Oklahoma State (11-2, 1-9 Big 12), which is in last place in the Big 12, travels Tuesday night to Manhattan, Kansas, to take on second-to-last place Kansas State.

The Cowboys are 2-3 in their last five with wins over Texas A&M and TCU. The Cats are 1-4 in the same span, with their lone win coming against Oklahoma. At this point in the season, we know OSU (barring some conference tournament miracle) will not be dancing in March. Now is the time to fully commit toward building for next year, and letting your freshmen get some meaningful minutes in what should be a close ballgame.

Who: Kansas State (9-14, 2-8)

Where: Bramlage Coliseum | Manhattan, Kan.

When: 8 p.m. | Tuesday, Feb 11

TV: ESPNU

Streaming: Watch ESPN

Radio: Cowboy Radio Network / TuneIn

Live stats: okstate.statbroadcast.com

Spread: Kansas State -3

All-time series: Cowboys lead 29-20

Previous Result: 85-46 Kansas State (2019)

Projected Starters

Oklahoma State

No. 13 Isaac Likekele

No. 21 Lindy Waters III

No. 1 Jonathan Laurent

No. 12 Cam McGriff

No. 14 Yor Anei

Kansas State

No. 3 Dajuan Gordon

No. 2 Cartier Diarra

No. 20 Xavier Sneed

No. 23 Montavious Murphy

No. 14 Makol Mawien

The Opponent

Scott Wachter-USA TODAY Sports

The Wildcats are led by senior forward Xavier Sneed, who averages 14.5 points per game while collecting nearly 5 rebounds per game. Close behind is junior guard Cartier Diarra at 13 and four, distributing almost five assists per game. Both players reach double-digits in scoring fairly easily and consistently, and while neither are elite 3-point shooters, they can still stuff the stat-sheet and impact the game in various ways.

As a team, they shoot 32.5% from 3-point range (not great) and 65.9% from the free-throw line (also not great). What does this mean?

Barring Kansas State getting hot from deep (knowing OSU’s luck it could totally happen), the Cowboys should find themselves locked in a competitive game throughout, and should be able to stay within striking distance even if trailing late due to K-State’s struggles from the free-throw line.

Something interesting I learned while preparing this preview is OSU is 2-8 in its last 10 games against the Wildcats and have lost four straight. Both losses last year were in complete blowout fashion. OSU’s last win in the series came inside Bramlage Coliseum in 2017, when a fella named Jawun Evans brought the Cowboys back from an early 14 point deficit to secure the win 80-68.

As a matter of fact, the Cowboys have a better record (3-7) in their last 10 against Big 12 juggernaut Kansas!

Will the Cats continue to be OSU’s kryptonite?

Seventy-three percent of voters in the last poll gave the Pokes no chance against Baylor. I’m interested to see how this one goes.