Alabama St. @ Kansas State preview

Kansas State coach Bruce Weber understood that replacing several key starters would take some time. His Wildcats hit a new offensive low Saturday against Marquette, having their 33-game home non-conference winning streak snapped, and they will look to regroup against visiting Alabama State on Wednesday.

Weber lost 58 percent of his scoring from last season's 25-9 squad, including Dean Wade and Barry Brown, and it has shown on the offensive end as the Wildcats' offensive efficiency has dropped from 108.4 points/100 possessions to 99.1 so far in 2019-20. Kansas State shot a season-low 32.3 percent from the field, including 7-of-23 from 3-point range, and made just 18 of its 30 free-throw attempts in the 73-65 loss to the Golden Eagles. "The problem was we shouldn't have been down 13 at halftime. Now you have to fight back and use all that energy," Weber told reporters. “You have to make the easy ones. You have to make the free throws. You have to make the layups." Alabama State, which owns just one win (Chicago State), has played four schools from major conferences and lost to each by between 16 and 35 points.

TV: 8 p.m. No TV

ABOUT ALABAMA STATE (1-7): Senior Tobi Ewuosho had 11 points and eight rebounds in the Hornets' latest contest, a 73-59 loss to South Dakota State. The 6-5 Ewuosho leads the team in scoring (13.8) and rebounds (6.3). Junior guard Jacoby Ross adds 7.3 points and junior forward Brandon Battle 6.3 points along with 3.1 rebounds.

ABOUT KANSAS STATE (5-3): Junior Cartier Diarra (11.8 points, 4.8 rebounds, 6.6 assists - 2nd in the Big 12) led four players in double figures with 14 points against Marquette to go with team highs in rebounds (eight, shared) and assists (five) in 33 minutes to lead the team in all three categories for the first time in his career. Leading scorer Xavier Sneed (14.5 points, 5.5 rebounds) scored 11 on 2-of-9 shooting after recording 33 points combined on 12-of-22 from the field in his previous two games. Freshman forward Antonio Gordon (5.3 points, 4.1 rebounds) grabbed a season-high eight boards to go along with three steals Saturday.

TIP-INS

1. Kansas State is now 109-7 in non-conference play at home dating back to 2006-07 with wins in 96 of its last 101.

2. Sneed became the 13th Wildcat to join the career 1,000-point/500-rebound club against Marquette.

3. Alabama State has lost its six road games this season, scoring 55.3 points while allowing 77.5 per game.

PREDICTION: Kansas State 75, Alabama State 55