Sat. Feb 8th, 2025

Preview: Kstate enters the second Sunflower Showdown in Hot Strip, while KU drives to Manhattan

ByAmelia Journalton

Feb 8, 2025

Preview: Kstate enters the second Sunflower Showdown in Hot Strip, while KU drives to Manhattan

Kansa’s head coach Bill Self shows his player to return to the second half in the second half on Monday, February 3, 2025. Photo by Nick Krug

The men’s basketball team in Kansas has already defeated his rival Kansa’s state, but it was not a particularly dominant display.

The Jayhawks jumped in the lead with 14: 0, but basically exchanged the wildcats on January 18 in all Fieldhouse Körbe and even had K-State drawn in individual digits even in the second half.

Perhaps during the second time by K-State coach Jerome Tang, four minutes in this Sunflower Showdown has changed, since the wildcats have been one of the best team in the country since the defeat against KU 84-74 on this day. Previously 7-10 in the season and in such a disappointing campaign that Coleman Hawkins lost after the KU loss about his decision to join the wildcats in the portal, but then four victories in a row.

Finally the wildcats embarrassed at the time. 3 Iowa State in Hilton Coliseum on Saturday and then gathered from an early 15-point deficit on the street to hit one point in a wild game in a wild game on Tuesday evening.

“You play with great energy,” said Kuer coach Bill Self on Thursday. “I think defensively, you look at them especially against Iowa State, I thought they only locked them up with their speed. Obviously they play offensive at a high level. Everyone plays well, but I would say Hawkins and obviously (dug) McDaniel (are) probably the key. You look quickly for me. “

The Bart Torvik’s College Basketball Analytics website has been the Kansas State as number 2 in the country since January 19. KU is number 12 in the same period, in which three solid victories and two breathtaking losses occurred.

The two teams will revive their rivalry again on Saturday at 1 p.m. in the Bramlage Coliseum.

The Jayhawks have an easy advantage after having beaten at home on Big Monday – Self also rested five of his experienced players on Wednesday while the rest of the team practiced – while the wildcats had to return from the valley of the sun on Tuesday evening.

“There is a little more time to rest, but at the moment we have the feeling that we cannot rest,” said Wachmann Zeke Mayo on Thursday. “We are in a situation in which we have to win a handful of games in order to be in a conversation for the Big 12 at all. We have a day off, but don’t relax a bit. “

The Manhattan edition of the Sunflower Showdown was friendly to K-State in the last two seasons, with Tang’s pile of successive victories over the Jayhawks in extra time.

“Everyone wants to have the feeling that they are the biggest rival, and that’s why they will always have a big atmosphere and make it a very big game,” said Center Hunter Dickinson on January 18.

Self suggested that Hawkins present a challenging matchup for the Jayhawks. He certainly did it in the previous session when, despite the shooting of 5 against 14 of the field, he ended three rebounds behind a triple double. During the series of wildcats, he got into shape aggressively and now has an average of 13.2 points per game in the conference game with 6.9 rebounds and 4.8 assists.

The Marksman Brendan Hausen has been 17: 37 (45.9%) from beyond the arch and McDaniel, as part of a series of improved offensive, has achieved a season high of 20 points against Iowa State. In general, the starting line-up of K-State in Hausen, Hawkins, McDaniel, Max Jones and David N’Guessan was very rounded off in the past few days.

K-State also bound his opponents in the glass or exceeded them in every game of his winning streak.

“There in K-State, Manhattan, it will be quite illuminated, so we have to prepare for” Know that they always play well there. “

Kansas State Wildcats (11-11, 5-6 Big 12) against No. 16 Kansas Jayhawks (16-6, 7-4 Big 12)

• Bramlage Coliseum, Manhattan, 1 p.m.

• Transmitted: ESPN

• radio: Jayhawk Radio Network (in Lawrence, KLWN on 1320 / K269GB FM 101.7 / KMXN FM 92.9)

Regard

Back in the fold: Part of the reason why Hawkins was such a bad Matchup for the Jayhawks in the first edition of the Sunflower Showdown was the lack of KJ Adams, who had separated his shoulder three days earlier. K-State plays two large men with a front square of Hawkins and N’Guessan, and the senior Hawkins Drew Flory Bidunga, a newcomer in the fifth year in which he made his first career start, into bad problems with experienced steps in the mail . Since Zach Clemence was also injured, Ku had to go to an unpleasant four-Guard list with AJ Storr, which Hawkins defended. It will probably not be necessary on Saturday, and Adams, who has sportiness to defend Hawkins on both the scope and in the post, has returned to his usual workload of more than 30 minutes. Self said about Hawkins: “There is nothing that says that he cannot get 20 and 10, but I think our ability to protect him one to one has been improved with KJ outside.”

Crawl: Self said that he would like to have Adams, Harris and Dickinson played for about 30 minutes per game or less. For some time now, he has kept this plan loyal to this plan, and even in the Big 12 competition, Bidunga has made himself good enough to reduce Adam’s minutes to 28.5 per game. But Dickinson now plays 32.9 minutes and Harris 34.1, including 36.5 in his last six appearances (a time that also includes an ankle injury). The idea of keeping Harris better rested in order to enable him to give himself a little by the wayside in the past few days when he is in the game to stay a little on the track, especially with Shake from Point Guard, Shakeel Moore, who still dealt with occasional pain from his foot injury.

First five: In this sense, the starting line -up of Harris, Adams and Dickinson with Mayo and Rylan improved 6-0 in the season with the victory of KU via ISU on Monday. Handle is the latest addition after it was mainly from the bank for a period of about two months. The wing did not always have its shootout, even when his game has improved overall in the past few weeks, but it is clearly impressed enough to reach a place for which there was a lot of competition this year. Could he and his colleague AJ Storr (eight points on Monday) finally be in shape? Self said he thought they both showed good efforts against the cyclones.

Off-kilter observation

Dickinson and McDaniel were also in the high school when they were both in the high school when they both confronted in Washington, DC, Area, McDaniel in Paul VI, in Chantilly, Virginia, and Dickinson at Dematholic in Hyattsville, Maryland, .