Kansas State vs West Virginia 12/31/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The West Virginia Mountaineers and the Kansas State Wildcats meet in college basketball action from the Bramlage Coliseum on Saturday.

The West Virginia Mountaineers will look to build on their four-game win streak after a 75-64 win over Stony Brook last time out. Erik Stevenson leads the Mountaineers in scoring with 14.5 PPG while Tre Mitchell has 12.8 PPG with 4.7 RPG and Joe Toussaint has 10.8 PPG with a team-high 3.3 APG to lead the Mountaineers in assists and Emmitt Matthews Jr. has 10.8 PPG to cap off the group of double-digit scorers for WVU up to this point in the year. Jimmy Bell Jr. also leads the Mountaineers in rebounding with 6.1 RPG and Kedrian Johnson has 3.3 APG as well this season. As a team, West Virginia is averaging 81.3 PPG on 49.2% shooting from the field, 39.3% from three and 73.9% from the foul line this season.

The Kansas State Wildcats will hope to build on their five-game win streak after a 73-65 win over Radford last time out. Keyontae Johnson leads the Wildcats in scoring and rebounding with 17.7 PPG and 6.8 RPG while Markquis Nowell has 13.7 PPG with a team-high 8.3 APG to lead Kansas State in assists. Nae’Qwan Tomlin also has 11.7 PPG and 6.1 RPG, also capping off the trio of double-digit scorers for Kansas State up to this point in the season. As a team, Kansas State is averaging 75.1 points per game on 47% shooting from the field, 34.2% from behind the three point line and 71.6% from the foul line this season.

West Virginia is 3-9 ATS in their last 12 Saturday games and 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games following an ATS loss while the over is 23-4 in their last 27 road games. Kansas State is 12-5 ATS in their last 17 games following a win and 2-5 ATS in their last 7 home games against a team with a road winning percentage above .600 while the over is 14-6 in their last 20 games overall.

I get the case to be made for either side here, as the Mountaineers have a solid offense and that Press Virginia defense has fooled many opponents before. However, Kansas State’s got a great defense themselves and I like the build of this K-State team to compete in the Big 12 this season and the players that make up the core for the Wildcats this season. I think with a rocking home court here, that should be enough to push K-State over the line here and get the win in this one.