The Kansas State Wildcats begin their postseason run when they collide with the Colorado Buffaloes for the third time, except this time it's in the Big 12 Tournament. Both teams have had solid seasons, and it looks as if both will easily make the NCAA Tournament. K-State is coming in playing their best basketball all season, winning six games in a row and seven out of eight games. Colorado on the other hand, is playing solid basketball as well, winning their last five out of seven. During the first Colorado/K-State tilt, the Buffaloes won in Manhattan, 74-66 back on January 12th. The second time K-State and Colorado played in Boulder, the Cats were a split second away from having a seven-game winning streak instead of the six-game winning streak they're currently enjoying.
The Last Time Out...
Colorado 58 K-State 56 (February 12, 2011 - Coors Events Center in Boulder, CO)
This game came down to the last seconds as Rodney McGruger hit a three point shot to give K-State the lead and the win. However, after the referees reviewed the play through replay and the basket was waved off due to McGruger still having the ball in his hand a tenth of a second after the buzzer went off. This allowed Colorado to win the game 58-56 in thrilling fasion. This was he first time Colorado swept K-State since the 03-04 season. At the time, many people, K-State fans included, had written off the season for the Cats and expecting them to land in the NIT Tournament. Instead of letting this effectively end the season, this was when the Cats started on their magical run not just back into the polls, but more importantly, the NCAA Tournament. This was also before Jacob Pullen went on his run of scoring 20+ points the next five games. In a way, this game wound up being the final wake-up call the Cats needed to get their season in gear. Jamar Samuels led the Cats in scoring with 13 while Jacob Pullen contributed with 12 points of his own. Cory Higgins led Colorado in scoring with 17 points while Levi Knutson scored 16. Here is what happened during K-State and Colorado's most recent games.
K-State 67 Iowa State 55 (March 5, 2011 - Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan, KS)
On Senior Day last year, Iowa State came into Manhattan and defeated the Cats, ruining the end of a great regular season. The Cats kept this in mind this year when Iowa State came to Manhattan, seeking revenge and making sure that wouldn't happen again. Although Iowa State played a good game, the Cats proved to be too much at the end. K-State won 67-55 which capped off a up and down season for the Cats. Jacob Pullen led the team with 17 points and added four assists, with Curtis Kelly scoring 13 rebounds and grabbing eight rebounds. At one point in the second half, Iowa State was was up 39-38 with 15:19 left to play, but an 8-0 run squarely put the momentum and the control of the game back with the Cats. During this game, K-State shot 47% from the field while Iowa State was held to just 37% shooting. Diante Garrett led the Cyclones with 18 points and five assists. Now, let's see how Colorado fared in their last game.
Colorado 77 Iowa State 75 (March 9, 2011 - First Round of the Big 12 Tournament)
The series was tied at one with Colorado winning big in Boulder, 95-69 on February 1st and then, Iowa State got their revenge in Ames when they won 95-90 on March 2nd. The third time around was during the first round of the Big 12 Tournament at the Sprint Center in Kansas City. It started out slow, with a halftime score of just 28-26, a much slower pace than the last game was. However, both teams easily picked up the pace, with both teams scoring nearly 50 points a piece in the second half. At the end of the game, Colorado took the game 77-75. Alec Burks led the Buffaloes with 29 points, 15 rebounds and six assists, while Cory Higgins scored 16 points and had two assists. Jake Anderson led all scorers with a career-high 33 points while Diante Garrett scored 19 points and had six assists. Colorado won the rebounding battle 48-36, a key reason why the Buffaloes were able to win. Speaking of keys, here are the keys of victory for the Cats and the Buffaloes, starting with K-State.
Keys to Victory:
K-State
Rebounding: If the Cats want to finally win a game against Colorado, they need to win the rebounding battle. It's proven that Colorado can rebound—they had 48 against Iowa State—so keeping the Buffaloes, especially Alec Burks off the boards will be crucial for the Cats to advance to the semis.
Rodney McGruder: The focus of the Buffaloes' defense will be on Jacob Pullen, and rightfully so because he's a pre-season All American and was just nominated to the All-Big 12 First team. This will allow McGruger to have open looks to knock down shots, which he needs to hit to take some of the pressure off of Pullen.
Free-throw shooting: During tournament-time, free throw shooting is crucial. It can keep teams in games if losing, and give teams extra cushion near the end of the game when they want to ice it away and secure victory. K-State needs to hit a lot of their free throws, starting with this game to do all they can to get victories. In turn, the more victories, the better possible seeding in the NCAA Tournament.
Colorado
Alec Burks: He needs to have a big game against Jacob Pullen for the Buffaloes to beat the Cats. If Burks is having a big game, this will also open up opportunities for other players, like Levi Knutson to knock down three point shots and spread the Cats' defense.
Levi Knuston: Knutson is a lights-out three point shooter, shooting at a 49% clip. If he gets going from beyond the arc, it'll make life easier on Alec Burks to do his thing, and will make life very difficult on the Cats' perimeter defense to guard him.
Foul trouble: Colorado needs to do their best to stay out of foul trouble, especially their post-men against the likes of Curtis Kelly, Jamar Samuels and Jordan Henriquez-Roberts. They don't have a whole lot of size besides Shane Harris-Tunks and Ben Mills, making the game very difficult for the Buffaloes to win without some kind of an inside game.
Prediction: K-State wins in a close one, 64-60.
--Paul Payton, Wildcat 91.9 Sports Staff
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