game.
Alabama has yet to face a team that has that kind of aggressiveness on the boards, or a team that creates that many second opportunities. However, the Wildcats will need to flex more than their rebounding muscle to win this game. This season, the Wildcats have been terrible from behind the line, with not one player, showing the ability to be a consistent threat from deep. This will be one of the biggest keys for the Wildcats if they plan to pull off a win against highly-ranked Alabama.
In addition, the Wildcats have to play without fouling. The Wildcats have shown that their potential but depth seems to be a problem for the Wildcats. In the frontcourt, there aren’t many options with James Watson sheltering a bummed knee. Shane Southwell’s stomach flu also isn’t helping the Wildcats much.
Nonetheless, the Wildcats haven’t shown the ability to shoot the ball well from deep so getting the ball inside the middle of the zone is a must. Will Spradling and Angel Rodriguez are both going to have to have big games handling the ball if the Wildcats expect to win the game.
The game is set to tip off at 10 PM ET with ESPNU covering the game.
