Usually the aggressor in NCAA play, Kansas State doomed by slow start
Xavier Sneed rattled in his first three-point attempt of the South Region championship, staking Kansas State to a 3-2 lead over Loyola-Chicago.
This was precisely what the Wildcats needed, one of their hottest players getting off to a good start.
But it ended there for K-State.
Over the next few minutes, the Ramblers opened a 10-point lead, and the Missouri Valley Conference champions were the poised group, playing a hounding defense. The Wildcats seemed rattled, unable to get the looks they wanted, and they had trouble preventing the Loyola dribble drives and ball movement that led to open shots and easy baskets.
This figured to be a defensive standoff kind of game. The Wildcats had surrendered 59, 43 and 59 points in their NCAA victories. But Loyola made 8 of its first 10 shots against K-State and hit 56 percent in the first half to build a 36-24 lead.
“They obviously made shots,” K-State coach Bruce Weber said. “But defensively, some of the stuff they do … we never could get in any rhythm.”
Loyola had wild swings in its three NCAA games, including falling behind by 12 to Nevada in the Sweet 16 then blowing a 12-point lead in the second half before hanging on.
Saturday, the Ramblers never trailed, and the margin didn’t fall below double digits in the second half. It peaked at 23.
“They were more disciplined on offense, and we really didn’t have a disciplined defense,” K-State guard Barry Brown said. “They were spreading us out, getting in the gaps.”
Kansas State hadn’t played from behind often in beating Creighton, Maryland Baltimore County and Kentucky. The Wildcats had trailed for only 12:47 of the tournament. They led Kentucky 13-1 in the opening minutes.
But against Loyola, after the opening gut-punch K-State never got close enough to make it interesting.
“They jumped to that big lead in the beginning, and it was hard for us to come back from that,” Sneed said. “They kept the foot on the gas.”
The game also produced a bizarre statistic: Kansas State forced 15 turnovers and outscored Loyola 28-2 in points off turnovers. How does that happen to a team that loses by 16 points?
Because Loyola wound up shooting 57 percent for the game and Kansas State 34 percent. The Wildcats didn’t do nearly enough in other areas to make up that difference.
“We let them do whatever they wanted offensively,” Weber said. “Sometimes it’s a clinic how they play.”
This story was originally published March 24, 2018 at 9:43 PM with the headline "Usually the aggressor in NCAA play, Kansas State doomed by slow start."