Vanderbilt v. Kansas State

Who will WIN this matchup?

Vanderbilt Commodores (7-2)

Kansas State Wildcats (8-2)

Current odds:

Vanderbilt Commodores: (+140)

Kansas State Wildcats: (-160)

• The line for this game is Kansas State by 3 points.

• Two teams missing a major impact player with an injury seek a boost to their resume Saturday night when Vanderbilt takes on Kansas State in the Wildcat Classic at the Sprint Center in Kansas City. Vanderbilt lost talented freshman guard Darius Garland for the season due to knee surgery while the Wildcats will be without versatile senior forward Dean Wade for three-to-eight weeks with a foot injury. Kansas State has strung together back-to-back wins after consecutive losses to Marquette and Tulsa, including a 55-51 triumph against Southern Miss on Wednesday as senior guard Kamau Stokes stepped up with a season-high 18 points. Stokes is averaging 16.5 points over the last two games, connecting on 8-of-12 from 3-point range, and told reporters he was feeling it: “When it’s man down, you’ve always got to take ownership.”

• Garland (16.2 points per game) has missed the last four contests and the Commodores won three of them, including an 81-65 win against No. 19 Arizona State on Monday as the Sun Devils were held to 32.3 percent shooting from the field. “Every win you get in non-conference – especially against a quality team like Arizona State – will hopefully help you down the road,” Vanderbilt coach Bryce Drew told reporters. “But more importantly, we have a young team, and we’ve been through a lot this last two or three weeks. There was a really good celebration in the locker room.”

• The Commodores will need to get contributions from more players with Garland gone and they are starting to get it as seven players scored between eight and 14 points against Arizona State. Junior Yanni Wetzell is averaging 8.5 points the last four games (1.2 the first five), sophomore Maxwell Evans scored 10.8 points per contest the past four (3.0 his first four) and freshman Aaron Nesmith is averaging 12.8 the last four outings (5.6 the first five). Freshman forward Simi Shittu leads the active Commodores in scoring (15.1) and rebounds (7.7)

• Senior Barry Brown Jr. leads the team’s balanced scoring at 14.3 per contest and adds a club-best 19 steals while Wade was averaging 13.6 points along with team-highs of 7.8 rebounds and 3.2 assists before going down. Junior forward Xavier Sneed contributes 11.8 points per game and has averaged nine rebounds the past three games for the Wildcats, who allow just 57.8 points per contest. Stokes moved into double figures in scoring for the season (10.1) with his recent surge, which followed a 1-of-12 effort from the field in the loss to Tulsa.

• Brown needs two steals to tie Jacob Pullen (210, from 2007-11) for the all-time school record.

• Vanderbilt sophomore G Saben Lee scored 14 against Arizona State after his only single-digit effort in a seven-game span.

• The Wildcats have won six of the previous 10 meetings, including an 84-79 victory last season as Sneed and Stokes combined for 41 points.