Score Predictions for West Virginia vs Kansas State

The Mountaineer Maven staff makes picks for today's game.

The West Virginia Mountaineers (11-2, 0-1) welcome in the Kansas State Wildcats (8-5, 0-2) Saturday at 2:00 pm and the matchup will be streaming on ESPN+.

Schuyler Callihan: West Virginia 66, Kansas State 58

Who knows what we're going to get in this matchup as both teams have dealt with COVID-19 issues recently. Last week Taz Sherman, Gabe Osabuohien, and Kobe Johnson missed WVU's road game at Texas and it really hurt the Mountaineers on the offensive end of the floor more than anything. Head coach Bob Huggins expects all three to be available and able to play on Saturday, but to what extent no one really knows, including Huggins himself. 

The Wildcats will make the trek to Morgantown without head coach Bruce Weber and will only have seven players able to play due to COVID-19 protocols. Had the Wildcats been down just one more player, this game would have been postponed. K-State will have key guards Mike McGuirl and Nijel Pack alongside Markquis Nowell who missed the last two games due to COVID protocols. 

On paper, these two teams are very similar. They don't put up a ton of points but have several guys that can make shots. The Mountaineers have to do a much better job of taking care of the basketball after turning it over 20 times a week ago against Texas. 

It'll be a low-scoring, defensive struggle for most of the game but I have the Mountaineers coming out on top and picking up their first Big 12 win of the season. Expect WVU to break out the full court press early and often to get a thin K-State sucking air by midway of the second half.

Christopher Hall: West Virginia 76 Kansas State 67

Kansas State comes into the game with just seven available scholarship players plus a walk-on and head coach Bruce Weber did not make the trip to Morgantown due to Big 12's COVID-19 health and safety protocols. Meanwhile, West Virginia has only played one game since Christmas and did so without the league's leading scorer Taz Sherman (20.9).

Most of K-State's production comes from the backcourt but with several forwards out of the game, this may be an area West Virginia finally has the advantage. With only eight available players and the Mountaineers playing at home, I got West Virginia pulling away late against a Wiley group 76-67

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