SE: K-State Seeks to Keep Building Off Big Win
Jan 17, 2022 | Men's Basketball, Sports Extra
By: D. Scott Fritchen
Can't hold a lead. Unable to finish. How many times had Kansas State coaches and players heard it in the last 14 days? They were either tied or led in the second half in each of their first four Big 12 Conference games only to falter down the stretch, including losses at Oklahoma (71-69), at West Virginia (71-68) and to TCU (60-57) by a combined 8 points. Heck, K-State led the Horned Frogs 57-52 with 1:48 left only to drop a 60-57 heartbreaker last Wednesday at Bramlage Coliseum. That can sink a squad's emotion faster than a Cadillac Escalade in quicksand.
The question became: How much more could K-State take?
In a game that the Wildcats absolutely had to have against No. 19 Texas Tech, which was the hottest team in the country, a frustration-riddled squad that hadn't been at full health all season, largely in part to COVID-19 health and safety protocols, emphatically stopped its slide on Saturday. Senior transfer Mark Smith pointed to the sky after his 3-pointer with 68 seconds effectively put away the game in a 62-51 victory over the Red Raiders — a game in which the Wildcats held the visitors 24 points below their season scoring average, while K-State loyalists celebrated the 400th all-time victory at Bramlage under impassioned head coach Bruce Weber, who couldn't speak afterward because he lost his voice.
"Coach Chris Lowery always told me, 'This place can be really special,'" said Smith, who had 12 points on 5 of 8 field goals and added 6 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals in 29 minutes. "He wants us to get it back to that. This is the start of that."
"We just have to keep building off this win," Smith added. "When we get a big win like this, you have to keep your momentum. Our confidence is high right now. We all knew we could get wins, we just let them slip away. We all know we were right there. We put the pieces today and finished the mission. 'Whatever it takes,' was our motto today. We had toughness, discipline, and we did whatever it took to get the win."
For K-State, 9-7 overall and 1-4 in the Big 12, focus was never the issue in the eyes of Lowery, who spoke after the game, rather "we've had a finishing issue," and it didn't help that Weber, quarantined due to COVID-19 protocols in games against Texas (January 4) and West Virginia (January 8), was relegated to instructing via Zoom or speakerphone calls, or that the Wildcats often didn't know which players were in and which ones were out at the mercy of daily testing prior to playing foes at full strength. Assistant coach Shane Southwell served as head coach against Texas; Jermaine Henderson at West Virginia.
"You can't build a culture on Zoom," Lowery said. "It's just not realistic. You've got to have your guy there and (Weber) being in front of them is really important. (The win) is huge for us. It was great for our guys. It was great for the purple nation. Everybody needed it.
"We all needed that victory, and it was good to get one."
Sophomore Nijel Pack had a team-high 14 points and 7 rebounds, senior Mike McGuirl returned to score 10 points after missing the previous two games due to COVID-19, and junior transfer Markquis Nowell added 7 points, 4 rebounds, 9 assists and 5 steals in 34 minutes — not to mention his work as a tenacious on-ball defender that prompted Lowery to admit that "he's one of the better ones I've coached."
Fittingly, K-State's success in its first win over a ranked team this season was grounded in the calling card of Weber's teams over his 10 years with the Wildcats — an in-your-shorts defense that is annually regarded as one of the best in the country. Although senior Bryson Williams had a game-high 20 points on 9 of 15 shooting, including 2 of 5 on 3-pointers, he was the only player in double figures for the Red Raiders, who are equally suffocating in their defensive effort.
Texas Tech, 13-4 and 3-2, which beat No. 6 Kansas (75-67) and No. 1 Baylor (65-62) in Waco, Texas, before topping Oklahoma State (78-57) on Thursday, managed their second-fewest points all season, shot just 39.6% (19 of 48) from the floor, including 23.5% (4 of 17) on 3-pointers, and suffered 18 turnovers against the Wildcats.
K-State snapped a four-game losing skid to Texas Tech by holding the Red Raiders without a basket in the final 4:50 of play.
"There's a lot of things that went into this game, but it starts with how good K-State is," first-year Texas Tech head coach Mark Adams said. "I mean, they've got some excellent shooters, they have their entire team back for a change, with coaches back (due to COVID-19), and they played well. If you look at their schedule, they played everything. They go to West Virginia, lose by two, OU beats them by two at their place. I think they went to Nebraska and won up there and beat Wichita State at their place. So, this is a good basketball team that'll win a lot of home games and we were just hoping we could sneak out of here with a win and it just didn't happen."
Adams added: "Give credit to this team. Bruce Weber is a very good coach. We told our team this might be the best-coached team we play against because they all know their role. They work so hard on both ends. They make you work on defense or moving the ball constantly and so we knew it was going to be a challenge going in."
K-State improved to 100-10 under Weber when holding opponents below 60 points.
"Happy for the guys," Weber said briefly afterward. "It's about them. It's not about us. They drenched me with water but they're the ones that found that inner strength and courage to come back after the other night, so proud of them, all the guys. Great team win."
K-State has at least one Top 25 win every season since 2006-07 and Weber's 28 victories over Top 25 teams are the most by any head coach in school history.
"Every game has been a flip flop where we'll jump out or they'll jump out, and they'll come back or we'll come back," Pack said. "We knew teams were going to make runs, but it's about how we responded to the runs, and we responded really well today. We were able to take their best punch and give them one of our own."
While Pack leads the team in points (15.4) and made 3-pointers (41), the three-headed transfer monster of Nowell, Smith and Ish Massoud have proven to be invaluable additions for the Wildcats. Nowell ranks second in scoring (12.6) and leads in assists (5.5) and steals (2.6). Smith is third in scoring (10.6), team leader in 3-point accuracy (40% on 18 of 45 shooting), and Big 12 leader in rebounds (8.3). Massoud ranks fourth in scoring (7.9), second in made 3-pointers (23), and third in rebounds (3.6).
The three transfers account for 43.2% of K-State's total points and 42.1% of its rebounds this season.
"The No. 1 thing with Markquis when he came in was he didn't want to step on anyone's toes," Lowery said. "He really wanted to fit in like, 'I'm going to be Nijel's backup, and I'm good with that.' Then we said, 'You're going to play with him.' He is that guy. Mark Smith is the other guy. Mark Smith is the emotional leader for us, the tough guy, who makes all the hustle plays. That's why he's leading rebounds in the league. The transfers have done a great job with leadership."
If anything, McGuirl brings that calming effect to the squad. McGuirl, who missed the previous two games due to COVID-19 protocols, came off the bench to hit 2 of 3 3-point attempts in 16 minutes against the Red Raiders. McGuirl, the last remaining player from the Wildcats' 2018 Elite Eight team, carries the unique perspective of having one foot in the Wildcats' celebrated past and the other foot in the possibilities for this season.
And this ceaseless Big 12 season continues as the Wildcats travel to meet No. 21 Texas, 13-4 and 3-2, in a 7:30 p.m. tipoff Tuesday at the Erwin Center in Austin, Texas.
"We know what it took for preparation going into this game (against Texas Tech) and we're trying to move forward," McGuirl said. "There are things to improve upon from tonight because we weren't perfect. We're the best conference in the nation. We'll figure it out.
"We know how good we are. We've had a lot of close games. We're tired of moral victories and were just ready to take a step in the right direction. Tonight was a step in the right direction."
Can't hold a lead. Unable to finish. How many times had Kansas State coaches and players heard it in the last 14 days? They were either tied or led in the second half in each of their first four Big 12 Conference games only to falter down the stretch, including losses at Oklahoma (71-69), at West Virginia (71-68) and to TCU (60-57) by a combined 8 points. Heck, K-State led the Horned Frogs 57-52 with 1:48 left only to drop a 60-57 heartbreaker last Wednesday at Bramlage Coliseum. That can sink a squad's emotion faster than a Cadillac Escalade in quicksand.
The question became: How much more could K-State take?
In a game that the Wildcats absolutely had to have against No. 19 Texas Tech, which was the hottest team in the country, a frustration-riddled squad that hadn't been at full health all season, largely in part to COVID-19 health and safety protocols, emphatically stopped its slide on Saturday. Senior transfer Mark Smith pointed to the sky after his 3-pointer with 68 seconds effectively put away the game in a 62-51 victory over the Red Raiders — a game in which the Wildcats held the visitors 24 points below their season scoring average, while K-State loyalists celebrated the 400th all-time victory at Bramlage under impassioned head coach Bruce Weber, who couldn't speak afterward because he lost his voice.
"Coach Chris Lowery always told me, 'This place can be really special,'" said Smith, who had 12 points on 5 of 8 field goals and added 6 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals in 29 minutes. "He wants us to get it back to that. This is the start of that."
"We just have to keep building off this win," Smith added. "When we get a big win like this, you have to keep your momentum. Our confidence is high right now. We all knew we could get wins, we just let them slip away. We all know we were right there. We put the pieces today and finished the mission. 'Whatever it takes,' was our motto today. We had toughness, discipline, and we did whatever it took to get the win."
For K-State, 9-7 overall and 1-4 in the Big 12, focus was never the issue in the eyes of Lowery, who spoke after the game, rather "we've had a finishing issue," and it didn't help that Weber, quarantined due to COVID-19 protocols in games against Texas (January 4) and West Virginia (January 8), was relegated to instructing via Zoom or speakerphone calls, or that the Wildcats often didn't know which players were in and which ones were out at the mercy of daily testing prior to playing foes at full strength. Assistant coach Shane Southwell served as head coach against Texas; Jermaine Henderson at West Virginia.
"You can't build a culture on Zoom," Lowery said. "It's just not realistic. You've got to have your guy there and (Weber) being in front of them is really important. (The win) is huge for us. It was great for our guys. It was great for the purple nation. Everybody needed it.
"We all needed that victory, and it was good to get one."
Sophomore Nijel Pack had a team-high 14 points and 7 rebounds, senior Mike McGuirl returned to score 10 points after missing the previous two games due to COVID-19, and junior transfer Markquis Nowell added 7 points, 4 rebounds, 9 assists and 5 steals in 34 minutes — not to mention his work as a tenacious on-ball defender that prompted Lowery to admit that "he's one of the better ones I've coached."
Fittingly, K-State's success in its first win over a ranked team this season was grounded in the calling card of Weber's teams over his 10 years with the Wildcats — an in-your-shorts defense that is annually regarded as one of the best in the country. Although senior Bryson Williams had a game-high 20 points on 9 of 15 shooting, including 2 of 5 on 3-pointers, he was the only player in double figures for the Red Raiders, who are equally suffocating in their defensive effort.
Texas Tech, 13-4 and 3-2, which beat No. 6 Kansas (75-67) and No. 1 Baylor (65-62) in Waco, Texas, before topping Oklahoma State (78-57) on Thursday, managed their second-fewest points all season, shot just 39.6% (19 of 48) from the floor, including 23.5% (4 of 17) on 3-pointers, and suffered 18 turnovers against the Wildcats.
K-State snapped a four-game losing skid to Texas Tech by holding the Red Raiders without a basket in the final 4:50 of play.
"There's a lot of things that went into this game, but it starts with how good K-State is," first-year Texas Tech head coach Mark Adams said. "I mean, they've got some excellent shooters, they have their entire team back for a change, with coaches back (due to COVID-19), and they played well. If you look at their schedule, they played everything. They go to West Virginia, lose by two, OU beats them by two at their place. I think they went to Nebraska and won up there and beat Wichita State at their place. So, this is a good basketball team that'll win a lot of home games and we were just hoping we could sneak out of here with a win and it just didn't happen."
Adams added: "Give credit to this team. Bruce Weber is a very good coach. We told our team this might be the best-coached team we play against because they all know their role. They work so hard on both ends. They make you work on defense or moving the ball constantly and so we knew it was going to be a challenge going in."
Listen, learn, and play together #KStateMBB x EMAW pic.twitter.com/dVb3otWvTr
— K-State Men's Basketball (@KStateMBB) January 15, 2022
"Happy for the guys," Weber said briefly afterward. "It's about them. It's not about us. They drenched me with water but they're the ones that found that inner strength and courage to come back after the other night, so proud of them, all the guys. Great team win."
K-State has at least one Top 25 win every season since 2006-07 and Weber's 28 victories over Top 25 teams are the most by any head coach in school history.
"Every game has been a flip flop where we'll jump out or they'll jump out, and they'll come back or we'll come back," Pack said. "We knew teams were going to make runs, but it's about how we responded to the runs, and we responded really well today. We were able to take their best punch and give them one of our own."
While Pack leads the team in points (15.4) and made 3-pointers (41), the three-headed transfer monster of Nowell, Smith and Ish Massoud have proven to be invaluable additions for the Wildcats. Nowell ranks second in scoring (12.6) and leads in assists (5.5) and steals (2.6). Smith is third in scoring (10.6), team leader in 3-point accuracy (40% on 18 of 45 shooting), and Big 12 leader in rebounds (8.3). Massoud ranks fourth in scoring (7.9), second in made 3-pointers (23), and third in rebounds (3.6).
The three transfers account for 43.2% of K-State's total points and 42.1% of its rebounds this season.
"The No. 1 thing with Markquis when he came in was he didn't want to step on anyone's toes," Lowery said. "He really wanted to fit in like, 'I'm going to be Nijel's backup, and I'm good with that.' Then we said, 'You're going to play with him.' He is that guy. Mark Smith is the other guy. Mark Smith is the emotional leader for us, the tough guy, who makes all the hustle plays. That's why he's leading rebounds in the league. The transfers have done a great job with leadership."
Today was a start #KStateMBB x EMAW pic.twitter.com/8PsDW54NFZ
— K-State Men's Basketball (@KStateMBB) January 15, 2022
If anything, McGuirl brings that calming effect to the squad. McGuirl, who missed the previous two games due to COVID-19 protocols, came off the bench to hit 2 of 3 3-point attempts in 16 minutes against the Red Raiders. McGuirl, the last remaining player from the Wildcats' 2018 Elite Eight team, carries the unique perspective of having one foot in the Wildcats' celebrated past and the other foot in the possibilities for this season.
And this ceaseless Big 12 season continues as the Wildcats travel to meet No. 21 Texas, 13-4 and 3-2, in a 7:30 p.m. tipoff Tuesday at the Erwin Center in Austin, Texas.
"We know what it took for preparation going into this game (against Texas Tech) and we're trying to move forward," McGuirl said. "There are things to improve upon from tonight because we weren't perfect. We're the best conference in the nation. We'll figure it out.
"We know how good we are. We've had a lot of close games. We're tired of moral victories and were just ready to take a step in the right direction. Tonight was a step in the right direction."
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