Kansas State basketball is set to face its first true road test on Saturday morning. The Wildcats will travel to Queens, New York, to take on St. John's at Carnesecca Arena. After breaking the school scoring record at home with a 120 - 73 blowout of Arkansas - Pine Bluff, the Wildcats are now 6 - 2. Before that, they went 2 - 1 at the Paradise Jam in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. St. John's is also 6 - 2 and coming off a 77 - 64 victory over Harvard. The Red Storm has yet to play a road game but went 1 - 2 in the Baha Mar Hoops Championship. K - State is 1 - 3 all time in the Big 12/Big East Battle series but snapped a three - game losing streak last year with a 72 - 71 overtime victory over Villanova.

Limited History between K - State and St. John's

In the past, K - State and St. John's have not seen much of each other, especially in the 21st century. They split their only two previous meetings in the 1960s, with the Wildcats winning 63 - 50 in Manhattan on Dec. 16, 1961, and St. John's taking a neutral - court decision, 72 - 65, on Dec. 10, 1965, in Lawrence. K - State is 26 - 27 all time against Big East opponents but went 2 - 0 last year with victories over Providence and Villanova.

St. John's Red Storm: A Closer Look

St. John's is led by hall of fame coach Rick Pitino in his second season. The Red Storm averages 82.1 points per game on 47.7% shooting and allows an average of 66.6 points with opponents shooting 39.4%. Junior wing RJ Luis, a 6 - foot - 7 transfer from Massachusetts, leads the team in scoring with 17.6 points per game. 6 - 9 former Kansas forward Zuby Ejiofor adds 11.8 points and is tied with Luis for the rebounding lead at 6.8.

K - State Starting to Round into Form

Third - year K - State coach Jerome Tang has preached patience as he breaks in an almost entirely new roster. The Wildcats appear to be coming along slowly but surely. Since a disappointing 76 - 65 home loss to LSU on Nov. 14, they have won four of five. The lone setback was a 67 - 65 decision against eventual champion Liberty in the Paradise Jam semifinals. This includes double - digit victories over George Washington (83 - 71) and Longwood in the Virgin Islands. In the game against UAPB, the encouraging sign was that they never let the Golden Lions off the mat after landing an early haymaker.

Prediction: St. John's 77, Kansas State 72

K - State may be starting to jell, but beating a battle - tested team on the road that has already played Baylor and Georgia close with double - digit victories over New Mexico and Virginia could be a tall order. Arne Green, based in Salina, covers Kansas State University sports for the Gannett network. He can be reached at agreen@gannett.com or on X (formerly Twitter) at @arnegreen.