Kansas State basketball will take its six-game winning streak on the road Saturday for an 8 p.m. game against Brigham Young at the Marriott Center in Provo, Utah.
The Wildcats (13-11, 7-6 Big 12) are coming off a 73-70 victory over No. 13-ranked Arizona on Tuesday, their fourth win against a ranked team during the streak. BYU (16-8, 7-6) beat West Virginia on the road Tuesday, 73-69, to snap a two-game losing streak.
Kansas State, which ended a 15-game road losing streak two weeks ago at Iowa State and followed it up with a victory at Arizona State, now will try to build on that mini-streak as well against BYU.
BYU is the first stop on a quick two-game road swing that ends with a Monday night visit to Salt Lake City to take on Utah. It marks the fourth and final time this season that the Wildcats face back-to-back road games.
Here are three things to know, plus a prediction, for Saturday’s game.
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K-State and BYU have a limited history
Saturday’s game will mark the 10th matchup between K-State and BYU and their third since the Cougars joined the Big 12 last year. K-State holds a 5-4 edge all-time, but they split last year’s conference games with BYU winning 72-66 in Provo and the Wildcats returning the favor, 84-74, in Manhattan.
K-State has yet to beat BYU in Provo but holds the distinction of facing the Cougars in the first-ever game at the Marriott Center on Dec. 3, 1971. BYU won that game, 78-72.
A closer look at the BYU Cougars
First year coach Kevin Young led BYU to a 9-2 nonconference record, but the Cougars have been streaky during Big 12 play.
After beating Arizona State in the league opener, the Cougars dropped three in a row and four of the next five before reeling off four straight victories. They were staring at a third straight loss Tuesday at West Virginia before they closed the game on a 17-7 run.
Junior guard Richie Saunders leads BYU in scoring with 14.9 points per game, followed by 6-foot-9 freshman Egor Demin with 11.3 points and 5.4 assists. Utah transfer Keba Keita averages 7.5 rebounds.
Inside the Wildcats’ winning streak
There is no single area that has led to K-State’s success during the streak, but rather a performance bump across the board. For one thing, the Wildcats led at halftime of all six wins.
All five starters are averaging at least 11 points during the streak, led by point guard Dug McDaniel with 15.2 points, 6.7 assists and 2.2 steals. David N’Guessan, the reigning Big 12 player of the week has added 14.5 points, Coleman Hawkins and Max Jones 12.0 points and Brendan Hausen 11.3.
The Wildcats have outscored their opponents over the six games by an average of 77.2 points to 65.2, compared to 70.1 to 69.4 for all Big 12 games. They have shot 37.9% from 3-point range despite going 1 of 19 in Tuesday’s victory over Arizona, and opponents are connecting at 27.9% from beyond the arc.
Prediction: BYU 77, Kansas State 72
If ever there was a time for K-State to fall back to earth, this could be it. The Wildcats have never won in Provo, BYU is 11-2 at home, and the Cougars average nearly 17,000 fans per game at the Marriott Center.
Arne Green is based in Salina and covers Kansas State University sports for the Gannett network. He can be reached at agreen@gannett.com or on X (formerly Twitter) at @arnegreen.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas State basketball vs BYU: Scouting report, prediction
