Kansas St.-Nebraska Preview

2/19/2008 1:26 PM

By JEFF MEZYDLO
STATS Writer

Another big night from Michael Beasley and Kansas State could find itself part of a group atop the Big 12 standings.

The freshman phenom looks to help the 24th-ranked Wildcats move into a three-way tie for the conference lead when they visit Nebraska on Wednesday night.

The 6-foot-9 Beasley matched a career high with 40 points and grabbed 17 rebounds in Kansas State's 100-63 home win over Missouri on Saturday. His effort helped the Wildcats (18-6, 8-2) bounce back from their 84-75 loss at Texas Tech last Wednesday.

Now, with a second victory over Nebraska (14-9, 3-7) in a span of 15 days, Kansas State can join No. 4 Kansas and No. 7 Texas atop the Big 12 standings.

"We're battling our hearts out to find a way to win this conference," first-year Kansas State coach Frank Martin said. "For every game the next one becomes a bigger game. When you are trying to win a championship, regardless of who you are playing, that next game becomes the biggest game of the year."

Though the Wildcats have lost their last two Big 12 road contests, they'll try for another solid effort against the Cornhuskers after beating them 74-59 at home on Feb. 6. Kansas State has won three of its last four meetings with Nebraska.

Kansas State will also try to avoid looking ahead to an upcoming stretch that includes road games at Baylor and Kansas, sandwiched by a home date with Texas.

Beasley had 35 points and 13 rebounds in the last meeting with the Cornhuskers. The All-American candidate who's likely playing his only season of college basketball, Beasley is among the nation's leaders with 25.7 points and 12.6 rebounds per game. He needs one double-double to match Carmelo Anthony's NCAA freshman record of 22 set during his only season at Syracuse in 2002-03.

"When I went out and told people that in high school I thought he was a better player than Kevin Durant in high school, everyone thought I was nuts," Martin said. "Now everybody has got to watch him, so everyone is kind of getting an understanding that he's pretty good."

Beasley, who helped the Wildcats shoot 50.0 percent and outrebound Missouri 47-25 on Saturday, looks for a better outing away from home after two consecutive less-than dominant road performances. He had 22 points on just 6-for-20 shooting with 15 rebounds in the loss to Texas Tech and had 17 points with four turnovers in a 77-74 defeat at Missouri on Feb. 2.

"Just give me a court. I don't care where I'm at - I'm going to play my game," Beasley said of playing on the road.

Nebraska's Aleks Maric had 16 points and 15 rebounds against Kansas State this month, but found himself in early foul trouble trying to guard Beasley.

The 6-11 center likely won't be the only Cornhusker giving Beasley attention Wednesday as Nebraska looks to avoid a third consecutive loss.

Maric, who averages 16.2 points and 9.7 rebounds, had 11 points and 13 boards in Nebraska's 60-52 loss at Iowa State on Saturday. The Cornhuskers committed 15 turnovers and trailed 24-11 at halftime.

Nebraska, which is 2-3 at home in league play, is 1-3 versus ranked teams this season, winning 88-79 in overtime at home against then-No. 16 Oregon on Dec. 15.