Halftime Report

West Virginia fell flat on their face against Houston on Saturday, but memory of that harsh loss doesn’t seem to have tripped them up today. A win is still up for grabs for either team after one quarter, but West Virginia is up 42-40 over Kansas State.

If West Virginia keeps playing like this, they’ll bump their record up to 6-9 in no time. On the other hand, Kansas State will have to make due with an 11-4 record unless they turn things around (and fast).

Who’s Playing

Kansas State Wildcats @ West Virginia Mountaineers

Current Records: Kansas State 11-3, West Virginia 5-9

How To Watch

What to Know

West Virginia will be in front of their home fans on Tuesday, but a look at the spread shows they might need that home-court advantage. The West Virginia Mountaineers and the Kansas State Wildcats will face off in a Big 12 battle at 7:00 p.m. ET at WVU Coliseum.

It’s hard to win when your three-point shooting is a whole 32.6% worse than the opposition, a fact West Virginia found out the hard way on Saturday. They were dealt a punishing 89-55 loss at the hands of the Cougars. West Virginia was in a tough position after the first half, with the score already sitting at 48-22.

Even though the team lost, they still had their share of impressive performances. One of the most dominant came from Patrick Suemnick, who scored 12 points along with five rebounds. As a matter of fact, that’s the most points he has scored all season.

Meanwhile, Kansas State had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 8 points), and they went ahead and made it three on Saturday. They were the clear victor by a 77-52 margin over the Knights.

Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Kansas State to victory, but perhaps none more so than Tylor Perry, who went 6 for 11 from beyond the arc en route to 25 points and 5 assists. Those 25 points set a new season-high mark for him. Another player making a difference was Arthur Kaluma, who scored 14 points along with six rebounds.

The Mountaineers have traveled a rocky road recently, as they’ve lost four of their last five contests, which put a noticeable dent in their 5-9 record this season. As for the Wildcats, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they’ve won eight of their last nine matches, which provided a nice bump to their 11-3 record this season.

This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: West Virginia have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 37.4 rebounds per game. However, it’s not like Kansas State struggles in that department as they’ve been averaging 40.9 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it’ll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.

West Virginia beat Kansas State 89-81 when the teams last played back in March of 2023. Will West Virginia repeat their success, or does Kansas State have a better game plan this time around? We’ll find out soon enough.

Odds

Kansas State is a slight 1-point favorite against West Virginia, according to the latest college basketball odds.

The oddsmakers had a good feel for the line for this one, as the game opened with the Wildcats as a 1.5-point favorite.

The over/under is set at 142 points.

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Series History

West Virginia has won 6 out of their last 10 games against Kansas State.

• Mar 04, 2023 – West Virginia 89 vs. Kansas State 81
• Dec 31, 2022 – Kansas State 82 vs. West Virginia 76
• Mar 09, 2022 – West Virginia 73 vs. Kansas State 67
• Feb 14, 2022 – Kansas State 78 vs. West Virginia 73
• Jan 08, 2022 – West Virginia 71 vs. Kansas State 68
• Feb 27, 2021 – West Virginia 65 vs. Kansas State 43
• Jan 23, 2021 – West Virginia 69 vs. Kansas State 47
• Feb 01, 2020 – West Virginia 66 vs. Kansas State 57
• Jan 18, 2020 – Kansas State 84 vs. West Virginia 68
• Feb 18, 2019 – Kansas State 65 vs. West Virginia 51