Doing What Great Teams Do

By: D. Scott Fritchen

Rick Insell has coached at Middle Tennessee for 20 years. This year, he has visited Tennessee, he has battled Iowa State in Fort Myers, Florida, and he has seen South Carolina play in person. Well, Insell sat in his sky-blue suit after No. 13 Kansas State ran away in the third quarter for a 74-48 victory in the Bill Snyder Basketball Classic at Civic Arena in St. Joseph, Missouri. Insell had an announcement to make.

"It's not necessarily the best team that wins the national championship," he said. "It's the team that's playing the best in that period of time. If Kansas State can put together six to eight games where they're running the offense, playing their defense, and switching it up, they have a chance."

This after K-State shot a season-low 17.9% (5-of-28) from the floor in the first half, appearing anything but the great Wildcats team that dominated their previous five opponents. And yet K-State trailed 26-25 at halftime.

Insell witnessed it. Kansas State head coach Jeff Mittie witnessed it. And the crowd at Civic Arena witnessed it, this cohesiveness, this veteran connection, this growth that could steer these Wildcats deep into March.

All around the basketball court, K-State fans were waiting for something to happen. The Wildcats were seemingly on the ropes against a Middle Tennessee team that simply wouldn't go away. K-State trailed at the half. They were ineffective getting the ball to Ayoka Lee inside the paint. But Lee was facing all kinds of pressure. Shots weren't falling for one of the best 3-point shooting teams in the country.

Entering the game, K-State averaged 8.8 made 3-pointers per game, a school record. They were 4-for-17 from behind the arc in the first half.

"I didn't like our ball movement early," Mittie said.

Trailing 26-25 at halftime, Mittie shrugged.

"It was a great first half because one of the questions on us was would we grow in the area of playing really tough defense when things aren't going well," he said. "It's easy to play when the ball is going into the basket and when shots are going in, you have a little more energy in your body. We didn't do that when we played Duke. We let the struggles offensively affect how hard we played. I was pretty proud of them at halftime. That was the kind of fight I needed to see."

So, everyone waited, patiently waited, for something to happen. For something to click. Because regardless of what happens out there on the basketball court, something does click for the great teams.

And then it happened midway through the third quarter. A layup from Lee and a 3-pointer from Taryn Sides highlighted a run to build a 41-31 lead with 4:55 left in the quarter.

The crowd erupted, and you got the sense that the gears were turning on this K-State machine that can pound a team. Everything was in sync.

"Once we got in sync in the second half," Mittie said, "it was everybody that was in sync."

And here came the knockout.

Oh, K-State had defense, it played plenty good defense as well. Mittie talks about it all the time: Can K-State play pressure defense even when things aren't going well offensively? It's what doomed the Wildcats against No. 13 Duke earlier this season. Well, the Wildcats offered an emphatic answer: Yes. Lee was blocking shots (she had four blocks in the game) and the Wildcats were turning those into points. The Wildcats were scraping. They were battling. They didn't come to St. Joseph to lose a game.

The Wildcats passed the ball and passed it some more and when Jaelyn Glenn hit a 3-pointer, it gave K-State its largest lead to that point at 49-35. Middle Tennessee wouldn't go away, but there was more passing, and finally Temira Poindexter stole their hearts. More passing. Bam. Another 3-pointer at the buzzer of an entertaining third quarter, and the Wildcats led 52-38 after a third-quarter barrage, and after they found their "something" that they so desperately needed, yet patiently knew would eventually come.

Bam. Sides drilled a 3-pointer straight through the net and K-State led 55-38. It seems like in these games they play, three things are for certain — there will be a halftime, there will be a final buzzer, and there will be Sides hitting a 3-pointer.

Imani Lester found her shot. She made a basket and K-State led 59-38 — a 21-point lead. The lead grew to 62-40 when Glenn hit another 3-pointer. By then, people weren't just clapping, they were marveling at this spectacle, how K-State can appear on the ropes one moment and lead by 22 points the next.

But that's what the great teams can do.

"This team has done a lot of extra passes this year," Mittie said. "We talk about it all the time to just make the right play, make the right play, and when you have a balanced team, you can be a really dangerous team."

Insell witnessed it firsthand.

"Last year at one time this team was ranked No. 2 in the country," Insell said. "They have the same team back and they brought in (Poindexter). They're a better basketball team. I think they're going to run away with their conference, to be honest with you. It'll be up to them. If they get beat, it'll be them."

This game could've easily had five double-digit scorers. But each player played her role and proved effective. Lee had 16 points, eight rebounds and four blocks. Glenn had 15 points on 5-of-9 shooting from beyond the arc. Poindexter had 15 points, including three 3-pointers, as well. Sides had 8 points and sank a pair of 3-pointers. Zyanna Walker had seven points.

In the middle of it all was senior point guard Serena Sundell, who had 11 assists and zero turnovers.

"I'm proud of my teammates," Lee said. "It's just really cool to play with them and see how much they've grown over the past four years. It just makes it fun."

K-State outshot Middle Tennessee 38.9% to 28.3%. The Wildcats went 11-for-26 from beyond the arc.

"We just had to trust that we were going to make shots," Sundell said. "We went out in the second half and wanted to stay committed to the things we were doing and get good solid looks, and Yokie came up big for us. We were all committed to wanting to get good shots and move the basketball."

After one half of basketball when things just didn't click, everything clicked, and a cohesive, connected, veteran team showed why it will be a tough out for any opponent this season.

Together, they clicked. And it was amazing to witness.

And now these indomitable Wildcats move onto the next one Wednesday night in Bramlage Coliseum.

Kansas State University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Jaelyn Glenn

Ayoka Lee

Imani Lester

Temira Poindexter

Taryn Sides

Serena Sundell

Zyanna Walker

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