Thunderous Dunk Rocks Bramlage, Lifts Cats to Win
Jan 11, 2023 | Men's Basketball, Sports Extra
By: D. Scott Fritchen
He took off with both feet. That's how Keyontae Johnson began one of the most incredible dunks you'll ever see in the clutch. He took off with both feet. There were less than 40 seconds remaining in a hard-fought game against Oklahoma State. No. 11 Kansas State led, 60-57, and the sellout crowd at Bramlage Coliseum was losing its mind. It was one of those slow-motion moments. Things you remember. Yes, Johnson stood a foot inside the paint. He waited. It seemed like he waited forever.
Then he took off.
Markquis Nowell is the National Player of the Week. K-State head coach Jerome Tang thinks Nowell might be the best point guard in America. Nowell and Johnson are the two best players in the Big 12 Conference. They have great chemistry. It's amazing to watch. But nothing might top the alley-oop dunk — how Nowell from the right side, launched the ball from the 3-point line, how Oklahoma State players stood flat-footed around the basket, how Oklahoma State guard Woody Newton, standing underneath the basket, body turned toward Nowell, turned around just in time to see Johnson begin his ascent off both feet on the left side of the paint.
"I wish that ball would've been three inches higher and he wouldn't have caught it," Oklahoma State head coach Mike Boynton, Jr. said. "It's a phenomenal testament to what's possible when you don't give up, and really believe in yourself, and you're willing to sell out for your dreams."
"It was crazy, right?" Tang said.
Nowell offers a slight chuckle while recalling the dunk.
"That," Nowell said, "is Keyontae Johnson."
As Nowell launched the ball into the air, Johnson skied toward the backboard. It was just as scripted.
"I told 'Quis in practice the other day, 'If you're going to throw a lob, just throw it close to the top of the backboard,'" Johnson said. "I feel like today, he finally did it."
Throw it to the top of the backboard. That's what Johnson said. That's how you do it. Throw it to the top of the backboard. Wow.
They can tell what each other is thinking just by looking at each other's eyes. And so Nowell launched the ball into the air, and Johnson leaped. His feet were equal with Newton's waist. Years from now, K-State fans will say that Johnson nearly jumped over Newton's shoulders. But Johnson jumped impressively, and hung into the air. The ball arched toward the white rectangle of the backboard — about a foot above the rim — and the fingertips of Johnson's right hand were equal to that. In one flowing movement, he caught the ball with his right hand, brought the ball back behind his head, then ripped it forward — a hammer dunk is what it's called — with such ferocity that it caused the backboard to shake. Boom.
It should be a SportsCenter Top 10 moment.
K-State beat Oklahoma State, 65-57, after scoring in streaks and in scoring gobs and after missing some shots and making the Cowboys miss shots as well. There were six lead changes and two ties. No team ever led by more than 10. The game was single digits over the final seven minutes. Just when it looked like the Wildcats could pull away, the Cowboys seemed to catch them.
Then Nowell and Johnson cooked at the very end. And everyone will remember the dunk.
"I'm not by nature a guy who cusses," Tang said. "It's not really a part of me. I thought the ball was going out of bounds. In my head, I was thinking, 'Oh crap, it's a turnover.' But then Keyontae jumps vertical and catches the thing, and he's outside the lane, and then hammers it, and I said, 'What the —?'
"I told the guys and I did pushups in the locker room for it."
Tang paused. Sportswriters laughed.
"We say all the time that big-time players make big-time plays in big-time moments," Tang continued, "and those two dudes connecting on that, there's no coaching that, that's players — that's dudes."
Nowell led K-State with 20 points and seven assists, and Johnson added 12 points and six rebounds, as the Wildcats, 15-1 overall and 4-0 in the Big 12, clawed their way to their ninth-straight victory just one day after going from unranked to ranked No. 11 in the AP Top 25 Poll. The Wildcats have shown they can score lots of points in victories at No. 6 Texas (116-113) and in this past Saturday's overtime victory at No. 19 Baylor (97-95). Against Oklahoma State, 9-7 and 1-3, they showed they can smother teams as well. They held the Cowboys to just 36.5% shooting (21-of-59) from the floor, including just 33.3% (9-of-27) on 3-pointers. They also held the Cowboys to their third-fewest points all season.
And the crowd at Bramlage, man, the crowd of 11,000 sprang to life, particularly toward the end, and some fans saw Tang and Nowell and Johnson and the Wildcats live for the first time in the Tang era, and they celebrated, and it was awesome.
"It was exciting," Johnson said. "It was more exciting to get the win, really. We've been on the road, so to come back to Bramlage and get the win as a ranked team, and just show them how much hard work we're putting in, that was the main thing for me. I just wanted to try and get the win.
"It was one of the best crowds I've been around."
How would Johnson rank his hammer dunk? He didn't hesitate.
"That might've been No. 1," he replied. "That sealed the deal for us. That's No. 1 for me."
Tang sat in the postgame news conference, his eyes wide while recalling the play that'll be talked about all season.
"You saw tonight and the last few games, we have some dudes," Tang said. "Them just making plays, big-time plays."
He paused.
"I shake my head quite a bit, and smile, and clap, and say, 'Thank you, Jesus.'"
He took off with both feet. That's how Keyontae Johnson began one of the most incredible dunks you'll ever see in the clutch. He took off with both feet. There were less than 40 seconds remaining in a hard-fought game against Oklahoma State. No. 11 Kansas State led, 60-57, and the sellout crowd at Bramlage Coliseum was losing its mind. It was one of those slow-motion moments. Things you remember. Yes, Johnson stood a foot inside the paint. He waited. It seemed like he waited forever.
Then he took off.
Markquis Nowell is the National Player of the Week. K-State head coach Jerome Tang thinks Nowell might be the best point guard in America. Nowell and Johnson are the two best players in the Big 12 Conference. They have great chemistry. It's amazing to watch. But nothing might top the alley-oop dunk — how Nowell from the right side, launched the ball from the 3-point line, how Oklahoma State players stood flat-footed around the basket, how Oklahoma State guard Woody Newton, standing underneath the basket, body turned toward Nowell, turned around just in time to see Johnson begin his ascent off both feet on the left side of the paint.
"I wish that ball would've been three inches higher and he wouldn't have caught it," Oklahoma State head coach Mike Boynton, Jr. said. "It's a phenomenal testament to what's possible when you don't give up, and really believe in yourself, and you're willing to sell out for your dreams."
"It was crazy, right?" Tang said.
Nowell offers a slight chuckle while recalling the dunk.
"That," Nowell said, "is Keyontae Johnson."
As Nowell launched the ball into the air, Johnson skied toward the backboard. It was just as scripted.
"I told 'Quis in practice the other day, 'If you're going to throw a lob, just throw it close to the top of the backboard,'" Johnson said. "I feel like today, he finally did it."
Throw it to the top of the backboard. That's what Johnson said. That's how you do it. Throw it to the top of the backboard. Wow.
They can tell what each other is thinking just by looking at each other's eyes. And so Nowell launched the ball into the air, and Johnson leaped. His feet were equal with Newton's waist. Years from now, K-State fans will say that Johnson nearly jumped over Newton's shoulders. But Johnson jumped impressively, and hung into the air. The ball arched toward the white rectangle of the backboard — about a foot above the rim — and the fingertips of Johnson's right hand were equal to that. In one flowing movement, he caught the ball with his right hand, brought the ball back behind his head, then ripped it forward — a hammer dunk is what it's called — with such ferocity that it caused the backboard to shake. Boom.
"I see him jump every day," Nowell said. "He's a great athlete. His eyes tell me to throw it up and I just do that."OH BABY#KStateMBB x @keyontae pic.twitter.com/qlBExYcnZL
— K-State Men's Basketball (@KStateMBB) January 11, 2023
It should be a SportsCenter Top 10 moment.
K-State beat Oklahoma State, 65-57, after scoring in streaks and in scoring gobs and after missing some shots and making the Cowboys miss shots as well. There were six lead changes and two ties. No team ever led by more than 10. The game was single digits over the final seven minutes. Just when it looked like the Wildcats could pull away, the Cowboys seemed to catch them.
Then Nowell and Johnson cooked at the very end. And everyone will remember the dunk.
"I'm not by nature a guy who cusses," Tang said. "It's not really a part of me. I thought the ball was going out of bounds. In my head, I was thinking, 'Oh crap, it's a turnover.' But then Keyontae jumps vertical and catches the thing, and he's outside the lane, and then hammers it, and I said, 'What the —?'
"I told the guys and I did pushups in the locker room for it."
Tang paused. Sportswriters laughed.
"We say all the time that big-time players make big-time plays in big-time moments," Tang continued, "and those two dudes connecting on that, there's no coaching that, that's players — that's dudes."
Nowell led K-State with 20 points and seven assists, and Johnson added 12 points and six rebounds, as the Wildcats, 15-1 overall and 4-0 in the Big 12, clawed their way to their ninth-straight victory just one day after going from unranked to ranked No. 11 in the AP Top 25 Poll. The Wildcats have shown they can score lots of points in victories at No. 6 Texas (116-113) and in this past Saturday's overtime victory at No. 19 Baylor (97-95). Against Oklahoma State, 9-7 and 1-3, they showed they can smother teams as well. They held the Cowboys to just 36.5% shooting (21-of-59) from the floor, including just 33.3% (9-of-27) on 3-pointers. They also held the Cowboys to their third-fewest points all season.
And the crowd at Bramlage, man, the crowd of 11,000 sprang to life, particularly toward the end, and some fans saw Tang and Nowell and Johnson and the Wildcats live for the first time in the Tang era, and they celebrated, and it was awesome.
"It was exciting," Johnson said. "It was more exciting to get the win, really. We've been on the road, so to come back to Bramlage and get the win as a ranked team, and just show them how much hard work we're putting in, that was the main thing for me. I just wanted to try and get the win.
"It was one of the best crowds I've been around."
How would Johnson rank his hammer dunk? He didn't hesitate.
"That might've been No. 1," he replied. "That sealed the deal for us. That's No. 1 for me."
Tang sat in the postgame news conference, his eyes wide while recalling the play that'll be talked about all season.
"You saw tonight and the last few games, we have some dudes," Tang said. "Them just making plays, big-time plays."
He paused.
"I shake my head quite a bit, and smile, and clap, and say, 'Thank you, Jesus.'"
Players Mentioned
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