Manhattan ? Men’s basketball fans in the Sunflower State have come to expect one thing, and one thing only, when Kansas University plays Kansas State in the Little Apple.

That’s a KU victory, of course.

“It’s a tradition for us to lose, it seems like,” K-State junior guard David Hoskins said, quickly adding, “I think this year is a little different. We’ve got fans expecting us to win, and we go into this game expecting to win.”

Yes, at 8 tonight in front of ESPN’s Big Monday cameras, Kansas State (19-8 overall, 8-4 Big 12 Conference) fully expects to put an end to a 23-game home losing streak to rival KU (23-4, 10-2).

That’s because first-year coach Bob Huggins guaranteed a victory on Oct. 15 at the Wildcats’ season-opening “Madness in Manhattan” at Bramlage Coliseum.

“Remember, Feb. 19 is when we beat ‘The Streak.’ Then we will have a rivalry,” Huggins said.

“I think this is the year we can possibly do it,” noted KSU senior Jermaine Maybank, who scored 26 points in KSU’s 97-70 loss to KU 12 days ago at Allen Fieldhouse.

“You try to stay away from it and take it one game at a time, but when you hear about a streak like that, you want to be a part of the team that ended the streak. That’s a great team they have down the road, but we’re pretty good when we’re playing confident. We have to defend our court.”

KU has won 18 straight games at Bramlage after closing old Ahearn Fieldhouse with five straight wins.

“I think it will be crazy, especially with coach Huggins promising a win at their Late Night and all that,” KU sophomore Mario Chalmers said. “We’ve just got to stay focused on the game.”

Chalmers was asked if Huggins’ guarantee might motivate KU, as well as a promotion that will have all fans wearing black shirts in a Bramlage “blackout” for the rivalry game.

“Yes, because we are trying to keep the season sweep. Last year they got us (at Allen Fieldhouse). This year we’re trying to get them twice,” Chalmers said.

KU coach Bill Self said it’s important for his team to focus on only one thing – tonight’s game. The Streak, he says, is as “irrelevant” as Huggins predicting victory.

“Danny (Manning), Paul (Pierce), Raef (LaFrentz), Richard Scott, those guys : it was a totally different era,” Self said of past players who had much to do with the streak. “As far as I’m concerned Sherron (Collins) and Shady (Darrell Arthur) are 0-0, and Mario, Brandon (Rush) and Julian (Wright) are 1-0, down the line. That’s the extent of it.

Kansas State coach Bob Huggins provides some encouragement during the first half of the Wildcats' 65-47 victory Saturday over Iowa State. Tonight, Huggins will try to end K-State's 23-game losing streak in Manhattan to Kansas University.

“It (streak) has been going on a long time. It’s a remarkable deal. It will end. It will end someday. Hopefully, we can prolong it another year.”

Of putting an end to the streak, Huggins said: “I want to win them all. I’ve never looked at a schedule and said, ‘Man, if we can win this many.’ We’ve got to line up and play and win.”

He said the ‘Cats must play much better than the initial meeting to stand a chance.

“We didn’t do anything we were supposed to do,” he said. “I’ll look to see if we can figure something out. Dalonte (Hill, assistant coach) has a pretty good handle on it (scouting report). We were going to guard ball screens a certain way, and I don’t think we guarded them that way once.”

Self believes the Wildcats will stick to the Jayhawks tonight.

“We will find out how tough we are (in Manhattan),” Self said. “Certainly the first game was not a true indication of how competitive this rivalry is going to become. I know they’ll play great. We’ll have to play very well to win. There will be no in-between. If we don’t play well, we won’t win. I’m sure their crowd will be into it.”

Self thinks the crowd will provide “a fabulous atmosphere. So much interest has been generated by Bob’s hiring. Oklahoma State my first year at their place, Missouri every year : this will be as good an atmosphere we’ve played in since I’ve been here.”

The KSU fans may remember KU’s student section chanting “DUI, DUI” at Huggins and displaying newspapers of Huggins behind bars with the wording “Hugs and Thugs.”

“It’ll be crazy. We expect the fans to be as mean as possible,” junior Russell Robinson said. “We’ve got to handle the pressure of the road.”

“It will be up there with the level of Missouri, the same level as Missouri,” Rush said. “We have to stay focused, keep our blinders on, not look to the left or right.”

¢ On Maybank: Former St. John’s player Maybank hit seven of 10 shots and 12 of 15 free throws in the first meeting in Lawrence.

“We’ll respect him. I doubt he’ll get another (game) like that, but he is capable,” Robinson said, adding, “we need to limit his touches.”

¢ KSU’s Wright expects better: Akeem Wright didn’t score in 10 minutes in the first meeting.

“Things went poorly, but we just didn’t execute our offense as well as we should and we didn’t play defense at all,” he said. “We’ve just got to study film this time around and when the game comes, bring it to them in the opening minutes. That’s a good team coming off a huge 53-point win over Nebraska. But when they come in here they’re definitely going to see a different ballgame.”

¢ KU’s Rush on the streak: “I didn’t have a part of it. Well I had one part of it, last year. I don’t pay attention to it. We’ll try to keep it going.”

¢ Self on having just one day to prepare: “We play four Big Monday games. Our guys are used to one-day preparation. The NCAA Tournament is one-day ‘prep.’ This is what you will have to go through if you are successful in the postseason.

“What we’ll do is study our first game. Since then it’s hard to change a lot when you only have one hour to work on it (Sunday). They won’t practice long and we won’t. Our package is in. I don’t know if there is time. I would think we’ll have a decent book on them and they on us.”

¢ Freshman Darrell Arthur on tonight’s atmosphere: “I heart it will be loud. The fans get into it like at Missouri. It’ll be tough trying to get a win.”

¢ Regular road schedule: The Jayhawks, who practiced Sunday and caught part of KU’s women’s victory over K-State, traveled to Manhattan on Sunday night and will hold a shootaround in Bramlage today.