With less than a month left in the Big 12 regular season, two struggling teams will meet up Wednesday night when Kansas State hosts Cincinnati in Manhattan, Kan.
The Wildcats (10-13, 1-9 Big 12) will take to their home court having dropped four straight contests and nine of 10.
Coach Jerome Tang’s squad opened Tuesday in a last-place tie with Utah, which hosted No. 3 Houston that night.
Kansas State was fighting a flu bug spreading through the team during a blowout home loss to No. 8 Iowa State, but the team showed promise at TCU, losing in Texas 84-82 despite a gritty performance by top scorer P.J. Haggerty.
Haggerty returned to his home state and scored 30 points on 14-of-24 shooting, including 2 of 5 from three-point range.
“We have to bring this kind of focus and energy to Bramlage (Coliseum),” Tang said, looking ahead to the Cincinnati matchup. “Our fans deserve that right now. … Our fans deserve this kind of focus and energy.”
Haggerty averages 23.3 points per game and has paced the team in scoring in the past dozen games. He also leads in rebounding at 5.2. David Castillo adds 11.7 points, while Nate Johnson scores 11.3.
The Bearcats (12-12, 4-7) have dropped four of the past six games but are coming off their best win in conference play, a 92-72 thrashing of rival UCF at home in Ohio.
Opening the game as the worst shooting team in the Big 12 at 47.1%, Cincinnati turned in a season-best 58.9% (33 of 56) performance and waylaid the Knights in a long-shot bid to make the NCAA Tournament field.
Listed as probable for Wednesday, Estonian guard Kerr Kriisa (5.8 points, 3.0 assists) missed four consecutive games with a shoulder separation in January. He returned for five games but didn’t play against UCF.
Coach Wes Miller has given backcourt mate Keyshuan Tillery more playing time. Tillery logged 17 minutes against the Knights.
“Keyshuan’s minutes in the first half were significant,” Miller said of Tillery, who averages three points while playing 10 minutes per game. “He’s going to be an elite college guard. Elite. I see (him) in a Final Four one day because he’s got leadership characteristics. He’s got the competitive edge and all the ability.”
Baba Miller leads the Bearcats with 13.6 points and 10.5 rebounds.
