The Wildcats played their most complete game of the season. Can they keep it going?
Kansas State built an insurmountable lead in the first half and rode it to a 73-60 win against No. 23 West Virginia in Bramlage Coliseum Saturday.
Mired in a 6-game losing streak, the Wildcats (8-11, 2-6 Big 12) played the early minutes like a team that was fed up with losing. Defense was the key. After the Mountaineers (13-6, 4-4) knotted the score at 2-all on their second possession, they did not score for the next 6 minutes and 46 seconds. During that span, K-State executed a 17-0 run to lead 19-2.
It was so much fun, the Cats staged an almost immediate encore. After West Virginia found a little rhythm to get within at 31-16 deficit with 5:09 to play, the ‘Eers did not score again until 39 seconds remained in the half. The 11-0 run pushed K-State’s lead to 42-16. After Eduardo Andre got free for a dunk, the Cats’ cushion was 24 at intermission.
Sloppy play after intermission has been an unfortunate hallmark of Wildcat basketball, at times. A combination of spotty offensive play and defensive breakdowns allowed West Virginia to cut the lead to 15 in the first four minutes of the second half, and after the teams traded scores for a while, the score was 51-36 with 13:42 to play.
The Wildcat defense rose to the occasion again, as it held the Mountaineers to only 4 points over the next 6:59 of game time. When David N’Guessan made a free throw to convert a three-point play, the Cats were up 58-40 with 7:18 remaining.
West Virginia applied backcourt pressure, and K-State responded poorly, at first. The Mountaineers got as close as 70-58, but thanks to a couple of runouts and enough made free throws at the purple end, the lead never shrank below 10.
Three stats played a large role in the outcome of this game:
- Shooting percentage. K-State has seldom shot a better percentage than its opponents in league play. Today, against one of the better defensive units in the Big 12, K-State shot 26-55 (47.3%), while holding West Virginia to 25-68 (35.8%). The Cats made 6-17 three-pointers, while the ‘Eers netted only 4-21. Early in the game, K-State simply did not allow West Virginia to have comfortable looks at the basket.
- Free Throws. After getting pummeled by 12 points at the line in their 8-point loss to Baylor, The Wildcats turned the stat around at home, making 15 of 22 attempts, while West Virginia was 6-8 at the line. Home cooking? Maybe. But it was obvious K-State was pressing the issue, trying to get to the rim, even through contact. Instead of being content to shoot jumpers, the Cats attacked the paint. West Virginia never effectively adjusted to this break from K-State’s past tendencies.
- Rebounding. This one was not as big an advantage as the game wore on, with K-State enjoying only a 40-36 advantage on the glass at the end. But the Wildcats cleaned the defensive glass consistently during their big first-half runs. Backing up good defense with solid rebounding is a must. Today, the Cats did the dirty work.
K-State staged such a team effort that 5 players reached double-figure scoring. Dug McDaniel led the way with 15, and he also tossed a team-best 6 assists. David N’Guessan scored 14 and blocked 4 shots. Max Jones had 12 points and 7 rebounds. Coleman Hawkins scored 11, grabbed 7 rebounds, and tossed 4 assists. CJ Jones had 10 points and 6 boards.
West Virginia’s Javon Small led all scorers with 22.
UP NEXT
The Cats will try to avenge their meltdown a couple of weeks ago in Stillwater when the Oklahoma State Cowboys (10-8, 2-5 Big 12) come calling at 7:00 Wednesday evening.