The Kansas State Wildcats haven’t been perfect, but they’ve managed to open the season 4-0 against some teams with a pulse. It came down to the wire against both Cal and Tulsa, but the crew that Jerome
Tang has put together managed to keep their edge down the stretch and find ways to win games that would have easily been lost the last couple years. Now it’s time to find out if they can win a game away from Bramlage, tonight facing off against Mississippi State.
Though tonight’s game isn’t a road game, and at Kansas City’s T-Mobile Center it’s not even a neutral site game, even though it’s part of the Hall of Fame Classic and features Nebraska earlier in the evening. K-State fans are very good at filling the pink-lit arena in the heart of the Power and Light District in downtown KCMO, and will easily outpace the number of Miss State fans in attendance.
The Bulldogs enter tonights game at 2-1, but both wins came in Starkville, and their lone loss came at a neutral site to Iowa State 10 days ago. The Wildcats probably aren’t as scary as the Top 25 Cyclones, but it will be a rowdy environment away from Mississippi and that favors the Cats tonight.
So tonight, it’s simple really. Can the Cats shoot as hot away from Bramlage as they have so far at home? Can they find some defense? The answers to both questions will go a long way towards the continued optimism for this hot start, or the start of worry for the rest of the season.
Also tonight, legendary Wildcats head coach Jack Hartman will be honored, as the all-time winningest coach in K-State history has been inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame. He is the sixth Wildcat to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, including the fourth coach following Jack Gardner, Tex Winter, and his former player and protege Lon Kruger.
We’ve got an 8:30pm CT tipoff for the Hall of Fame Classic tonight from T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, and you can catch the action on NBCSN and streaming on Peacock with Steve Schlanger (play-by-play) and Tre Demps (analyst) 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. 385. Live stats are also available at k-statesports.com, and social media updates (@KStateMBB) will also be a part of the coverage.
