Christian Royston, Sports Editor
No. 23 Iowa State 62, Kansas State 57
There is a good chance we see the return of Hilton Magic in full force Wednesday night against Kansas State. The Cyclones are coming off a strong win on the road against TCU, which should build momentum for a week of tough matchups.
Kansas State is coming off a solid week taking down Baylor. However, the Wildcats haven’t shown as much life on the road. They lost their most recent road matchup to Texas Tech while beating just West Virginia on the road, which is one of the bottom teams in the conference.
The Cyclones last week at home saw them upset an undefeated Houston team and make quick work of Oklahoma State. I think Kansas State will put up a fight, but Iowa State’s defense will prove to be the better of the two as the Cyclones stay perfect at Hilton.
No. 23 Iowa State 75, No. 7 Kansas 72
Hilton has been the home of upsets in the past and was the downfall of No. 2 Houston recently. If anything is for sure, it is that no ranked team is safe from Iowa State at home.
T.J. Otzelberger also has experience taking down Kansas at Hilton, as the Cyclones upset the Jayhawks a year ago. Although a new year sheds a fresh roster, the Cyclones are in prime position for another upset.
Kansas has had an interesting start to Big 12 play. The Jayhawks have looked more beatable now than ever. Not only was Kansas upset by UCF, the Jayhawks are more recently coming off another upset loss to West Virginia.
The one key thing in Kansas’ losses is that they are both on the road. In fact, Kansas only beat Oklahoma State on the road. Iowa State will be the best team Kansas has faced on the road so far in the Big 12 season, and Hilton will be one of the toughest atmospheres Kansas will play in all season. All the stars are aligning to a repeat upset win for Iowa State.
Logan Shanks, Assistant Sports Editor
No. 23 Iowa State 68, Kansas State 60
After splitting their ranked matchups on the road against BYU and TCU, the Cyclones return to Hilton to face a hot Kansas State team that has won six of its last seven games. With a 4-1 start to Big 12 play, which is tied for first in the conference, the Wildcats sit atop many defensive metrics which has helped them have the second-highest scoring margin (9.2) in league play.
But it has not been all that easy for the Wildcats as they have consistently turned the ball over, despite going up against a few of the worst defenses in the Big 12. Kansas State has turned the ball over an average of 77 times, the most of any Big 12 team this season through five games.
Iowa State’s offense is at its best when it can force turnovers on the other end. When adding in the fact that this game is on the Cyclones’ home court, where they have not lost a game yet, makes it hard to believe they will not come out with a win Wednesday.
If you were to ask me about this game after the collapse at BYU, my answer would be different. We have seen this team is capable of winning games without Tamin Lipsey, as long as they build momentum early on, which they have consistently done at home.
No. 7 Kansas 70, No. 23 Iowa State 63
Although T.J. Otzelberger and the Cyclones found success against Kansas last year, I do not see the same happening for Iowa State this year for one massive reason: who is going to guard Hunter Dickinson? Iowa State has not had to go up against a center of Dickinson’s caliber yet, and I think he is going to be a major impact player for the Jayhawks who are looking to put a pair of unranked losses behind them.
Kansas has averaged the most points against conference opponents through five games (79.2) with Dickinson leading the Big 12 in scoring (21.2). While Iowa State is no stranger to slowing down opposing teams’ best players, they have a tendency to allow other players to have some of their best games, particularly from 3-point land.
If Iowa State is still without Lipsey against the Jayhawks, then taking care of senior guard Kevin McCullar Jr., who has averaged 19 points per game in Big 12 play, will be just as challenging as defending Dickinson.
Depending on how Iowa State responds to Kansas and its first punch, this could be a close game, but I think the amount of talent and weapons for the Jayhawks will be too much for the Cyclones to handle.
