Texas comes to Manhattan for the first time with Chris Beard leading the way after his move from Texas Tech. He has already put his stamp on the program with a great defense and a tough team, while molding a good group of transfers with a solid core of Shaka Smart's recruits.

Both of the Longhorn losses have come against top 30 NET opponents in Gonzaga and Seton Hall, with their best wins coming against Stanford (No. 99 NET) and West Virginia (No. 40) to open Big 12 play, though the Mountaineers were without their best player, Taz Sherman.

Texas is led by their defense that only allows 0.89 points per possession in KenPom's adjusted defensive efficiency, which ranks No. 10, nationally.

The Longhorns are elite at forcing turnovers. Their turnover rate is 28.7% percent (No. 2).

The two-point defense allows only 44.1 percent from the field (No. 29), but they allow opponents to make 36.9 percent of their threes (No. 135) for an eFG% (effective field goal percentage) allowed of 45.1 percent.

Opponents rebound 28.3 percent of their missed shots (No. 173) and Texas allows a free throw rate of 26.3 percent (No. 103).

The Longhorn offense is solid with an offensive efficiency of 1.11 (No. 31). The eFG% is 53.2 percent (No. 60) and Texas shoots it at a 54.5 percent clip on twos (No. 40) and 34.0 percent from deep (No. 143).

They take good care of the basketball, as indicated by a turnover rate of 16.8 percent (No. 64), and they are stellar at hitting the offensive glass with an OR% (offensive rebounding percentage) of 34.1 percent (No. 37).

Making trips to the free throw line isn't their forte. The Longhorns' free throw rate of 29.2 percent (No. 195) isn't fantastic, but they do make 77.8 percent (No. 21) from the charity stripe.

There are several keys to tonight's game.

After being dominated on the boards badly against a below average offensive rebounding team in the last game, Texas' 34.1 percent OR% could be a tough proposition for K-State on Tuesday evening.

Also, the Wildcats have struggled at times to take care of the ball and the Longhorns are elite at takeaways.

Kansas State did have a good three-point shooting effort in Norman and how K-State can shoot against Texas will be another item to watch. The Longhorns have some solid bigs, so the Wildcats' depth and health inside will be a factor as well.

Beard brought in some key transfers and Utah transfer and all-Pac-12 forward Timmy Allen leads the Longhorns in scoring at 11.6 points per game. At 6-foot-6, Allen also leads Texas in rebounds at 6.4 per game and is hitting 55.3 percent of his twos for an offensive rating of 1.14.

Fellow frontcourt player Tre Mitchell is next at 10.5 points per game. The 6-foot-9 forward grabs 5.1 rebounds per game, while hitting 38.5% on two three-point attempts per game and leads Texas starters with and offensive rating of 1.21.

Andrew Jones has been a Longhorn a long time and the 6-foot-4 guard is averaging 9.6 points per game this seas. He also averages 2.5 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game, hits 31.0 percent from deep on 4.5 attempts and has an offensive rating of 1.09.

Minnesota transfer point guard Marcus Carr leads the team with 3.2 assists per game, while scoring 9.5 points per game. Carr hits 32.6 percent from the three-point line on 3.5 attempts with an offensive rating of 1.01.

Courtney Ramey is another returning Longhorn in the backcourt and is averaging 8.8 points per game and grabbing 3.1 boards per game. He is the best volume three-point threat for Texas, hitting 40.0 percent from distance on 3.1 attempts with an offensive rating of 1.12.

Creighton transfer Christian Bishop averages 7.2 points and 4.2 rebounds per game. The 6-foot-7 forward isn't much of a three-point threat, but he does have an impressive offensive rating of 1.22.

Jase Febres is another Shaka holdover and is averaging 4.6 points per game. Devin Askew came to Austin from Kentucky, but he has been more of a role player for the Longhorns thus far.

Watch out for Dylan Disu,. The Vanderbilt transfer big has only played the last several games, but he averages 8.2 points and 5 rebounds in his limited action to this point.

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TIP TIME: 6:00 P.M. CST

FAN: It could come down to the health of either team, based on the Covid-19 situation throughout college basketball at the moment. I actually think a healthy Kansas State team could give Texas some issues, especially since the Longhorns haven't exactly played a tough schedule thus far outside of a few games. Having Markquis Nowell back would be big for K-State, but who knows who else will be missing on Tuesday night. I think we see another close game and the Longhorns pulling it out late because, from everything we're hearing, they will likely be the more complete team. Texas edges out Kansas State, 63-59.

DY: Simply put, we don't expect K-State to be close to full strength on Tuesday evening to Texas. And if that's the case, taking care of the ball against a team very opportunistic on the defensive side for the full 40 minutes could be problematic. And depth becomes a problem, and the Longhorns can begin to crash the glass and take advantage of second chance points, too. Kansas State hangs around, but their lack of weapons on a short-handed night causes them to fade away down the stretch. Longhorns pull away, 65-53.

FLANDO: The Texas backcourt between Ramey, Jones and Carr will be the toughest group that K-State has seen thus far this season. They are seasoned veterans that can shoot the rock. The Longhorns also have length and athleticism in the post. Their bench pieces can go off on any given night. Since they couldn't beat Oklahoma on Saturday, I can't pick the Wildcats to beat an even better team later this evening. Kansas State will need everyone to play great at the same time to pull off the upset, and that is something we have not seen from them yet this season. An impromptu return from Markquis Nowell could be key, but he is still questionable for the contest. Longhorns win 70-61.

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