Score Predictions for No. 10 West Virginia vs Kansas State
The No. 10 West Virginia Mountaineers (16-6, 9-4) welcome the Kansas State Wildcats (7-18, 3-13) inside the WVU Coliseum at 4:00 pm EST televised on ESPN2.
Schuyler Callihan: West Virginia 73, Kansas State 61
The Mountaineers should have no trouble coming out on top of the lowly Wildcats. In the first meeting vs. Kansas State, West Virginia's defense was in sync forcing 28 turnovers. Not to mention, the Wildcats severely struggled shooting the deep ball going just 3/15 from beyond the arc. K-State should be able to handle the ball a lot better with the return of freshman Nijel Pack.
For West Virginia, Bob Huggins would like to see some improvement at the free-throw line and from three. In Tuesday's win over TCU, West Virginia went 5/21 from deep (23%) and just 19/33 (57%) from the charity stripe.
I don't expect K-State to provide the Mountaineers with much of a scare but I do think they'll hang around early before things get out of reach.
Christopher Hall: West Virginia 73 Kansas State 61
Kansas State is fresh off a 62-57 upset over No. 7 Oklahoma and come into Morgantown will a full roster after leading scorer Nijel Pack missed the first meeting due to COVID-19.
However, I don't believe he will make up the 22-point difference from the first meeting. I do suspect he will make an impact and make the Mountaineers grind out a win.
West Virginia looks to be improving each game out, and complacency hasn't settled in as it had at times early in the season, playing down to the level of competition.
Derek Culver continues to dominate underneath, while Taz Sherman and Sean McNeil continue to heat up from the outside. Emmitt Matthews Jr has come into his own, playing aggressively on both ends of the floor.
I expect the Wildcats to ugly the game up, slow it down and try to grind out the win. West Virginia has to be careful and not let off the gas if they can establish a big lead because K-State has come back to win in their last two games, marking the Wildcats' first back-to-back wins since December.
However, West Virginia might give up a big lead, but they'll pull away late 73-61.
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