Mississippi State @ Kansas State preview

Kansas State and Mississippi State meet Saturday in the Never Forget Tribute Classic at Newark, N.J., with a combined record of 0-3 versus major conference teams. The Wildcats have lost to Pittsburgh and Marquette while the Bulldogs fell to No. 20 Villanova with Saturday's contest serving as the teams' last big test before they commence their Big 12 and SEC seasons early next month.

Kansas State is coming off an 86-41 victory over Alabama State on Wednesday that encouraged coach Bruce Weber. "It's on both ends of the court. It's executing on the offensive end and doing all the little things on the defensive end to get stops and find ways to win the game,'' Weber told reporters. "Those are why we won, along with sharing the basketball. They have to make sure that continues to happen if we're going to move forward." Mississippi State hasn't played since a 74-67 loss to Louisiana Tech on Dec. 5 that snapped a 26-game non-conference home winning streak. "They've had much more preparation for us than we will for them,'' Weber said. "It's important to go there with a little bit of a chip on our shoulder. This is huge for us, not pressure-wise, but just being ready to play."

TV: 11:30 a.m. ET, ESPNU

ABOUT MISSISSIPPI STATE (6-2): Tyson Carter (team-high 17.9 points) scored 20 points against Louisiana Tech - the fourth time he's scored at least that many this season - and sunk a season high-tying five 3-pointers. Reggie Perry (14.6 points, club-most 9.5 rebounds) has four double-doubles this season after recording 14 points and 14 rebounds last game with his board work matching a career high. Robert Woodard II (11.6 points, 7.8 rebounds) has converted 9-of-20 from 3-point range while freshmen guards Iverson Molinar (9.9 points) and D.J. Stewart Jr. (9.6) provide scoring depth.

ABOUT KANSAS STATE (6-3): Cartier Diarra was tied for eighth nationally entering Friday at seven assists per game after recording 10 on Wednesday with the club's 29 assists fourth-most in school history and the most since it recorded 30 in a 107-48 victory over Gardner-Webb on Dec. 14, 2008. Xavier Sneed paces the team with 15.1 points and 5.6 rebounds after going for 20 and six versus Alabama State. The Wildcats average only 67.6 points with Diarra (11.3) the only other double-figure scorer but are 17th in the country in points allowed at 58.1 per game.

TIP-INS

1. Carter became the first Kansas State player to record at least 10 assists in a game since Marcus Foster had 10 in an 87-83 double overtime loss at Baylor on Feb. 15, 2014.

2. The Bulldogs' plus-9.1 rebounding margin is 18th in the nation.

3. Villanova meets Delaware in the second game of Saturday's doubleheader.

PREDICTION: Kansas State 63, Mississippi State 61