One of the best shooting performances in school history wasn’t enough to snap an eight-game losing streak for the Kansas State men’s basketball team on Saturday at Bramlage Coliseum.
Texas A&M used a late 9-0 run to take down K-State 68-61 in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge despite a career-high 26 points from Nijel Pack.
Pack knocked down eight three-pointers – the second-most in a single game in program history – and erupted for 23 points after halftime to give the Wildcats the upper hand for much of the second half. He did everything he could to will his team to its first victory in over a month.
It just wasn’t enough.
“I thought we played the right way today; we just didn’t find a way to win the game,” Wildcats head coach Bruce Weber said.
A familiar culprit thwarted K-State’s best opportunity for a win in weeks: turnovers. After building a 58-55 lead with 2:12 remaining, Davion Bradford and Nijel Pack each turned it over on two of the next three K-State possessions. It led directly to four points at the free-throw line for the Aggies.
“We lost our poise,” senior guard Mike McGuirl said. “They ramped it up a little bit at the end. We were trying to play too fast. We’ve got to be able to handle that.”
Pack notwithstanding, shooting issues continued to plague the Wildcats. The rest of the roster combined to shoot a dismal 2-of-21 from three-point range. McGuirl was the only other player in double figures with ten points, though Antonio Gordon played his best game in weeks and finished with eight points and five rebounds.
“You’ve got to give (Pack) a lot of credit. He was special today,” Weber said. “We just need some other guys to step up and not have to put so much pressure on him.”
Texas A&M led by as many as ten in the first half, but K-State surged back into the game with a 12-3 run to end the half, punctuated by a Mike McGuirl three-pointer at the buzzer. The lead was extended to a high-water mark of six when the Wildcats scored the first five points of the second half. The teams went back-and-forth the rest of the way until the decisive stretch run by the Aggies in the final two minutes.
Injuries have plagued the Wildcats all season, and the injury bug reared its ugly head once again less than five minutes into the game. DaJuan Gordon landed awkwardly on Davion Bradford after a transition lay-up attempt. He couldn’t put any weight on his leg while being helped to the locker room. The Wildcats hope that there was no foot fracture but must wait on pending x-ray results.
Add Gordon to a season-long injury report that includes Montavious Murphy (knee), Luke Kasubke (toe), Kaosi Ezeagu (knee) and Carlton Linguard (back). The former three have all missed at least ten games.
Despite the loss, there was a palpable difference in the energy and effort that K-State played with on Saturday compared to Wednesday night in a demoralizing 48-point setback at #2 Baylor.
“Tom Izzo called me, and he said ‘God couldn’t have beaten Baylor the other night,’” Weber said.
However, it was a missed opportunity to finally win a game against the most beatable team left on K-State’s current schedule. Four of the next five games are against top-15 teams – including a trip to Allen Fieldhouse to take on archrival Kansas on Tuesday.
“Come with the same attitude, come with the same determination on the defensive end, play hard, and execute,” Weber said. “Who knows? A lot of things can happen. A lot of craziness happens. We’ll see how we do.”
