Kansas State University Athletics
The Shooter and the Punisher
Dec 06, 2023 | Men's Basketball, Sports Extra
By: D. Scott Fritchen
See the young man on the right, the one in the white No. 2 jersey, the one sitting behind a table looking at the paper statistics sheet — that's Tylor Perry, the shooter. The young man, the one sitting beside him in the No. 24 jersey, looking up at all the cameras — that's Arthur Kaluma, the punisher.
Prior to this summer, they had no experience playing together — Perry came from North Texas and Kaluma from Creighton — but they're fitting in just fine at Kansas State, which has just defeated Villanova, 72-71, in overtime, in one of the most heart-racing games by the Wildcats since, well, since they beat North Alabama, 75-74, in overtime on Saturday at Bramlage Coliseum.
But this was Villanova, this was a bigger stage, what with it being the Big 12/Big EAST Battle, and with a near sold out crowd of 10,140 filling the arena, and what, with Sandstorm blaring, and the student section going crazy, and the lights flickering, yeah, this was something different Tuesday night.
"We have the best students and fans in the country," Perry says. "They showed out tonight."
Perry dreamed. Yes, he dreamed of things like this, ever since Aunt Paula let him shoot basketballs off the top of her home in Fort Coffee, Oklahoma, where young Tylor lived with 13 family members, including his parents and two older brothers. Perry used to shoot baskets, even then, and dreamed.
He had been in big moments before, many times before. including Saturday's win against North Alabama, when he made a 3-pointer, so he was willing and ready to drain the step back 3-pointer with 3.9 seconds left that gave the Wildcats the lead, and ultimately, the win over Villanova. Perry has now made seven shots to either win a game or send a game into overtime in his Division I career dating to his days at North Texas. Perry had been mired in a shooting slump all game against Villanova. He made just one of his first nine 3-point attempts. But…
"You have to keep shooting," Perry says.
Yes, you have to keep shooting, which is what he did, and what perhaps most impresses his teammates and head coach Jerome Tang. Junior guard Cam Carter had seen it all before, how Perry demonstrated his shooting touch late in games. It's like a switch goes off. Time to operate. Mr. Clutch. Carter tells a story of how the team during the summer had 10-minute shooting sessions. Toward the end of one particular shooting session, while others might have been experiencing some fatigue, Perry made 20 consecutive shots.
"He's just a clutch player," Carter says.
Kaluma nods.
"He's a super-clutch player," Kaluma says.
Kaluma, yes, Kaluma, too, has a big piece in this story unfolding in Manhattan. Kaluma scored 17 of his season-high 26 points in the first half and added nine rebounds in 44 minutes against Villanova. Nobody from either team was on the floor longer than Kaluma, the 6-foot-7, 225-pounder with a sweet euro-step, who can devastate opponents with his freakish moves in the paint and made all three of his 3-point attempts.
It wasn't too long ago that Perry and Kaluma, Preseason All-Big 12 Honorable Mention selections, represented K-State at the annual Big 12 Media Days in Kansas City. Kaluma stood inside the illuminated T-Mobile Center and said, "I want to be one of the best players around." And so far, he's certainly proving to be as such, what with his pair of 20-point performances and pair of 18-point performances, and a ceiling so high that who knows where he'll be by the time the Big 12 season rolls along in January.
Kaluma, who arrived at K-State after two years at Creighton, who arrived after helping Creighton to two NCAA Tournaments and a first-ever berth in an Elite Eight in 2022-23, who arrived after scoring 24 points and grabbing 12 rebounds against Kansas in the NCAA Tournament, sought something more. He was an early entry into the 2023 NBA Draft then opted to continue his college experience, choosing to come to K-State, where he joined Perry.
Together, man, they're going to help K-State go places this season.
"Their winning DNA is what I thought it would be," Tang says, adding, "I wouldn't trade them for anybody."
Perry's shot made ESPN's SportsCenter, of course, and it went viral on social media. Markquis Nowell chimed in with a congratulatory statement on X. And everybody knows Perry's name now. It was a tremendous shot to cap a tremendous night — the third straight overtime game for K-State, something that no K-State team had encountered in 60 years.
"Very thankful for the win and very proud of our guys," says Tang, who is now 9-0 in overtime games. "This was a big-time game and a big-time atmosphere, and all the world got to see it on ESPN2. It's going to help us in recruiting and just with everything moving forward. Just very gritty, tough and poised in tough situations."
K-State, 7-2, has shown its moxie time and time again this season, and emphatically did so by defeating Villanova, 6-4, on Tuesday night.
"I know there's been a lot of he-said, she-said about us lately over the last couple weeks, and we haven't really paid too much attention to it," Perry says. "We know who we are at the end of the day. We trust in us. We trust in those 15 guys plus staff around us and in the locker room and on the floor every day.
"This isn't even the tip of the iceberg."
Same goes for Kaluma, who says, "I feel like I took some big steps forward," but who believes that there's plenty more out there.
"This is a big-time win against a really good team, and we put in a lot of work going into this game," Kaluma says. "We put what we learned into play, and it turned out good for us."
Perry and Kaluma sit beside each other at a table in the postgame interview room. They answer a bevy of questions from reporters about the shot and the game and the season. Meanwhile, Bob Marley's song lyrics stir the air inside the tunnel, where teammates celebrate the big win.
"Don't worry about a thing. Every little thing is going to be all right," Tang says, smiling. "What I love about my staff and our team, and this program is we know how to celebrate." He adds, "I'm blessed."
With Perry and Kaluma, two dudes, the shooter and the punisher, the blessings might continue to come for the Wildcats.
See the young man on the right, the one in the white No. 2 jersey, the one sitting behind a table looking at the paper statistics sheet — that's Tylor Perry, the shooter. The young man, the one sitting beside him in the No. 24 jersey, looking up at all the cameras — that's Arthur Kaluma, the punisher.
Prior to this summer, they had no experience playing together — Perry came from North Texas and Kaluma from Creighton — but they're fitting in just fine at Kansas State, which has just defeated Villanova, 72-71, in overtime, in one of the most heart-racing games by the Wildcats since, well, since they beat North Alabama, 75-74, in overtime on Saturday at Bramlage Coliseum.
But this was Villanova, this was a bigger stage, what with it being the Big 12/Big EAST Battle, and with a near sold out crowd of 10,140 filling the arena, and what, with Sandstorm blaring, and the student section going crazy, and the lights flickering, yeah, this was something different Tuesday night.
"We have the best students and fans in the country," Perry says. "They showed out tonight."
Perry dreamed. Yes, he dreamed of things like this, ever since Aunt Paula let him shoot basketballs off the top of her home in Fort Coffee, Oklahoma, where young Tylor lived with 13 family members, including his parents and two older brothers. Perry used to shoot baskets, even then, and dreamed.
He had been in big moments before, many times before. including Saturday's win against North Alabama, when he made a 3-pointer, so he was willing and ready to drain the step back 3-pointer with 3.9 seconds left that gave the Wildcats the lead, and ultimately, the win over Villanova. Perry has now made seven shots to either win a game or send a game into overtime in his Division I career dating to his days at North Texas. Perry had been mired in a shooting slump all game against Villanova. He made just one of his first nine 3-point attempts. But…
"You have to keep shooting," Perry says.
Yes, you have to keep shooting, which is what he did, and what perhaps most impresses his teammates and head coach Jerome Tang. Junior guard Cam Carter had seen it all before, how Perry demonstrated his shooting touch late in games. It's like a switch goes off. Time to operate. Mr. Clutch. Carter tells a story of how the team during the summer had 10-minute shooting sessions. Toward the end of one particular shooting session, while others might have been experiencing some fatigue, Perry made 20 consecutive shots.
"He's just a clutch player," Carter says.
Kaluma nods.
"He's a super-clutch player," Kaluma says.
Kaluma, yes, Kaluma, too, has a big piece in this story unfolding in Manhattan. Kaluma scored 17 of his season-high 26 points in the first half and added nine rebounds in 44 minutes against Villanova. Nobody from either team was on the floor longer than Kaluma, the 6-foot-7, 225-pounder with a sweet euro-step, who can devastate opponents with his freakish moves in the paint and made all three of his 3-point attempts.
It wasn't too long ago that Perry and Kaluma, Preseason All-Big 12 Honorable Mention selections, represented K-State at the annual Big 12 Media Days in Kansas City. Kaluma stood inside the illuminated T-Mobile Center and said, "I want to be one of the best players around." And so far, he's certainly proving to be as such, what with his pair of 20-point performances and pair of 18-point performances, and a ceiling so high that who knows where he'll be by the time the Big 12 season rolls along in January.
Kaluma, who arrived at K-State after two years at Creighton, who arrived after helping Creighton to two NCAA Tournaments and a first-ever berth in an Elite Eight in 2022-23, who arrived after scoring 24 points and grabbing 12 rebounds against Kansas in the NCAA Tournament, sought something more. He was an early entry into the 2023 NBA Draft then opted to continue his college experience, choosing to come to K-State, where he joined Perry.
Together, man, they're going to help K-State go places this season.
"Their winning DNA is what I thought it would be," Tang says, adding, "I wouldn't trade them for anybody."
Perry's shot made ESPN's SportsCenter, of course, and it went viral on social media. Markquis Nowell chimed in with a congratulatory statement on X. And everybody knows Perry's name now. It was a tremendous shot to cap a tremendous night — the third straight overtime game for K-State, something that no K-State team had encountered in 60 years.
"Very thankful for the win and very proud of our guys," says Tang, who is now 9-0 in overtime games. "This was a big-time game and a big-time atmosphere, and all the world got to see it on ESPN2. It's going to help us in recruiting and just with everything moving forward. Just very gritty, tough and poised in tough situations."
K-State, 7-2, has shown its moxie time and time again this season, and emphatically did so by defeating Villanova, 6-4, on Tuesday night.
"I know there's been a lot of he-said, she-said about us lately over the last couple weeks, and we haven't really paid too much attention to it," Perry says. "We know who we are at the end of the day. We trust in us. We trust in those 15 guys plus staff around us and in the locker room and on the floor every day.
"This isn't even the tip of the iceberg."
Same goes for Kaluma, who says, "I feel like I took some big steps forward," but who believes that there's plenty more out there.
"This is a big-time win against a really good team, and we put in a lot of work going into this game," Kaluma says. "We put what we learned into play, and it turned out good for us."
Perry and Kaluma sit beside each other at a table in the postgame interview room. They answer a bevy of questions from reporters about the shot and the game and the season. Meanwhile, Bob Marley's song lyrics stir the air inside the tunnel, where teammates celebrate the big win.
"Don't worry about a thing. Every little thing is going to be all right," Tang says, smiling. "What I love about my staff and our team, and this program is we know how to celebrate." He adds, "I'm blessed."
With Perry and Kaluma, two dudes, the shooter and the punisher, the blessings might continue to come for the Wildcats.
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