Winning at a Tough Place to Play
Jan 10, 2024 | Men's Basketball, Sports Extra
By: D. Scott Fritchen
Kansas State knew it needed to put together a good game to take care of struggling West Virginia. The Wildcats said goodbye to their difficulties at WVU Coliseum and hello to an important Big 12 Conference road victory with an 81-67 win in Morgantown, West Virginia.
Cam Carter poured in 23 points and three other players scored in double figures as the Wildcats, 12-3 overall and 2-0 in the Big 12, snapped their four-game losing streak at West Virginia and won for the ninth time in 10 contests.
K-State last beat West Virginia in Morgantown in a 65-51 victory on February 18, 2019.
"Any win on the road is a great win and any win in this league is a great win," K-State head coach Jerome Tang said. "I'm very proud of the guys and how we started the game and then how we came out the second half and really locked in."
The Mountaineers, 5-10 and 0-2, kept things interesting for 20 minutes as they took a 42-40 lead into halftime. But Carter and the Wildcats took care of things in the second half, outscoring the Mountaineers 41-25 in over the final 20 minutes. The Mountaineers have lost five of their last six games.
K-State quickly stormed back from its halftime deficit and came out on a 17-5 scoring run. Carter gave the Wildcats their first double-digit lead of the game at 57-47 when he dunked a ball, then hit a 3-pointer and then drained a pair of free throws with 13:17 left to play. The Wildcats saw their lead swell to 67-56 and then 73-58 with 4 minutes, 7 seconds remaining.
K-State outshot West Virginia 53.9% to 39.2%, held a 35-22 advantage on the boards, and forced the Mountaineers into 13 turnovers.
David N'Guessan and Arthur Kaluma scored 17 points apiece, and Will McNair added 12 points and nine rebounds for the Wildcats, who continue their two-game road swing with another important meeting at Texas Tech in Lubbock, Texas, on Saturday.
"I like to think I'm in the flow," said Kaluma, who shot 6-for-9 from the floor, including 4-for-6 on 3-pointers. "I'm getting used to the offense and finding where my spots are. I've been hot from 3 as of recently. Man, it's just a blessing to be able to play on this team."
The ride in the Big 12 is just starting.
"We just have to stay locked in and keep working on what we're working on," Kaluma said. "Winning comes to those who work hard, and in the Big 12 there is very small margin of error, so we pride ourselves on being the team that works the hardest before the game and after the game, getting ready for the next game, and just always being prepared and locked in. Let's see how we go from here."
K-State got key contributions off the bench by Dorian Finister, who had six points, two rebounds and two assists in a career-high 22 minutes, and Jerrell Colbert, who had four rebounds and two blocks in six minutes.
"The last few scouts Jerrell has volunteered to be on the scout team, and he and Taj Manning on the scout team really helps us," Tang said. "You can see Jerrell was ready for his opportunity. He provided us with what we needed at the time."
K-State outscored West Virginia 44-22 inside the paint.
"Our guards were willing to throw the ball to the bigs, and the bigs were willing to roll hard," Tang said. "Our bigs did a great job of that. We've been a good rebounding team all year, so that helps us. Tonight, our guards did a really good job of hitting the bigs. I feel like a few times we were able to confuse them and that allowed our bigs to get there. Those plays were open earlier in the year and our guards couldn't make those passes. Now we're making those passes and that's helping us."
Raequan Battle led West Virginia with 21 points while Noah Farrakhan and Kerr Kriisa scored 11 apiece.
K-State shot 60% (15-of-25) in the first half and started out blazing shooting 11-for-14 and jumping out to a 23-17 lead on a N'Guessan layup with 10:22 left in the first half. Battle scored 12 of his team's first 14 points, including two 3-pointers. The Mountaineers started out just 4-for-13 and with five turnovers before Akok Akok hit a layup to make it a 26-21 K-State lead with 8:26 to go.
Although K-State took a 28-21 lead on a pair of McNair free throws, the Mountaineers fought back behind their 3-point shooting and 12-for-14 foul shooting in the first half.
"We started off and had great energy going into the game," Kaluma said. "Our focus just waned a little bit (later in the first half)."
Four times K-State fouled 3-point shooters in the first half. For all of its shooting difficulties on other spots across the floor, West Virginia shot 6-for-12 from behind the arc in the first half and Kriisa's long-range bomb gave the Mountaineers a 31-30 lead with 5:03 left, prompting a K-State timeout.
"We fouled too much in the first half," Tang said. "They shot 14 free throws, and I think we fouled them on three 3-pointers. We just fouled too much and allowed them to get some transition 3s in the first half."
K-State continued to score — but also allowed West Virginia to hang around. The Mountaineers scored 21 points in the final eight minutes of the first half, and Kobe Johnson's 3-pointer with under a minute to go put the Wildcats in a 42-40 hole at halftime.
"We came together the second half and did a really good job," Kaluma said.
The Wildcats quickly came out of locker room appearing refreshed and dominated the final 20 minutes.
"We're forging," Tang said. "We're forging to be the team we're capable of being. I'm really proud. I'm happy. This is one tough place. I'm excited we got this win and excited about going back home and now we turn around — we say it's a one-game season and now this one is washed and let's get ready for another big road game in the Big 12."
Kansas State knew it needed to put together a good game to take care of struggling West Virginia. The Wildcats said goodbye to their difficulties at WVU Coliseum and hello to an important Big 12 Conference road victory with an 81-67 win in Morgantown, West Virginia.
Cam Carter poured in 23 points and three other players scored in double figures as the Wildcats, 12-3 overall and 2-0 in the Big 12, snapped their four-game losing streak at West Virginia and won for the ninth time in 10 contests.
K-State last beat West Virginia in Morgantown in a 65-51 victory on February 18, 2019.
"Any win on the road is a great win and any win in this league is a great win," K-State head coach Jerome Tang said. "I'm very proud of the guys and how we started the game and then how we came out the second half and really locked in."
The Mountaineers, 5-10 and 0-2, kept things interesting for 20 minutes as they took a 42-40 lead into halftime. But Carter and the Wildcats took care of things in the second half, outscoring the Mountaineers 41-25 in over the final 20 minutes. The Mountaineers have lost five of their last six games.
K-State quickly stormed back from its halftime deficit and came out on a 17-5 scoring run. Carter gave the Wildcats their first double-digit lead of the game at 57-47 when he dunked a ball, then hit a 3-pointer and then drained a pair of free throws with 13:17 left to play. The Wildcats saw their lead swell to 67-56 and then 73-58 with 4 minutes, 7 seconds remaining.
K-State outshot West Virginia 53.9% to 39.2%, held a 35-22 advantage on the boards, and forced the Mountaineers into 13 turnovers.
David N'Guessan and Arthur Kaluma scored 17 points apiece, and Will McNair added 12 points and nine rebounds for the Wildcats, who continue their two-game road swing with another important meeting at Texas Tech in Lubbock, Texas, on Saturday.
"I like to think I'm in the flow," said Kaluma, who shot 6-for-9 from the floor, including 4-for-6 on 3-pointers. "I'm getting used to the offense and finding where my spots are. I've been hot from 3 as of recently. Man, it's just a blessing to be able to play on this team."
The ride in the Big 12 is just starting.
"We just have to stay locked in and keep working on what we're working on," Kaluma said. "Winning comes to those who work hard, and in the Big 12 there is very small margin of error, so we pride ourselves on being the team that works the hardest before the game and after the game, getting ready for the next game, and just always being prepared and locked in. Let's see how we go from here."
K-State got key contributions off the bench by Dorian Finister, who had six points, two rebounds and two assists in a career-high 22 minutes, and Jerrell Colbert, who had four rebounds and two blocks in six minutes.
"The last few scouts Jerrell has volunteered to be on the scout team, and he and Taj Manning on the scout team really helps us," Tang said. "You can see Jerrell was ready for his opportunity. He provided us with what we needed at the time."
K-State outscored West Virginia 44-22 inside the paint.
"Our guards were willing to throw the ball to the bigs, and the bigs were willing to roll hard," Tang said. "Our bigs did a great job of that. We've been a good rebounding team all year, so that helps us. Tonight, our guards did a really good job of hitting the bigs. I feel like a few times we were able to confuse them and that allowed our bigs to get there. Those plays were open earlier in the year and our guards couldn't make those passes. Now we're making those passes and that's helping us."
Raequan Battle led West Virginia with 21 points while Noah Farrakhan and Kerr Kriisa scored 11 apiece.
K-State shot 60% (15-of-25) in the first half and started out blazing shooting 11-for-14 and jumping out to a 23-17 lead on a N'Guessan layup with 10:22 left in the first half. Battle scored 12 of his team's first 14 points, including two 3-pointers. The Mountaineers started out just 4-for-13 and with five turnovers before Akok Akok hit a layup to make it a 26-21 K-State lead with 8:26 to go.
Although K-State took a 28-21 lead on a pair of McNair free throws, the Mountaineers fought back behind their 3-point shooting and 12-for-14 foul shooting in the first half.
"We started off and had great energy going into the game," Kaluma said. "Our focus just waned a little bit (later in the first half)."
Four times K-State fouled 3-point shooters in the first half. For all of its shooting difficulties on other spots across the floor, West Virginia shot 6-for-12 from behind the arc in the first half and Kriisa's long-range bomb gave the Mountaineers a 31-30 lead with 5:03 left, prompting a K-State timeout.
"We fouled too much in the first half," Tang said. "They shot 14 free throws, and I think we fouled them on three 3-pointers. We just fouled too much and allowed them to get some transition 3s in the first half."
K-State continued to score — but also allowed West Virginia to hang around. The Mountaineers scored 21 points in the final eight minutes of the first half, and Kobe Johnson's 3-pointer with under a minute to go put the Wildcats in a 42-40 hole at halftime.
"We came together the second half and did a really good job," Kaluma said.
The Wildcats quickly came out of locker room appearing refreshed and dominated the final 20 minutes.
"We're forging," Tang said. "We're forging to be the team we're capable of being. I'm really proud. I'm happy. This is one tough place. I'm excited we got this win and excited about going back home and now we turn around — we say it's a one-game season and now this one is washed and let's get ready for another big road game in the Big 12."
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