Pittsburgh @ Kansas State preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 26, 2014 ) Pittsburgh 70, Kansas State 47

Kansas State is off to a 4-0 start for the fifth consecutive season and the sixth time in eight campaigns under coach Bruce Weber, but the Wildcats have had to rally in all four contests against mediocre competition. Kansas State may not be able to rely on another comeback when it plays a quality Pittsburgh team in a Fort Myers Tip-Off tournament semifinal game on Monday.

Kansas State couldn't shake Arkansas Pine Bluff on Tuesday until Xavier Sneed scored five consecutive points during an 11-2 run that provided a nine-point cushion en route to a 62-51 victory. "Obviously, we have high expectations. You hope you're going to play well," Weber said afterwards. "I think our practices were pretty good the last two days and I think we thought it was just going to snap and go and it didn't and then all of the sudden we kind of lost our discipline on defense, lost our poise on offense." Pittsburgh, which beat Florida State in its opener, has won two straight including a 66-41 victory over Arkansas Pine Bluff on Thursday. Freshman Justin Champagnie had a personal-best 18 points, six rebounds and three assists and Xavier Johnson continued his recent strong play with 13 points, six assists and four steals.

TV: 6 p.m. ET, FS1

ABOUT PITTSBURGH (4-2): The 6-foot-6 Champagnie (10.8 points, 5.7 rebounds) is averaging 13.0 points and 6.5 rebounds per game and has scored in double figures in each of the past four contests. The backcourt trio of Trey McGowens (12.3 points, 5.0 rebounds, 2.8 assists), Ryan Murphy (11.7 points, team-high 11 3-pointers) and Johnson (10.3 points,5.2 assists, 1.7 steals) combine to average 34.3 points per game and account for 53.4 percent of Pitt's scoring through six games. Johnson has recorded five or more assists in each of the past four contests (6.8 per game) and has committed no turnovers in the last three halves after committing 19 in his first 4 1/2 games.

ABOUT KANSAS STATE (4-0): Sneed (16 points, 5.8 rebounds) scored 12 of his 21 points after halftime, draining 5-of-10 3-pointers, in leading the Wildcats in scoring for the third straight game. Sneed also corralled a team-high six rebounds and got help from Makol Mawien (10 points, 2 blocks) and Cartier Diarra (7 points, 8 assists, 2 steals). Diarra, who averages 12.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 6.8 assists, has the most assists (27) by a Wildcat through the first four games of a season, eclipsing the mark of 24 by Tim Jankovich in 1981-82.

TIP-INS

1. The winner will face either Bradley or Northwestern in the championship game on Wednesday night, while the losing teams will play in the consolation game.

2. Pitt won the only previous meeting, 70-47 in the Maui Invitational in 2014.

3. K-State, which won the U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam last season, looks to win in-season tournaments in back-to-back years for the first time since claiming three in a row from 1993-95.

PREDICTION: Kansas State 64, Pittsburgh 59