Kansas State Wildcats vs Gonzaga Bulldogs
Monday, 11/22/10, 9:30 PM EDT, TV: ESPN2
Opening Point Spread: Kansas State -5
Current Betting Line: Kansas State -5.5
Opening Total: 151
Current Total: 148.5
Kansas State hits the road for the first time this season, traveling to Kansas City, Missouri to play in the Championship Round of the O’Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic. The Wildcats earned an impressive 73-57 victory over Virginia Tech last Tuesday, but then barely escaped an upset bid with a 76-67 win over Presbyterian. “We are very young and we have no leadership,” said head coach Frank Martin. “The young guys think that because we beat Virginia Tech two days ago life is easy.” This will mark just the second time in school history that the program has faced two ranked opponents in their first four games and the first time since 1971-72. Overall, Kansas State is 11-12 against ranked opponents under Martin, including a school-record seven wins in 2009-10. The team is 24-16 ATS as a favorite the last three years and the NCAA basketball lines page has them laying a number tonight.
The Wildcats are ranked No. 3 in the first edition of both the Associated Press and USA Today ESPN Coaches Top 25 polls after starting the season in the same spot in the preseason. Kansas State has been ranked in the AP Top 10 for nine consecutive polls dating back to last season. This is just the second all-time meeting between these two schools, with the Wildcats prevailing with a 66-64 victory in the Postseason NIT in 1994. The squad is 6-3 all-time against teams from the West Coast Conference with an average margin of victory in those six wins of 12 points. In order to beat tonight’s opponent by double digits, the team will need to improve upon its Big 12-worst 50.6 percent shooting from the charity stripe.
Gonzaga also played its first three games at home and picked up an early season loss with a 79-76 defeat to San Diego State on Tuesday. The Bulldogs dropped the contest despite receiving a career-high 35 points from Steven Gray. “Steven was superhuman tonight,” said head coach Mark Few. The team wasn’t great in rebounding, allowing the Aztecs to grab 18 offensive boards, which proved to be the difference. “The putback numbers were huge,” Few commented after the game. “They crushed us.” It was a shocking loss considering that San Diego State had not beaten a Top 25 team on the road in 33 straight games. The team is 2-1 ATS versus Big 12 competition.
The Bulldogs will be facing the Wildcats with only one senior in the starting lineup, as Gray is averaging 25.7 points per game after never averaging more than 13.6 in his career. Gonzaga dropped the only previous meeting between these two schools, a 66-64 loss in the second round of the Postseason NIT in March 1994. The winner of this contest is likely to face top-ranked Duke in the title game of this tournament.
Bettors will be interested in knowing that the Bulldogs are 4-0 ATS after a SU loss, while the Wildcats are 9-2-1 ATS in their last 12 non-conference games.
The college basketball handicappers at Maddux Sports are ready to provide a huge day of winners to start the week!
