BY JEFF WALKER l AVALANCHE-JOURNAL

Texas Tech has had the misfortune of playing teams on a losing streak for most of the Big 12 Conference season.

The Red Raiders stopped a four-game slide with an 83-76 win Saturday against Baylor, extending the Bears’ losing skid to five games.

When Tech travels to Kansas State today, the Red Raiders will be on the other side, trying to start their own winning streak against one of the hottest teams in the conference.

Kansas State lost its first four games of the conference campaign before rattling off five consecutive wins. The Wildcats enter the second half of the Big 12 season tied with Nebraska for fourth place. The only team in the Big 12 with a longer winning streak is Oklahoma — who Tech visits on Saturday — as the Sooners have started 9-0 in the Big 12 and won 11 in a row overall.

“You’ve got to have confidence when you win five in a row,” Tech head coach Pat Knight said. “I think guys are getting comfortable with themselves. I think two teams — Nebraska being the other one who are the two hottest teams — their confidence is high, they enjoy playing with one another and they’ve got things going in the right direction.”

After losing Michael Beasley and Bill Walker to the NBA draft, much wasn’t expected of the Wildcats in Frank Martin’s second season.

K-State’s toughest competition in the non-conference season — games against Kentucky, Iowa and Oregon — came in the Las Vegas Invitational. K-State lost all three games, none by a margin of more than five points.

The Wildcats’ first four conference losses came against Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska and Baylor. Games against the Jayhawks and Cornhuskers were on the road, and the home loss to Baylor came before the Bears’ recent six-game losing streak.

Included in K-State’s current win streak are three road victories at Colorado, Texas and Texas A&M.

“The part that nobody brings up, that nobody wants to talk about, is the fact that we also lost two senior guards from last season — along with Beasley and Walker,” Martin said. “We lost Clent Stewart and Blake Young and their responsibilities have now been placed on young, enthusiastic guards. Jacob (Pullen) grew up a lot last year and Denis (Clemente) sat out after transferring. I think it took a while for those two to accept their roles. As they continue to understand and play with one another, our guys will continue to mature.”

Youth is something Knight has pointed to this season, with sophomores John Roberson, D’walyn Roberts and Mike Singletary, and freshman Robert Lewandowski receiving plenty of playing time.

Though Tech lost six of its first seven conference games, Knight said the team hasn’t folded.

“The kids are working hard. Being a first-year coach, you could have had a situation where they give up on you,” Knight said. “These kids have been great in practice. If you take the record out, they’ve been great to coach. We’re doing (drills) and there’s no complaining. They just go at each other. To finally get a win against a good team, it showed them that their hard work pays off.”

Martin said teams shouldn’t be fooled by Tech’s record.

“They just beat Baylor. Here’s the problem with the way people perceive our teams — you look at the record and you think they’re not very good. There is not a bad team in this league,” Martin said. “They’re pretty darn good. They’re obviously going through a transition period as Pat continues to put his flavor on the program. … It takes time. You don’t just snap your fingers and it happens. He’s got a bunch of kids who are working their rear ends off. They are a fun team to watch. I enjoy watching them on tape. I don’t know if I’ll enjoy watching them on Wednesday.”

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