Kansas State basketball coach Jerome Tang talks about Drake
Kansas State basketball coach Jerome Tang talks about Drake ahead of the Wildcats’ Tuesday night’s game at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City.
K-State Athletics
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas State basketball ends a 10-day layoff at its home away from home Tuesday against unbeaten Drake at T-Mobile Center.
The Wildcats (6-3) will try to get back on track after a second-half collapse resulted in an 88-71 loss at St. John’s on Dec. 7 as part of the Big 12/Big East Bash series. But they face a red-hot Drake team that is off to a 9-0 start under first-year coach Ben McCollum, including victories over Miami (Fla.), Florida Atlantic and Vanderbilt.
McCollum, who won four NCAA Division II championships at Northwest Missouri State, brought four starters with him to Drake, including top three scorers Bennett Stirtz (17.8 points, 6.1 assists per game), Daniel Abreu (13.9 points) and Mitch Mascari (12.2 points). The Bulldogs have five players on their roster from the Kansas City metro area.
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K-State is playing its first game without backup forward Achor Achor, who left the team last week for personal reasons. Villanova transfer Brendan Hausen leads the Wildcats in scoring with 15.2 points per game, followed by super-senior forward David N’Gussan with 14.2 points and 6.8 rebounds.
This section will be updated when the game begins.
K-State is a slim favorite and desperate for a victory to build momentum heading into Big 12 play, but Drake has outscored its opponents by nearly 20 points per game and ranks second nationally in scoring defense. Give a slight edge to the Bulldogs.
Prediction: Drake 70, Kansas State 65
Game lines and odds from BetMGM as of Tuesday afternoon:
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Arne Green is based in Salina and covers Kansas State University sports for the Gannett network. He can be reached at agreen@gannett.com or on Twitter at @arnegreen.
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