The last one of these opened this way:
The Kansas State Wildcats are officially entering the “pay-attention” neighborhood. After a 98-77 drubbing of a decent Mississippi State squad last night, the 5-0
Wildcats are starting to appear like a legitimately solid squad…one that could be capable of fun things if they can keep things rolling into the heart of the season.
And now, here we sit, getting ready to watch a basketball team that has lost four straight, and looks like they are on course, somehow, for even worse as the season rolls along. And to top it off, we’ve missed getting you this game thread for those four games — so why now? Because *you* deserve this place to rant about the cluster that this squad has become (without attacking each other, of course).
So we’re here tonight, just two nights removed from watching the TangCats getting insulted (rightfully so) and run out of their own gym. They face a Delta Devils squad that enters the contest tonight at just 1-8….and that “1” is questionable, because it came against D3 Mississippi University for Women (who, yes, does have a men’s program) in their only home game of the season to this point.
This is a game that K-State has to win. A loss tonight would be at least as bad, if not arguably worse, than the loss to Fort Hays State in 2020. Even a close win would be extremely awful. CSU Bakersfield won by 16 a few weeks ago. Louisiana-Monroe won by 14 last week. That’s the floor. I’m not expecting a 120-84 effort like A&M put up, or the 108-60 pantsing orchestrated by Murray State — but even Hawai’i won by 32 (88-56).
If K-State can’t win this game comfortably, 20 points or more (unless the walk-ons play 10 minutes to end the game), we need to have some serious conversations about the state of this program and the remaining tenure of its coaching staff.
We’ve got an 7:00pm CT tipoff from Bramlage Colisuem, and you can catch the action streaming on ESPN+ with Ben Boyle (play-by-play), Missy Heidrick (analyst), and Sophie Smith (sideline reporter) on the call.
If you can’t access the stream, the game can be heard across portions of the 28-station K-State Sports Network with Wyatt Thompson (play-by-play) and Stan Weber (analyst) calling the action. The game will also be available online at K-Statesports.com and via the Varsity Network app, as well as on satellite radio at Sirius/XM Ch. 380. Live stats are also available at k-statesports.com, and social media updates (@KStateMBB) will also be a part of the coverage.
Go Cats?
