1. Kansas State (5-18, 1-13 Big 12) begins the stretch run of the regular season on Saturday afternoon, as the Wildcats travel to Fort Worth, Texas to take on TCU (11-8, 4-6 Big 12) at 4 p.m., CT at Schollmaier Arena. The Horned Frogs will be looking to sweep the regular-season series for the second consecutive season after posting a 67-60 win over the Wildcats in Manhattan on Jan. 2. Saturday’s game will air on Big 12 Now with Ted Emrich (play-by-play) and Lance Blanks (analyst) on the call.
2. For the first time in the month of February, K-State will face an unranked team on Saturday, snapping a streak of 5 consecutive games against a Top 25 opponent. It is the longest such streak in school history and one of 10 ranked matchups the team has faced this season. Since the first game against the Horned Frogs on Jan. 2, the Wildcats have faced 11 consecutive conference opponents that we were either ranked at the time (9) or are currently ranked in the Top 25. The gauntlet continues next week, as the Wildcats will finish the regular season with matchups at home against No. 9/10 Oklahoma and on the road at No. 13/15 West Virginia.
3. Despite a solid defensive effort, K-State couldn’t get anything going offensively in Wednesday’s 59-41 loss to No. 23/24 Kansas in the Dillons Sunflower Showdown at Bramlage Coliseum. The Wildcats held the Jayhawks to 59 points, including just 4-of-16 shooting from 3-point range, while forcing 16 turnovers, but the offense hit season-lows in 9 categories, including points, field goal percentage (31.0), 3-point field goals (3), 3-point field goal percentage (12.5) and free throw percentage (33.3). The loss extended K-State’s losing streak to 13 games, including 12 in Big 12 play. It is the longest such skid in a single season and the second-longest in school history.
4. The Wildcats got a lift from the return of sophomore DaJuan Gordon, who came off the bench to lead all scorers against Kansas with 12 points on 6-of-13 shooting in 28 minutes. Gordon had missed the last 4 games after sustaining an ankle injury against Texas A&M on Jan. 30. It was Gordon’s 10th double-digit scoring game and the first since the Oklahoma game on Jan. 13.