SE: K-State MBB Eager for Challenge of Fort Myers Tipoff
Nov 25, 2019 | Men's Basketball, Sports Extra
By Corbin McGuire
There's end-of-the-season goals, things like conference championships and NCAA Tournaments. Then, there's the in-season objectives that lead up to those.
K-State men's basketball looks to check off one of the latter this week, as the Wildcats (4-0) face Pittsburgh (4-2, 1-0 ACC) to open semifinal play in the Rocket Mortgage by Quicken Loans Fort Myers Tipoff on Monday at 5 p.m., in Fort Myers, Florida.
With a victory on Monday, K-State would match up with either Bradley (4-1), an NCAA Tournament team last season, or Northwestern (2-2) on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m., with all of the tournament's games being broadcast on FS1. K-State, which won the U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam last season, looks to win in-season tournaments in consecutive years for the first time since claiming three in a row from 1993-95.
"(We're) looking forward to getting another championship," senior Xavier Sneed said. "That's one of our goals we're trying to check off our list, being able to win a championship, but it starts with the first game against Pitt."
Four games into the season, which includes a road win at UNLV, K-State head coach Bruce Weber said he thinks his team's ready for a neutral floor challenge.
"I know they're looking forward to it," Weber said. "You have an ACC team (in Pittsburgh) that is, in a way they're new, but they have everyone back, so they were really new last year. They've played a pretty tough schedule already, with Florida State and West Virginia, so we're going to have to come to play."
Pittsburgh, with 11 underclassmen on its roster, brings a stout backcourt that includes its top four scorers (Trey McGowens, 12.3 points per game; Ryan Murphy, 11.7 PPG; Justin Champagnie, 10.8 PPG; and Xavier Johnson, 10.3 PPG), its leading rebounder (Champagnie, 5.7 per game) and its top distributor (Johnson, 5.2 assists per game).
The Panthers opened their season with a home win (63-61) against ACC-foe Florida State, a Sweet 16 team last season. They have since lost to Nicholls (75-70) and West Virginia (68-53), but have responded with wins over Monmouth (63-50) and Arkansas-Pine Bluff (66-41).
"We have to step up to the challenge," Sneed said. "We already had the one road win for us, so we got that under our belt and understand what it takes to (win) outside to of Bramlage and just have a winning effort."
Part of that winning effort is focused on getting out of the gate faster.
So far, K-State has been a team of two halves.
In the first half this season, the Wildcats are averaging 22.8 points, shooting 32.1 percent (36 of 112) from the field, 11.6 percent (5 of 43) from three and 35.0 percent (7 of 20) from the free throw line.
The second half is a much different story.
K-State, in the final 20 minutes of games (not counting overtime), is averaging 39.8 points, shooting 50.0 percent from the field (55 of 110), 41.5 percent (17 of 41) from deep and 78.4 percent (40 of 51) from the charity stripe.
The biggest disparity came when K-State scored 53 points in the second half of its win against Monmouth, after putting up 20 in the first.
These numbers are confounding, in some ways. They become a little more understandable after considering K-State's played four complete newcomers to the program, including three true freshmen, significant minutes. Even the returning veterans like Sneed, Makol Mawien and Cartier Diarra are in completely different roles this season.
"I have to be patient with them. I have to help them," Weber said. "We're new in so many ways. We just have to get some rhythm. We're a new team and we got to figure it out. You get better in practice, and you learn from games."
K-State did produce its best first half in its last outing, a 62-51 win against Arkansas-Pine Bluff. The Wildcats shot 40.0 percent (10 of 25) from the field and knocked in 4 of 11 from 3-point range.
"We're still getting better," Sneed said. "We still have a lot of people still learning a lot of different things for us, but everybody's taking on the challenge of learning and taking everything day to day and still being coachable. I think we're on the right path of getting back to where we're supposed to be."
There's end-of-the-season goals, things like conference championships and NCAA Tournaments. Then, there's the in-season objectives that lead up to those.
K-State men's basketball looks to check off one of the latter this week, as the Wildcats (4-0) face Pittsburgh (4-2, 1-0 ACC) to open semifinal play in the Rocket Mortgage by Quicken Loans Fort Myers Tipoff on Monday at 5 p.m., in Fort Myers, Florida.
With a victory on Monday, K-State would match up with either Bradley (4-1), an NCAA Tournament team last season, or Northwestern (2-2) on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m., with all of the tournament's games being broadcast on FS1. K-State, which won the U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam last season, looks to win in-season tournaments in consecutive years for the first time since claiming three in a row from 1993-95.
"(We're) looking forward to getting another championship," senior Xavier Sneed said. "That's one of our goals we're trying to check off our list, being able to win a championship, but it starts with the first game against Pitt."
Four games into the season, which includes a road win at UNLV, K-State head coach Bruce Weber said he thinks his team's ready for a neutral floor challenge.
"I know they're looking forward to it," Weber said. "You have an ACC team (in Pittsburgh) that is, in a way they're new, but they have everyone back, so they were really new last year. They've played a pretty tough schedule already, with Florida State and West Virginia, so we're going to have to come to play."
Pittsburgh, with 11 underclassmen on its roster, brings a stout backcourt that includes its top four scorers (Trey McGowens, 12.3 points per game; Ryan Murphy, 11.7 PPG; Justin Champagnie, 10.8 PPG; and Xavier Johnson, 10.3 PPG), its leading rebounder (Champagnie, 5.7 per game) and its top distributor (Johnson, 5.2 assists per game).
The Panthers opened their season with a home win (63-61) against ACC-foe Florida State, a Sweet 16 team last season. They have since lost to Nicholls (75-70) and West Virginia (68-53), but have responded with wins over Monmouth (63-50) and Arkansas-Pine Bluff (66-41).
"We have to step up to the challenge," Sneed said. "We already had the one road win for us, so we got that under our belt and understand what it takes to (win) outside to of Bramlage and just have a winning effort."
Part of that winning effort is focused on getting out of the gate faster.
So far, K-State has been a team of two halves.
In the first half this season, the Wildcats are averaging 22.8 points, shooting 32.1 percent (36 of 112) from the field, 11.6 percent (5 of 43) from three and 35.0 percent (7 of 20) from the free throw line.
The second half is a much different story.
K-State, in the final 20 minutes of games (not counting overtime), is averaging 39.8 points, shooting 50.0 percent from the field (55 of 110), 41.5 percent (17 of 41) from deep and 78.4 percent (40 of 51) from the charity stripe.
The biggest disparity came when K-State scored 53 points in the second half of its win against Monmouth, after putting up 20 in the first.
These numbers are confounding, in some ways. They become a little more understandable after considering K-State's played four complete newcomers to the program, including three true freshmen, significant minutes. Even the returning veterans like Sneed, Makol Mawien and Cartier Diarra are in completely different roles this season.
"I have to be patient with them. I have to help them," Weber said. "We're new in so many ways. We just have to get some rhythm. We're a new team and we got to figure it out. You get better in practice, and you learn from games."
K-State did produce its best first half in its last outing, a 62-51 win against Arkansas-Pine Bluff. The Wildcats shot 40.0 percent (10 of 25) from the field and knocked in 4 of 11 from 3-point range.
"We're still getting better," Sneed said. "We still have a lot of people still learning a lot of different things for us, but everybody's taking on the challenge of learning and taking everything day to day and still being coachable. I think we're on the right path of getting back to where we're supposed to be."
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