Kansas State University Athletics
‘He is Gritty, and He’s a Winner’
Nov 29, 2023 | Men's Basketball, Sports Extra
By: D. Scott Fritchen
Kansas State won because it was tough. K-State won because it had the will to win. In the end, though, K-State very well might've won because it had senior point guard Tylor Perry.
Perry scored all 20 of his points after the first half, added six rebounds and six assists, and he made a series of crucial plays down the stretch to preserve an 88-78 overtime win against Oral Roberts on Tuesday at Bramlage Coliseum.
With his team leading 79-78 with 1 minute, 54 seconds remaining in the overtime period, Perry sank a pair of free throws. On the next possession, he sank a jump shot in the paint, then intercepted the inbounds pass, drew a foul and hit another free throw to make it 84-78 with 62 seconds to go.
The Wildcats outscored the Golden Eagles 16-6 in the extra period, battling back from a 78-76 deficit to score the final 12 points over the last 2:24 of the contest.
"(Perry) is gritty and he's a winner," K-State head coach Jerome Tang said. "He's won everywhere he's been. Those are just plays that winners make. He wanted the ball, the moment wasn't too big for him, and he wasn't afraid of failing. So, I'm just really proud of him, because he's really not feeling well.
"He's been doing breathing treatments and all different kinds of stuff, but he just fought through it. That's what makes him special."
Perry, who transferred from North Texas, shot just 5-for-15 from the floor and sank 4-of-12 3-pointers. Perry, who has scored at least 20 points in four of his first seven games with the Wildcats, focused on getting his teammates involved early before coming alive in the second half and in the extra period.
The Wildcats, 5-2, improved to 7-0 all-time in overtime games under second-year head coach Jerome Tang.
Four starters scored in double digits. Guard Cam Carter had 19 points, 10 rebounds and five assists for his first-career double-double. Freshman guard Dai Dai Ames added 11 points along with senior center Will McNair Jr. Junior forward Arthur Kaluma came off the bench to score 20 points and add eight rebounds in 34 minutes.
"Whatever my team needs me to do, I'm going to do it," Carter said. "Whether it's scoring, playing defense, guarding the best player, rebounding, or whatever it is, I'm going to do it and get it done."
Carter shot 6-for-13 from the floor, including 3-of-8 on 3-pointers, and added five assists and three steals in 41 minutes.
"I love getting my teammates involved. Cam had it going super early, and sometimes I just need to get out of the way," Perry said. "When you have Cam and Arthur out there hooping like they are, and you have someone like Will inside there eating, I'm cool with that.
"I haven't been in a position like this before with that many weapons on one team."
Oral Roberts, 2-4, was led by standout efforts by senior guard Issac McBride and junior guard Jailen Bedford, as the Golden Eagles came off a 65-63 win over Texas Southern on November 21. McBride had 25 points on 10-for-16 shooting while Bedford scored 23 points, including five 3-pointers, to go along with nine boards against the Wildcats.
The teams were tied at 41-41 at halftime, then at 72-72 at the end of regulation. Although the Wildcats led by 11 points in the first half and by nine points in the second, the Golden Eagles, who never led by more than two points, kept battling back in a game that featured eight ties and six lead changes.
"It seems like every game has a little March feel to it," Tang said. "First round of the NCAA Tournament, if you get a good seed, you're going to play a team like that, and it's hard to win those games. They're really good."
Carter got things rolling early on by scoring 11 of his team's first 13 points and the Wildcats took a 28-17 lead on two second-chance points by Macaleab Rich with 8:57 to go until halftime. But Oral Roberts continued to battle. After an and-1 by Kaluma gave the Wildcats a 36-29 advantage, McBride put the Golden Eagles on his back. His free throw made it 41-40, where it remained until David N'Guessan made a free throw of his own with 0.2 seconds left to tie the score just before halftime.
Perry's first made basket — a 3-pointer less than 4 minutes into the second half — gave the Wildcats a 48-41 lead. Less than a minute later, he made his second 3 of the game. Kaluma made it 59-50 on a fast-break lay-up, but Bedford's fast-break dunk cut the Wildcats' lead to 59-58. McBride's short jump shot tied the score at 68-68 with 90 seconds left in regulation. Perry answered with his third 3-pointer of the game.
"(McBride) never got rattled," Tang said. "We started off denying him the ball, and he didn't force anything. He let his teammates do some things. We tried to guard him regular, and when he saw it, he just took over. His change of pace is really good."
Same goes for Perry, who seemingly switched gears with ease to help deliver the win in overtime.
"Usually, I stay the course in games like this," Perry said. "ORU, tip your hat to them. They came in with a great game plan and executed well into 40 minutes. It took us 45 minutes to get it done. I just stayed the course. Big shoutout to my teammates to continue to look for me and find me and uplift me throughout the game. That made my job a lot easier."
All the way until the very end when he showed brilliant court awareness by snatching away the Oral Roberts inbounds pass in the waning moments of overtime.
"Emotions are high at the end of the game, and you like the competitiveness," Perry said. "I embrace it and our whole team does. I think that's why we are who we are and the reason we win overtime games, just because of the grit we have."
Kansas State won because it was tough. K-State won because it had the will to win. In the end, though, K-State very well might've won because it had senior point guard Tylor Perry.
Perry scored all 20 of his points after the first half, added six rebounds and six assists, and he made a series of crucial plays down the stretch to preserve an 88-78 overtime win against Oral Roberts on Tuesday at Bramlage Coliseum.
With his team leading 79-78 with 1 minute, 54 seconds remaining in the overtime period, Perry sank a pair of free throws. On the next possession, he sank a jump shot in the paint, then intercepted the inbounds pass, drew a foul and hit another free throw to make it 84-78 with 62 seconds to go.
The Wildcats outscored the Golden Eagles 16-6 in the extra period, battling back from a 78-76 deficit to score the final 12 points over the last 2:24 of the contest.
"(Perry) is gritty and he's a winner," K-State head coach Jerome Tang said. "He's won everywhere he's been. Those are just plays that winners make. He wanted the ball, the moment wasn't too big for him, and he wasn't afraid of failing. So, I'm just really proud of him, because he's really not feeling well.
"He's been doing breathing treatments and all different kinds of stuff, but he just fought through it. That's what makes him special."
Perry, who transferred from North Texas, shot just 5-for-15 from the floor and sank 4-of-12 3-pointers. Perry, who has scored at least 20 points in four of his first seven games with the Wildcats, focused on getting his teammates involved early before coming alive in the second half and in the extra period.
The Wildcats, 5-2, improved to 7-0 all-time in overtime games under second-year head coach Jerome Tang.
Four starters scored in double digits. Guard Cam Carter had 19 points, 10 rebounds and five assists for his first-career double-double. Freshman guard Dai Dai Ames added 11 points along with senior center Will McNair Jr. Junior forward Arthur Kaluma came off the bench to score 20 points and add eight rebounds in 34 minutes.
"Whatever my team needs me to do, I'm going to do it," Carter said. "Whether it's scoring, playing defense, guarding the best player, rebounding, or whatever it is, I'm going to do it and get it done."
Carter shot 6-for-13 from the floor, including 3-of-8 on 3-pointers, and added five assists and three steals in 41 minutes.
"I love getting my teammates involved. Cam had it going super early, and sometimes I just need to get out of the way," Perry said. "When you have Cam and Arthur out there hooping like they are, and you have someone like Will inside there eating, I'm cool with that.
"I haven't been in a position like this before with that many weapons on one team."
Oral Roberts, 2-4, was led by standout efforts by senior guard Issac McBride and junior guard Jailen Bedford, as the Golden Eagles came off a 65-63 win over Texas Southern on November 21. McBride had 25 points on 10-for-16 shooting while Bedford scored 23 points, including five 3-pointers, to go along with nine boards against the Wildcats.
The teams were tied at 41-41 at halftime, then at 72-72 at the end of regulation. Although the Wildcats led by 11 points in the first half and by nine points in the second, the Golden Eagles, who never led by more than two points, kept battling back in a game that featured eight ties and six lead changes.
"It seems like every game has a little March feel to it," Tang said. "First round of the NCAA Tournament, if you get a good seed, you're going to play a team like that, and it's hard to win those games. They're really good."
Carter got things rolling early on by scoring 11 of his team's first 13 points and the Wildcats took a 28-17 lead on two second-chance points by Macaleab Rich with 8:57 to go until halftime. But Oral Roberts continued to battle. After an and-1 by Kaluma gave the Wildcats a 36-29 advantage, McBride put the Golden Eagles on his back. His free throw made it 41-40, where it remained until David N'Guessan made a free throw of his own with 0.2 seconds left to tie the score just before halftime.
Perry's first made basket — a 3-pointer less than 4 minutes into the second half — gave the Wildcats a 48-41 lead. Less than a minute later, he made his second 3 of the game. Kaluma made it 59-50 on a fast-break lay-up, but Bedford's fast-break dunk cut the Wildcats' lead to 59-58. McBride's short jump shot tied the score at 68-68 with 90 seconds left in regulation. Perry answered with his third 3-pointer of the game.
"(McBride) never got rattled," Tang said. "We started off denying him the ball, and he didn't force anything. He let his teammates do some things. We tried to guard him regular, and when he saw it, he just took over. His change of pace is really good."
Same goes for Perry, who seemingly switched gears with ease to help deliver the win in overtime.
"Usually, I stay the course in games like this," Perry said. "ORU, tip your hat to them. They came in with a great game plan and executed well into 40 minutes. It took us 45 minutes to get it done. I just stayed the course. Big shoutout to my teammates to continue to look for me and find me and uplift me throughout the game. That made my job a lot easier."
All the way until the very end when he showed brilliant court awareness by snatching away the Oral Roberts inbounds pass in the waning moments of overtime.
"Emotions are high at the end of the game, and you like the competitiveness," Perry said. "I embrace it and our whole team does. I think that's why we are who we are and the reason we win overtime games, just because of the grit we have."
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