Kansas State @ Oklahoma preview

Last Meeting ( Mar 9, 2019 ) Oklahoma 53, Kansas State 68

As easy as it was for Kansas State to collect resume-building wins last season, it has been every bit as difficult to get one with a younger team this season. The Wildcats look to earn their first victory over a major-conference opponent on Saturday when they pay a visit to Oklahoma in the Big 12 opener for both programs.

Kansas State finished in a tie atop the conference standings with eventual NCAA Tournament runner-up Texas Tech last spring, capping off its first Big 12 regular-season title in six years with a 68-53 victory over the Sooners. After losing their top three scorers from a season ago, the Wildcats have predictably struggled so far against the three major-conference foes they have faced (losses to Pittsburgh, Marquette and Mississippi State). Oklahoma has found more success in that regard, going 3-3 versus teams from the heavyweight conferences - all of which have been played away from Norman. The Sooners improved to 5-0 at home before celebrating New Year's Day, coasting to a 91-72 over Texas-Rio Grande Valley on Monday.

TIME: 1 p.m. ET. TV: No TV

ABOUT KANSAS STATE (7-5): The Wildcats posted perhaps their most impressive victory Sunday after Big 12 Player of the Week Cartier Diarra (12.8 points, 5.8 assists, 1.9 steals) erupted for a career-high 25 points, five rebounds and seven assists - including the game-winning 3-pointer with 22.4 seconds left - in a 69-67 home win over Tulsa. Xavier Sneed is one of eight Big 12 players who ranks among the top 20 in scoring (14.4 points; 14th) and rebounding (5.2; 20th). Makol Mawien (7.8 points, 5.3 boards) scored at least 10 points three times and averaged 6.5 rebounds as Kansas State opened the season with four straight wins, but the senior forward has reached double figures only once and averaged 4.6 boards over the last eight contests.

ABOUT OKLAHOMA (9-3): Leading scorer and rebounder Kristian Doolittle (16.7 points, 8.9 rebounds) did not play against the Vaqueros due to a "conflict of team interests" per coach Lon Kruger, but his replacement, Kur Kuath, tallied 17 points, eight rebounds and two blocked shots in a rare start. Brady Manek (15.4, 6.3) also more than made up for the absence of Doolittle by producing a career-high 29 points to extend his streak of double-digit scoring to 15 games. Austin Reaves (16.3, 5.7) is 4-for-23 beyond the arc over his last four outings and is shooting only 26.9 percent from 3-point range for the season - a far cry from his American Athletic Conference-leading 45.1 mark he posted in his final season at Wichita State in 2017-18 prior to transferring.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Oklahoma is the only major-conference team with three players averaging at least 16 points and one of two with three players averaging at least 15 (Miami).

2. The Wildcats have scored at least 19 points off turnovers in eight of their 12 games and recorded at least 10 steals six times.

3. The Sooners committed a season-high 19 turnovers Monday but still rank sixth in Division I with a Big 12-low 10.6 turnovers per game.

PREDICTION: Oklahoma 70, Kansas State 60