Oklahoma City ? Several of Kansas University’s players would have welcomed a Big 12 semifinal game against Texas Tech today in Ford Center.
“It’d be a big revenge factor for me just because they beat us,” sophomore Mario Chalmers said of a five-point KU loss in mid-January in Lubbock. “They were talking a lot of this, that.”
That opportunity dried when Kansas State punished the Red Raiders, 66-45, in a Big 12 quarterfinal, setting up today’s 1 p.m. battle between the in-state rivals.
It’s K-State with the revenge motive now. The Jayhawks beat KSU by nine points in Manhattan and 27 in Lawrence this season.
“I’d love to play K-State again because I love that type of crowd and what they bring,” sophomore Brandon Rush stated.
But it begs the question: Is it impossible to beat Bob Huggins’ Wildcats three times in one season?
“Anything is possible. Like the adidas logo says, ‘Nothing is impossible,”‘ Chalmers said.
If not impossible improbable?
“That is the old saying. It’s always toughest beating a team three times,” coach Bill Self said. “Who knows if that’s true or not? It’s going to be a war.”