Nebraska Omaha @ Kansas State preview
Bramlage Coliseum
Last Meeting ( Nov 15, 2016 ) Nebraska Omaha 68, Kansas State 81
Kansas State will try to build on a strong effort from before the Christmas break as the Wildcats host Omaha on Tuesday night at Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan, Kan.
In their most recent outing, Dec. 21, the Wildcats never trailed and led by as many as 30 points in defeating Jacksonville 70-46.
Omaha (2-7) enters the game on a three-game losing streak and has not played since Dec. 17.
K-State (4-5) seems to have found its stride with a starting lineup of three freshmen. After starting the season 1-4, the Cats have won three of their last four games. That surge has coincided with the insertion of Selton Miguel into the starting lineup, joining Davion Bradford, who started the prior game, and Nijel Pack, a fellow freshman who has started every game.
Pack emerged from a shooting slump in the game against Jacksonville, when he was 6-of-9 from the field, including 4-of-6 from three-point range to lead the Cats with 16 points.
"My teammates kept finding me, which fed my confidence," he said. "They kept going in and that really boosted my confidence to keep going and shoot a couple more."
The contributions of the freshmen have benefited sophomore DaJuan Gordon, who had his first career double-double at Iowa State and then backed it up two games later with another against Jacksonville.
"I told him yesterday, ‘Be the best DaJuan Gordon,' and he has a double-double, 13 points, 12 rebounds," Kansas State coach Bruce Weber said. "He's a year older, more experienced, understanding who he is, and just playing hard."
The Wildcats are still led by senior Mike McGuirl, who is averaging 12.3 points a game. Gordon is second at 10.1 ppg and Pack is right behind at 10.0. Miguel is fourth at 8.2, but he's averaging 11.5 in his four starts.
Omaha also has a trio of players averaging just over 10 points per game. Marlon Ruffin leads at 11.4 points per game, followed by Wanjang Tut (10.2) and Matt Pile (10.1).
After blowout losses at Kansas (95-50) and Colorado (91-49), the Mavericks lost a close game at Wyoming, 82-78, on Dec. 17. Tut had a career-high 27 points, and Pile went over 1,000 career points against the Cowboys.
Omaha trailed the entire half but managed to pull within one point twice before Wyoming hit five of six free-throw attempts to keep the game out of reach.
--Field Level Media