Kansas State @ Kansas preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 5, 2019 ) Kansas 67, Kansas State 74

Kansas has won or shared the Big 12 Conference regular season title each of the last 14 seasons, the longest such streak in Division I history. But the 12th-ranked Jayhawks head into Monday night’s Sunflower Showdown with No. 21 Kansas State in a must-win scenario, trailing the visiting Wildcats by two games in the standings with four to go.

Kansas enters the contest off the worst loss of the Bill Self era, 91-62 on Saturday at No. 14 Texas Tech, which is a game out of first place and a game ahead of the Jayhawks in the Big 12 standings. “Coach (Self) talked about getting ready for Kansas State,” forward Dedric Lawson told the Kansas City Star. “He said, ‘Can’t get this one back. Worry about the next one.’ I think we’ll bounce back pretty well. Sometimes a loss can be a blessing in disguise.” Meanwhile, Kansas State, which won the first meeting between this season, 74-67, on Feb. 5 in Manhattan, Kan., comes in off an 85-46 blowout of Oklahoma State on Saturday and has won its last six Big 12 road games. “It’s a bucket-list game, but we don’t really dwell on it or talk about it,” Wildcat forward Dean Wade told the Wichita Eagle. “We honestly just look to the next game and that just happens to be the next game. It’s a huge game for us and it’s on the road.”

TV: 9 p.m. ET, ESPN

ABOUT KANSAS STATE (21-6, 11-3 Big 12): The Wildcats come into the contest off their biggest conference margin of victory since a 55-point win over Missouri in 1998, shooting 61.5 percent from the floor, including 10-of-20 from 3-point range. Senior guard Barry Brown Jr., who has played in a school-record 132 consecutive games, including 110 straight starts, leads the team in scoring (15.7) and steals (2.0) and had 18 points in the first meeting. The 6-10 Wade, the preseason Big 12 Player of the Year, is second in scoring (13.1) while grabbing a team best 6.3 rebounds per game, while forward Xavier Sneed (10.4) and guard Kamau Stokes (10.1) also are averaging in double figures.

ABOUT KANSAS (20-7, 9-5): Lawson leads the Jayhawks in scoring (19.0) and rebounding (10.1) and had 18 points in the first meeting, which featured 23 turnovers by the Jayhawks compared to 12 for Kansas State. “They ate us up pretty good for 40 minutes as far as pressuring us, getting open one pass away,” Self said. “We were never even remotely comfortable. … Their defense was so much better than our offense it was comical.” Second-leading scorer Lagerald Vick (14.1) missed his fourth straight game at Texas Tech while dealing with personal matters but two talented freshmen, point guard Devon Dotson (12.0 points, 3.6 assists) and Ochai Agbaji (10.1 points, 4.9 rebounds) have helped to pick up the slack.

TIP-INS

1. This will be the 900th men’s basketball game played in historic Allen Fieldhouse. Kansas is 786-113 (.874) in games played there, including 248-13 (.950) under Self.

2. Brown has amassed a school-record 243 steals in his career and has had 37 games in his career with at least three thefts.

3. Kansas leads the series, 196-94, and has won 57 of the last 63 meetings with Kansas State, including the last 12 at Allen Fieldhouse.

PREDICTION: Kansas 75, Kansas State 68