K-State Wildcats vs. Butler Bulldogs: Basketball lineups, TV, time, odds, prediction

THE DETAILS

When/where: 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Hinkle Fieldhouse, Indianapolis

TV: FS1

Radio: KCSP (610 AM) in Kansas City, KKGQ (92.3 FM) in Wichita

Betting line: Butler by 1

Over/Under: 137

STARTING LINEUPS

About Butler (4-3):

The Bulldogs are off to a somewhat disappointing start to the season. They have already lost games against Penn State, Tennessee and North Carolina State. But they do have a solid victory over BYU on a neutral court to go along with a perfect 3-0 mark at home. Butler doesn’t have much size or depth, but it does have lots of balance. All five of its projected starters average more than 10 points per game. This is Thad Matta’s first season coaching the Bulldogs. He previously spent 13 seasons at Ohio State.

About Kansas State (6-0):

The Wildcats are off to a perfect start after their championship run through the Cayman Islands Classic. They appear to be ahead of schedule under new coach Jerome Tang. Markquis Nowell is one of the most improved players in the Big 12 and is sending out assists at the highest clip of his college career. Keyontae Johnson has already established himself as the team’s go-to scorer. K-State has one true road victory on its schedule, at California, but the atmosphere at Hinkle Fieldhouse should be much more intense. Nae’Qwan Tomlin could take advantage of some mismatches in this game because he will be much taller than any of the wings that Butler will use to defend him.

Prediction

Jerome Tang was happy when he learned that K-State was going to play at Butler in the Big 12/Big East Battle this season.

He loves Hinkle Fieldhouse.

Baylor won a pair of NCAA Tournament games there in 2021 when he helped the Bears win a national championship as an assistant coach under Scott Drew. He has also watched the movie “Hoosiers” dozens of times. For those who don’t know, the final basketball game in that classic sports movie was filmed inside the old arena.

Now Tang gets a chance to win his second true road game as K-State’s head coach inside Hinkle against a Butler team that is off to a 4-3 start.

This should be an interesting game. Ken Pomeroy projects Butler to win by a single point, and that is most likely because of the location of this game. Butler is 3-0 at home this season, compared to 1-4 on the road.

Playing in front of a juiced crowd could be a challenge for the Wildcats. There weren’t many fans in attendance when they played at California earlier this season. But they did play in a noisy atmosphere in the championship game of the Cayman Islands Classic against LSU. Maybe it won’t be much of a factor.

Looking strictly at the matchup, the Wildcats have more depth and height than the Bulldogs. Both could big advantages. K-State has also proven it can win tight games, and Butler has struggled a bit in that area.

The Wildcats won their past two games while relying mostly on Johnson and Nowell. There is a good chance that Tomlin and N’Guessan step up against favorable matchups and help them out.

I like K-State to win a close game here.

K-State 72, Butler 70

Last game prediction: K-State 68, LSU 66

Season record: 6-0.

Season record against the spread: 4-2.