CAT ZONE

Kansas State basketball to take on Texas in Big 12 Tournament after first-round bye

Topeka Capital-Journal

MANHATTAN — With its 65-58 upset victory over No. 6-ranked Iowa State in the regular-season finale Saturday at Bramlage Coliseum, Kansas State basketball earned the No. 10 seed in the Big 12 Tournament and a second-round matchup with No. 7 seed Texas.

By knocking off Iowa State, the Wildcats stayed out of the bottom four and received a first-round bye. They will face Texas at 6 p.m. Wednesday at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri.

Texas wrapped up its regular Saturday by beating Oklahoma, 94-80, to improve to 20-11 overall with a 9-9 league record. K-State comes in at 18-13 and 8-10 in the Big 12.

Beating Iowa State gives the Wildcats a glimmer of hope of an NCAA Tournament at-large bid, providing they beat Texas. A couple of victories this week could put them back on the bubble, though their only sure path is to win the Big 12 championship and get an automatic bid.

Kansas State forward David N'Guessan celebrates after making a basket Saturday against Iowa State at Bramlage Coliseum. N'Guessan had 11 points and a career-high 16 rebounds in the Wildcats' 65-58 victory.

It has been an uneven season for K-State, which snapped a two-game losing streak with its marquee win over Iowa State on senior day. Texas also has been up and down, but did beat the Wildcats, 62-56, on Feb. 19 in their lone regular-season matchup in Austin.

The Kansas State-Texas winner will take on Wednesday's winner between Kansas and either Cincinnati or West Virginia at 6 p.m. Thursday.

Houston, in its first Big 12 season, captured the regular-season title and is the No. 1 seed, followed by Iowa State at No. 2, Baylor at No. 3 and Texas Tech at No. 4.

Men's Big 12 Tournament schedule

Tuesday, March 12Game 1: No. 12 UCF vs. No. 13 Oklahoma State,11:30 a.m.Game 2: No. 11 Cincinnati vs. No. 14 West Virginia 2 p.m.Wednesday, March 13Game 3: No. 5 BYU vs. Game 1 winner 11:30 a.m.Game 4: No. 8 TCU vs. No. 9 Oklahoma, 2 p.m.Game 5: No. 7 Texas vs. No. 10 Kansas State, 6 p.m.Game 6: No. 6 Kansas vs. Game 2 winner, 8:30 p.m.Thursday, March 14Game 7: No. 4 Texas Tech vs. Game 3 winner, 11:30 a.m.Game 8: No. 1 Houston vs. Game 4 winner, 2 p.m.Game 9: No. 2 Iowa State vs. Game 5 winner, 6 p.m.Game 10: No. 3 Baylor vs. Game 6 winner, 8:30 p.m.Friday, March 15Game 11: Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner, 6 p.m.Game 12: Game 9 winner vs. Game 10 winner, 8:30 p.m.Saturday, March 16Game 13: Game 11 winner vs. Game 12 winner, 5 p.m.

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 Twitter at @arnegreen.