Two in-state rivals in dire need of a bounce-back victory will meet Saturday on CBS as No. 9 Kansas plays host to Kansas State in the first of two meetings between the in-state fo

Jerome Tang and the Wildcats will catch a break without KJ Adams in the lineup as he recovers from an injury. But he is only averaging 8.2 points and 4.6 rebounds this season. KU can probably get by with a next-man-up approach in this game.

The No. 9-ranked Kansas Jayhawks men’s basketball team is set to play in-state rival Kansas State on Saturday. Both teams are coming off losses: K-State fell to Texas Tech on Tuesday and KU stumbled at Iowa State on Wednesday.

Kansas State travels to Lawrence for the first round of the 2025 Sunflower Showdown looking to end an 18-game drought at Allen Fieldhouse.

The most frustrating thing about this defeat for K-State is that the Wildcats played well enough to win for much of the afternoon. But they fell behind 14-0 in the opening moments and were unable to cut the deficit closer than six the rest of the way.

The Jayhawks led by as many as 16 on Saturday, never trailing in an 84-74 win over the Wildcats. From the time it was 20-4 until the final buzzer, the No. 9 Jayhawks played cool, calm and collected, answering each K-State run with timely buckets.

The game tips off at Allen Fieldhouse, where Kansas will look to right the ship after a recent stretch of inconsistency. A win over Kansas State could steady the course for Bill Self’s squad as they push toward the heart of Big 12 play.