Texas Longhorns (15-8, 5-5) vs. Kansas State Wildcats (16-7, 5-5)
Date: Wednesday, February 7th
Time: 7:00 PM
Venue: Frank Erwin Center
Location: Austin, TX
TV: Longhorn Network
Line: Texas -5
Last Meeting: Kansas State defeated Texas 64-61 (02/18/2017 in Austin).
All-Time Series Record: Kansas State leads Texas 19-15
In a game they were favored to win, the Texas Longhorns knocked off 12th ranked Oklahoma 79-74 on Saturday to improve to 11-2 at the Frank Erwin Center this season. Shaka Smart and Texas look to defend a solid home court record when they host Bruce Weber’s Wildcats on Wednesday evening. Texas guard Matt Coleman had a career night against the Sooners, scoring 22 points in 39 minutes played for Texas. With Andrew Jones out battling leukemia, Shaka Smart’s expectation for Coleman is to continue solid play at the point against the Wildcats and for the remainder of the season.
Junior guard Kerwin Roach is averaging 17.7 points per game in his last six games, including a 19-point performance against the Sooners on Saturday. True freshman forward and future lottery pick Mo Bamba had a relatively quiet game against Oklahoma. Bamba cashed in a 13-point, 9 rebound performance, narrowly missing his 12th double-double of the season. Earlier in the week he was named to the Wooden Award Late Season Top 20, which includes 20 student-athletes who are the front-runners for National Player of the Year honors. Tulane transfer Dylan Osetkowski leads the Longhorns in scoring, averaging 14.2 points per game on 40.9 percent shooting. Osetkowski is also shooting 73.0 percent from the free throw line.
Texas has won three of its last four contests, losing in overtime to 10th ranked Texas Tech in Lubbock last week.
Kansas State will play in its second straight road contest and will bring a two-game losing streak to Austin. After winning four straight, which included wins against ranked Oklahoma and TCU teams, the Wildcats lost to ranked Kansas and West Virginia teams, at home and on the road respectively.
Junior forward Dean Wade leads the Wildcats in scoring, averaging 16.4 points per game. Another pair of Wildcat juniors rank 2nd & 3rd in scoring for Kansas State, with Barry Brown averaging 16.3 points per game and Kamau Stokes averaging 12.7. Stokes made his return to the court in Saturday’s loss to West Virginia after being sidelined for seven games with a foot injury against Texas Tech in early January.
Both programs have 5-5 Big 12 records and are tied for 5th in the conference standings. Texas has beaten Kansas State in four of the last six contests. Wildcats coach Bruce Weber is 6-5 all-time against the Longhorns, is 2-3 when playing at the Frank Erwin Center.
