Kansas State, the five-seed in the Spokane Regional 4 at Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena, fought tooth and nail against top-seed (4/4) USC, but the Trojans edged past the Wildcats, 67-61, in the

Marquel Sutton, a 6-foot-8 senior forward who spent the past three seasons at Omaha, has locked in a recruiting visit with Jerome Tang and the Wildcats. Sutton told League Ready that he plans to be in Manhattan on Monday.

USC defeated Kansas State in the absence of star guard Juju Watkins, leaning on performances from Kennedy Smith and Avery Howell.

JuJu Watkins' absence and Ayoka Lee's presence made this No. 1-No. 5 matchup one of the biggest toss-ups of the third round.

Other transfers that have been linked to K-State include: Amarion Dickerson (Robert Morris), Chase Forte (South Dakota), Jonathan Powell (West Virginia), Nick Pringle (South Carolina) and All Wright (Valpo). How does the K-State women’s basketball team match up with USC without JuJu Watkins playing? -@pastorcshane via X.

SPOKANE, Wash. — A Sweet 16 loss to No. 1 seed USC marked the end of illustrious college careers for Kansas State All-Americans Serena Sundell and Ayoka Lee, but their futures remain wide open. “I’m a big fan of Sundell,” USC head coach Lindsay Gottlieb said. “I think she should be in somebody’s WNBA camp for sure, if not drafted.”

Kansas State has another transfer they should be eyeing. Miami transfer guard Jalil Bethea listed the Wildcats as one of his top destinations spots, along with