The Kansas State Wildcats face the Indiana Hooisers tonight in Bloomington at 8:00 p.m. ET. Indiana has begun their season with a perfect 5-0 record while Kansas State is 5-1. This is the 32nd meeting of the two programs, with Indiana leading the series 19-12. This is the first matchup between the two teams since 1998, with the Hoosiers winning the previous nine games.
On DraftKings Sportsbook, Indiana is a -10.5 favorite with Kansas State being a +410 underdog to win this game. This contest has an over/under of 163.5 with the under being -112. Here is my best bet for tonight’s matchup between Kansas State vs. Indiana.
Kansas State vs. Indiana (8:00 p.m. ET)
Kansas State is coming off a one-point loss to Nebraska on Friday. P.J. Haggerty is the Wildcats’ leading scorer this season with 28 points per contest. Haggerty also leads the country in scoring and is averaging 6.3 more points per game than he did last year. He is one of five Kansas State players to average double-digit points.
Kansas State is ranked No. 90 on KenPom while Indiana is No. 24. The Wildcats have the 40th-best offensive rating while their defense is 90th. Indiana has the 23rd-best defensive rating and should cause problems for Kansas State’s offense. The Hooisers’ defense has had a terrific start to the season, allowing 61 or fewer points in three of five games, with no opponent topping 77 points.
Indiana has five players scoring at least 10 points per game, with Tucker DeVries leading the way with 19.2 points. Tucker is the son of Darian DeVries, Indiana’s Head Coach. Tucker DeVries is also shooting 46.5 percent on three-pointers on 8.6 attempts per game, which is incredible. Indiana is making 39.4 of their three-pointers as a team, the fourth-best in the Big Ten.
Lamar Wilkerson, the Sam Houston transfer, is Indiana’s second leading scorer as he totals 17 points per contest. Indiana’s lone matchup this season against another team from a major conference was against Marquette in its second game. The Hooisers beat the Golden Eagles 100-77 in that contest.
Indiana has won four of its five games by at least 20 points, but it beat Incarnate Word by only eight points two games ago. Although Kansas State struggles on defense and lacks consistency, it still has enough firepower to compete with Indiana in this contest. Haggerty has scored 27, 37, and 31 points in his last three games and is extremely hard to slow down. Can Kansas State pull off the upset? I believe they have a chance, but getting them to cover the +10.5 spread at -112 is an excellent value play in this game.
