Kansas State wants no part of Kansas again, and that’s why the Wildcats’ home finale against Nebraska on Saturday night is so important.

Kansas' Six seniors from left, Chris Zerbe, Lewis Harrison, Brett Ballard, Jeff Boschee, Jeff Carey and Todd Kappelmann show off the Big 12 championship hardware. KU concluded its home season with a 103-68 rout of Kansas State on Wednesday at Allen Fieldhouse.

“We’ve got to take care of business,” KSU junior forward Matt Siebrandt said, “and get the seventh seed.”

K-State can earn the No. 7 seed in the Big 12 Conference postseason tournament by knocking off the Cornhuskers. And what’s so attractive about the seventh seed? It means if you win you don’t have to play the Jayhawks in the second round.

“I don’t think anybody wants to play them in the conference tournament, to tell the truth,” Siebrandt said.

Kansas ran its winning streak against the Wildcats to an even two dozen with its 103-68 Senior Night romp on Wednesday night in Allen Fieldhouse. Earlier this season in Manhattan, KU won, 98-71.

With Kansas assured the No. 1 seed in the league tourney, the Wildcats certainly don’t want to wind up with the eighth or ninth seed. The winner of that game a week from today in Kansas City’s Kemper Arena will have to play Kansas at noon next Friday.

“They have to know what’s on the line for them,” KSU coach Jim Wooldridge said of his players. “We’ve got to move on and get ready for Nebraska on Saturday.”

The ‘Cats knew what was in store for them on Wednesday night, and yet they were their own worst enemies, turning the ball over their first five times down the floor and six of their first seven.

“You make five straight turnovers and you’re asking to lose,” Siebrandt said. “You’re not going to come back against a team like that.”

Kansas led 50-30 at halftime even though K-State outshot the Jayhawks 52 percent to 50 percent and outrebounded KU, 16-15. How can you shoot 52 percent, have a rebounding edge and be down by 20? Easy commit 17 turnovers while the other team has just five.

“We got off to as bad a start as you can have,” Wooldridge said. “That was disappointing. Their defense can be suffocating at times. They have so many weapons. Their skill level is the best I’ve ever coached against. They can hit you in a hurry. And there’s something special about the way they play here.”

Kansas State, 11-15 overall and 5-10 in the Big 12, didn’t play especially well in anybody’s arena this season. The Wildcats were 0-10 on the road, a significant number because every KSU team since World War II had won at least one game away from home.

“It is frustrating,” Wooldridge said about the end of that 59-year streak, “but if you put yourself in our position you can only look forward. What’s done is done and we still have a chance to finish seventh, and that would give us a sense of accomplishment even though we didn’t win on the road.”

Wooldridge has to hope junior center Pervis Pasco has another big night on Saturday against the Huskers. Pasco, a 6-foot-9 junior averaging 11.6 points and 8.2 rebounds a game, led the Wildcats with 20 points and 11 boards.

“I was proud of the way he played,” Wooldridge said. “He battled it. He’s a competitive guy, and he showed it again tonight.”

Unfortunately for the ‘Cats, leading scorer Larry Reid was in a funk. The 6-foot senior guard missed six of nine shots and was guilty of eight of KSU’s 28 turnovers. He finished with eight points, about six below his average.

Pasco and Reid weren’t designated for postgame commentary. Siebrandt was the lone KSU player made available to the media.