Baylor @ Kansas State preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 9, 2019 ) Kansas State 70, Baylor 63

After losing at rival Kansas on Monday night, No. 15 Kansas State now finds itself in a tie for first place in the Big 12 Conference with Texas Tech with three games to go. The Wildcats turn their attention to Saturday night's home game against Baylor, which is tied with the Jayhawks for third place, just a game behind the league leaders.

A win over the Bears could be pivotal for Kansas State's title hopes. The Wildcats have the edge schedule-wise the final week of the season with a road game at seventh place TCU and a home date with eighth place Oklahoma while Kansas and Baylor end the season with a game in Lawrence and Texas Tech finishes with a contest at Iowa State. "We talked about it in the locker room," senior guard Kamau Stokes told the Kansas City Star. "At the end of the day, we're still in first place. In order to stay there we have got to worry about Saturday. Only difference is we're sharing it now. I feel like our confidence is to the point where we don't want to share with anybody." Baylor, which lost at home to the Wildcats, 70-63, in the first meeting on Feb. 9, has bounced back to win four of its last five games including a 84-83 overtime win over Texas on Wednesday night.

TV: 8 p.m. ET, ESPN2

ABOUT BAYLOR (19-9, 10-5 Big 12): The Bears rallied from a 19-point second half deficit to pull out the win over the Longhorns with guard Mario Kegler, who scored a career-high 24 points, sinking a pair of free throws with 3.2 seconds left in OT to win it. "I knew we were down," Kegler told the Waco Tribune. "I (didn't) know what we were down. I couldn't do the math at the time. But I knew we had to fight to come back." Kegler (10.7 points per game) and guard Makai Mason (14.6) are the only players averaging in double figures for the Bears who have managed to stay in title contention despite losing standout forward Tristan Clark (14.6 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 2.4 bpg) for the season back in early January to a knee injury.

ABOUT KANSAS STATE (21-7, 11-4): Senior guard Barry Brown Jr. leads the team in scoring (15.3) and his 245 career steals currently rank seventh in Big 12 history. Dean Wade, a 6-10 senior forward, was the preseason Big 12 Player of the Year and he ranks second in scoring (12.9) to go along with a team best 6.3 rebounds per game. Junior forward Xavier Sneed (10.3 points) and Stokes (10.1) also are averaging in double figures with Stokes also averaging a team best 3.3 assists per game.

TIP-INS

1. Baylor is averaging a Big 12-best 74.3 points per game in conference play and is also shooting a league-high 39.3 percent from 3-point range.

2. Kansas State is holding opponents to 59.5 points and 41.1 percent shooting this season while also forcing an average of 14.6 turnovers per game.

3. The Wildcats lead the series 22-18 and have won the last five in a row.

PREDICTION: Kansas State 65, Baylor 58