The Kansas State Wildcats will play the Wisconsin Badgers on Saturday night at 7:40 on TNT for the second round of the 2011 NCAA tournament bracket. K-State basketball has been playing well in the second half of the season and they beat Utah State in round one while Wisconsin beat Belmont.
K-State is a 3.5 point underdog, according to college basketball odds. Despite that, I'm rolling with the Wildcats over the Badgers on Saturday night.
I've said before that K-State needs Jacob Pullen and Curtis Kelly to play well in order to make a run in the NCAA tournament. Pullen lead the way against Utah State in round one with 22 points and five assists while Kelly followed up with 15 points and six boards.
What was most impressive about K-State was their free throw shooting in round one. Normally an average (at best) free throw shooting team, K-State hit 24-of-28 from the charity stripe. If they can do that again against Wisconsin, I think they have a very good shot at moving onto the Sweet 16.
For my prediction, I'll go with 62-58, K-State.
If K-State moves on, they'll be facing the winner of Pittsburgh vs. Butler.
Check out Bring On The Cats for more on the game.