Kansas State @ Iowa State preview

Last Meeting ( Mar 15, 2019 ) Iowa State 63, Kansas State 59

A pair of teams fighting to stay out of the basement of the Big 12 standings meet Saturday night when Kansas State visits Iowa State. The host Cyclones have lost four in a row - the last three in conference play - to sink into an eighth-place tie with the Wildcats, one game up on last-place Oklahoma State.

Iowa State fell behind by double digits in less than five minutes Wednesday at No. 11 West Virginia and never got closer than 10 points thereafter in a 76-61 loss. "Our defensive effort the first five minutes was just really poor," Cyclones coach Steve Prohm, whose team has given up nearly 75 points per game over the past six, told reporters. "It was getting beat off the dribble. It was second-chance. It was just physicality around in the paint." Kansas State also suffered a recent loss at West Virginia before it gave top-ranked Baylor a fight in a 73-67 loss Monday night at home. Senior forward Xavier Sneed scored 23 points to tie his career high in the loss, boosting his team-leading scoring average to 14.8 - eighth in the conference.

TIME: 8 p.m. ET. TV: ESPN2

ABOUT KANSAS STATE (9-13, 2-7 Big 12): Sneed passed Wildcats legend Mitch Richmond to move into 12th place on the school's all-time scoring list with Monday's effort, snapping out of a shooting slump by making 7-of-12 shots - 4-of-8 from 3-point range. "Xavier was better. He made some shots," coach Bruce Weber told reporters of the senior, who was 11-of-47 from long range over his previous eight games. "I told all of them if you're struggling shooting you can make excuses or you can get into the gym and you can put in extra time and come in the morning. It's not going to change unless you change it. And to his credit, he came in this morning, got in weighted ball shooting, got some form shooting and he made some shots." Junior guard Cartier Diarra chipped in 11 points off the bench and ranks second on the team in scoring (12.7).

ABOUT IOWA STATE (9-13, 2-7): Guard Tyrese Haliburton still leads the Cyclones in scoring (15.5), rebounding (6.0), assists (Big 12-leading 6.6) and steals (Big 12-leading 2.6). Fellow sophomore Rasir Bolton is just a tad back in the scoring department at 15.4 - 19.0 over his last five games. Junior forward Solomon Young chips in 8.5 points per contest but will be trying to bounce back from a scoreless effort at West Virginia in which he missed all eight of his shot attempts.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Haliburton had five steals in Wednesday's loss, his best total since he recorded six in the season opener against Mississippi Valley State.

2. Wildcats senior F Makol Mawien leads his team in rebounding (5.3) and is averaging nine boards over his last four games.

3. The teams split two meetings in the regular season in 2018-19 before Iowa State won 63-59 in the semifinals of the conference tournament.

PREDICTION: Iowa State 73, Kansas State 68