208th Sunflower Showdown Part 1 Preview

#9 17-3 6-1

12-9 5-3

208th Match up of the Sunflower Showdown

Jayhawks lead the series overall at 187-92. 

KU controls Allen Fieldhouse at 83-55. 

KSU controls Bramlage Coliseum at 75-46.

The Wild Cats have not won in Allen Fieldhouse since January of 2006 when they handed KU a loss 59-55.

The Kansas State Wildcats head to Lawrence Kansas tomorrow to take on the Kansas Jayhawks. Tip off in Allen Fieldhouse is at 1 pm central time and can been seen on ESPN.

KSU IS ranked in the top 25 teams in the nation for free-throw shooting. This is an area that the Jayhawks will need to work on. Kansas has struggled from the line all season long. 

Courtesy: ksusports

Its been rumored that KSU will be playing without Senior forward Nino Williams. Williams injured his left knee against West Virginia Tuesday night. Wildcats coach Bruce Webber said Thursday that Williams sustained a "strain or sprain," and that he underwent three treatments earlier in the day. There was no structural damage, and Weber said Williams will not need Surgery. Williams has averaged over 11 points and 5 rebounds a game on the season. 

With Williams out, Kansas Junior's Perry Ellis and Jamari Traylor will have to get to work inside in the paint. KSU still has a giant in the paint with Senior forward Thomas Gipson. Gipson shoots 75% from the line and averages rebounds a game. A good rotation of Ellis, Traylor and Freshman Cliff Alexander, will give the Wildcats some headache inside. Sophomore Landen Lucas and Junior Hunter Mickelson will hopefully see some minutes. Half the KU squad was in foul trouble against TCU. With rotating Lucas and Mickelson, Head coach Bill Self was able to keep all but Ellis from fouling out. Both Lucas and Mickelson put up good numbers against TCU. Lucas went for 8 points, 3 blocked shots and 7 rebounds while Mickelson went for 4 points and 2 blocked shots.

At the time of this blog, Self has not released his starting 5 yet. One would only assume we will see Mason, Oubre, Ellis, Traylor and Selden, but I have a hope that Alexander will get the start over Ellis. Ellis has been in a scoring funk as of late. Turnovers and dumb fouls have plagued the Junior. Self may give him the start though, as KSU is a deep team with tons of experience. Also at the time of this blog, Self has no one on the injured list.

Courtesy: The Associated Press

Courtesy: kckingdom.com

Wildcat Sophomore Marcus Foster will be the main threat the Jayhawks will have to control. Foster is a very talented guard averaging 14 points a game. At almost 30 minutes a game, Foster is shooting 41% from the Arc and 71% from the line. My guess is Self will stick a combo of Selden/Mason and Selden/Graham on Foster and keep him contained behind the arc. As always, a guards best 3pt shooting night comes against the Jayhawks while in Allen Fieldhouse, so Foster must be contained.

The 208th Sunflower Showdown will be a great one. Kansas State is sitting 4th over all in the Big XII race and a win tomorrow could possible drop the Jayhawks into 2nd or 3rd place behind Iowa State and West Virginia. The Hawks will have their work cut out for them. 

!!!ROCK CHALK JAYHAWK!!!