SE: Persistent Work Leads McGuirl to Consistency for K-State MBB

By Corbin McGuire

The difference between Mike McGuirl's first four games this season and his play since has been stark.

During the former period, K-State's junior guard averaged 3.5 points a game on 36.4 percent from the floor and 29.0 percent from beyond the arc. Since that stretch, which was capped with a zero-point outing against Arkansas-Pine Bluff, McGuirl's numbers look much different: 8.3 points per game, 47.1 percent shooting from the field and 50.0 percent from three.

McGuirl, when asked what changed, pointed to what he's focused on.

"Honestly, Coach (Bruce Weber) has just really emphasized practice habits," McGuirl said, as K-State (7-6, 0-1) hosts TCU (10-3, 1-0) on Tuesday at 8 p.m., on ESPNU. "From the start, I've just been trying to improve my habits."

Weber not only preached this to McGuirl, he watched the Ellington, Connecticut native put it into practice. Multiple times this year, K-State's eighth-year head coach applauded McGuirl's persistence to improve.

"He started the season wanting it so bad and maybe he overdid it a little bit. Mike has made a real commitment to improve," Weber said after McGuirl's 16-point outing against Florida A&M "I'm happy for him, and the reason it's happened...he's gotten in the gym."

Between McGuirl's 14-point outing against Mississippi State and his seven-point, six-rebound performance versus Saint Louis, Weber enhanced his praise of McGuirl.

"Who's our most consistent player right now? Mike McGuirl. Look at his stats. (He's shooting 45 percent) from the field. His assist-to-turnover (ratio) is positive (29 assists to 11 turnovers), and he's our best defender, maybe, right now. I'm happy for him because he started really dismal and he's gotten in the gym, worked at it, figured out what his niche is and he's doing a good job," Weber said. "He wants it. It really bothered him. Figuring out what you are, figuring out a role…I talk about those (three) words: Consistency, efficiency and dependability. One of the things was figuring out roles. He's figured out his role pretty quick."

McGuirl's role has changed quite a bit from his first two seasons.

As a true freshman, he sat on the bench most of the year and planned to redshirt. Then, injuries plagued K-State's lineup. McGuirl unselfishly agreed to scrap the initial plan to give K-State's backcourt depth. His biggest contribution arrived in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, when McGuirl broke out for 17 crucial points off the bench in a win against Creighton — a start to the 2017-18 team's run to the Elite Eight.

McGuirl played in a similar role last season, learning from the likes of senior guards Barry Brown, Jr. and Kamau Stokes. He also posted another breakthrough performance at a crucial moment for K-State. This time, McGuirl scored 17 points, including 15 in the second half, in a school-record comeback against West Virginia that sparked the program's longest conference winning streak (9 games) in than 45 years.

Those two performances, for the most part, were outliers for McGuirl, however. They were gravy in terms of what his role and expectations were. This season, however, with Brown and Stokes graduated, McGuirl knew he needed to bring more to the team in a number of ways.

"I'm older now. Before, I was one of the young guys who was sort of behind and listening to the older guys and following their path," McGuirl said earlier this season. "Now, I sort of have to carry on their legacy. We have (Xavier Sneed) and we have great leaders, but it's my job, too, to help them with leading because they can't do it all themselves, and to really step up, be solid, do what we do, and do what I can to help the team win."

That goes beyond scoring and shooting from the perimeter, too.

McGuirl, while second on the team in field goal percentage (45.2; min. 50 attempts) and first in 3-point percentage (46.3), he also ranks first in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.6), second in assists (29) and third in steals (15). In his last four games, he's also averaged 4.3 rebounds a game — nearly double his season average.

"I think Coach also really emphasized improving game to game, and I try to, personally, improve game to game. I look back and watch every game, see what I did wrong," McGuirl said. "There are (different) ways in every game that you could impact it. I try to do those little things to impact every game. That's sort of where consistency comes from."

Kansas State University Athletics

SE: Persistent Work Leads McGuirl to Consistency for K-State MBB

Players Mentioned

Barry Brown, Jr.

Mike McGuirl

Xavier Sneed

Kamau Stokes

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