Big 12 Schedule has Historic Start for Kansas State Men’s Basketball

Kansas State’s men’s basketball team will have a historic start to its Big 12 schedule.

Historic and crazy difficult, too.

According to Kansas State Athletics, when Kansas State opens against No. 10 BYU on Saturday (12:30 p.m. CT, on CBS) then visits No. 1 Arizona on Jan. 7, it will mark the first time the Wildcats will have opened its conference schedule playing two top-10 teams.

After a 9-4 non-conference portion of its schedule, Kansas State’s schedule gets real serious, real fast.

Jerome Tang’s take

Kansas State coach Jerome Tang believes these challenging Big 12 games will be tossups, and not just the first two.

“I think we can beat anybody in the Big 12 and anybody in the Big 12 can beat us,” Tang said at a recent news conference.

“We can play really well these first six [conference] games and be 1-5 or be 5-1. That’s just how good this league is. There are six teams that are ranked, four teams getting votes, and 10 teams that could be in the Top 25.

Kansas State guard Nate Johnson guards Louisiana Monroe guard Krystian Lewis during the first half at Bramlage Coliseum. | Scott Sewell-Imagn Images

“It’s not just the best league in the country, but it’s the deepest league in the country.”

Tang is speaking the hard truth about Big 12. Two conference teams — Arizona and Iowa State — are projected as NCAA Tournament No. 1 seeds by ESPN’s Bracketology. All 16 conference teams have a winning record. Eleven teams have at least 10 wins and two others have nine wins.

The Big 12: The best

In college athletics, the Big Ten and SEC dominate football these days, and the Big 12 probably is the nation’s top basketball conference.

Bracketologist Joe Lunardi has eight Big 12 teams projected into his field of 68 — he has 10 from the Big Ten and 10 from the SEC. But you can make a solid case that top to bottom — and especially at the top — the Big 12 is a stronger conference.

In a conference with such quality, teams will take some win-loss bruises. But many of the Big 12 teams seem to have staying power. It’s easy to project 8-to-10 conference teams making the NCAA field, even with the anticipated conference losses along the way.

“Do I feel like we’ve put together a roster that’s going to give us an opportunity to win games in the Big 12? Yes,” Tang said.

“How many of those games that is? It’ll all come down to one- and two-possession games for the most part. But I like our group, and I like how we’ve improved from the beginning of the year to now.”

K-State’s season thus far

Kansas State’s nine victories include three by one possession. The Wildcats defeated California and Tulsa, and lost to undefeated Nebraska. The Wildcats haven’t lost since Dec. 6, the last game of a four-game losing streak. The other losses were to Indiana, Bowling Green and Seton Hall.

The Wildcats will take a four-game winning streak into their conference opener against BYU, with wins over Mississippi Valley State, Creighton, South Dakota and Louisiana Monroe. The victory over Creighton was on the road.

Wildcats buoyed by balance

Kansas State enjoys balanced scoring. Five players, led by P.J. Haggerty, average double figures.

* P.J. Haggerty: 22.9 points per game
* David Castillo: 13.3 points per game
* Abdi Bashir Jr.: 12.8 points per game
* Nate Johnson: 12.4 points per game
* Khamari McGriff: 10.1 points per game

Kansas State guard Abdi Bashir Jr. celebrates after scoring against Nebraska during the second half. — Kansas State guard Abdi Bashir Jr. celebrates after scoring against Nebraska during the second half of the game at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City. | Denny Medley-Imagn Images

Beyond these five, Kansas State’s Taj Manning has become an invaluable player off the bench. Manning only averages 9.3 minutes, 2.4 points and 3.4 rebounds per game, but as his presence continues to grow, so do his contributions.

“Taj is special, man,” Tang said after Manning, a 6-foot-7 junior, had career highs with eight points and seven rebounds in 13 minutes against Louisiana Monroe on Sunday.

“He’s just the best. And he’s starting to become more comfortable with more playing time.”

Kansas State defeated Louisiana Monroe, 94-85, in the Wildcats’ first game after an eight-day holidays break.

“It’s not exactly where we want it to be just yet,” Tang said. “We feel like we didn’t play well [against ULM] but we scored 94 points.

“There are things to clean up, but you get through this game and say, ‘Man, let’s take the win and let’s move on.’ ”

Moving on for the Wildcats means dealing with BYU and star freshman AJ Dybantsa, in what should be a terrific game Saturday. Dybantsa just won his first Big 12 Men’s Basketball Player of the Week and Newcomer of the Week awards. He registered his first triple-double in a 109-81 win over Eastern Washington. Dybantsa’s scoresheet was impressive: 33 points, 10 rebounds and a career-high 10 assists.

“Everybody is excited,” Haggerty said. “This is what we all came here for. The Big 12, big scenery, big-time games, big-time players. It’ll be a fun Big 12 season. You don’t look ahead.”