Throughout its long history of men’s basketball Arizona has faced off against an opponent with the same mascot 32 times, winning 21 of those all-Wildcats matchups. But never before has the UA squared off with one in conference play.
That changes Tuesday night when Arizona visits Kansas State. The Wildcats (plural) have met 14 times, with K-State holding an 8-6 advantage, though their last meeting came at the 2014 Maui Invitational and the last time they played on each other’s court was in 1999.
Arizona (17-6, 11-1) is the hottest team in the Big 12, winners of six straight, but K-State (12-11, 6-6) is right behind it, winning its last five including against in-state rival Kansas on Saturday.
To better understand those other Wildcats, we asked Eric Rubottom of SB Nation sister site Bring On The Cats. Below are his spunky answers to our cowardly questions:
AZ Desert Swarm: After starting 1-6 in the Big 12, Kansas State seems to have flipped a switch with five straight wins. What have been the keys to this turnaround?
Eric Rubottom: “To be blunt and short, we’ve looked like a basketball team the last five games, where the 18 before that, we looked like a bunch of guys at the rec where (coach Jerome) Tang just rolled the ball out on the floor. But you’re probably looking for a little more nuance than that. Generally, a couple of things have changed. Personnel-wise, Dug McDaniel seems to have found a good rhythm and effectiveness as our starting PG. Through mid-January, he floated somewhere between a detriment to the team and mediocre, while showing some flashes of scoring ability. Since then, his defense has improved notably, and he’s scoring more efficiently, by getting to the rim as well as taking smart jumpers.
“That leads to a second change: shot selection. K-State is still prone to taking some what-are-you-doing threes, but generally, shot selection has become better (more set and open looks, less shooting on the move or guarded), aided by more focus on ball movement. To wit, K-State has scored more than 70 points in each of the past five games (all wins), a feat we only accomplished once between December 7 and January 25. There’s also been a buy-in on defensive effort and rebounding; though KU did shoot 50 percent from the floor (I abhor giving KU credit for anything, but their paint game is second-to-none), the other four opponents in our 5-game streak shot worse than 40 percent) from the floor, and we outrebounded all of them.”
All five starters are averaging double figures in conference play, but it doesn’t look like there’s a go-to scorer. Who is most likely to go off and have a big game, and who can’t disappear if K-State is to win?
“There isn’t a go-to playmaker per se, and any one of the starting five is liable to be the leading scorer. The key is four of the five need to legitimately contribute, so if you can turn us into a 2-position team, we’ll probably struggle to score enough points to keep up. Who is most likely to have a big game? That answer’s right next to this week’s winning Powerball numbers. Who can’t disappear really boils down to McDaniel, Coleman Hawkins, and David N’Guessan. Those three all have a solid performance, and we can get either Max Jones (guts-type guy) or Brendan Hausen (outside shooting specialist) going, and I’ll like where we’re at.”
What are the biggest strengths and weaknesses on the defensive end?
“I’d say we’re getting better at getting out and pressuring passing lanes in the last couple of weeks. On-ball perimeter defense has been pretty good all season, and rotations have gotten much better in the last three weeks (they were god-awful through December and early January). I wouldn’t say we’re soft on the interior—but as our game against KU illustrated, we can give up some easy looks against teams with multiple skilled big men.”
Arizona has never played at Bramlage Coliseum, AKA the Octagon of Doom. What kind of environment is it entering, and how does it compare to other road venues in the Big 12?
“The Octagon can be a scary place; all 12,000 in Manhattan can sound like they’re right on top of you if the team is rockin’ and the fans are roarin’. Many coaches and players from other programs will quote Bramlage Coliseum as one of the best basketball environments in the conference, especially since our ‘renaissance’ starting with the Bob Huggins era (season). Currently, I’d put a raucous Octagon of Doom behind AFH…and that’s it (though, admittedly, I have not been to a game in McKale, so take that with a grain of salt, #BearDown). Eddie Sutton days at Gallagher-Iba probably outdid the Octagon, but man, I don’t think we’re adding too many more to the list. That being said (I’m teeing up the next question), the home crowd this season has been generally despondent due to the lack of success. The students are there and noisy, but GA seemed to really lose interest for a while. But with #EMAW (Every Man a Wildcat) on a 5-game win streak (three over Top 25 foes) and the most recent being a big home win over KU? Not sure Arizona could have picked a worse time if they’re hoping to have a quiet trip to Bramlage.”
Jerome Tang took K-State to the Elite Eight in his first season in 2022-23 but it’s been a bit of a backslide since then. Is the fanbase still behind him, or is the seat starting to warm?
“If you asked me this three weeks ago, I’d tell you that even those of us—myself included—that have been around the program, or die-hard fans, were beginning to think ‘buyout’, not ‘oh my god, could we actually somehow backdoor our way into the NCAA tournament?’ The buyout figure was the only thing between a ‘very warm’ seat and a ‘blistering-his-butt-hot’ seat as recently as January 22nd. Before the current streak, we were sitting at 7-11, 1-6 in conference play, with a team that genuinely looked like they might not win another game the remainder of the season. After the wins over WVU, OSU, and at ISU, I’d say the pitchforks were lowered, but still in hand. Follow those three up with wins at ASU and versus KU, and I’d say this: The heat has been dialed back a bit, and if we see a fall-off these last eight conference games, or we come into next season with 12 new faces, that seat is going to get very hot, very quickly.”
Prediction time. Which Wildcats win this one? Give us a score pick.
“This would have been a very different answer three weeks ago, but I gotta take #EMAW at home on a five-game win streak. 76-70 Prairie Cats over Desert Cats.”