K-State takeaways: Wildcats deserve to be ranked after handling No. 14 Texas Tech
The Kansas State basketball team defeated the No. 14 Texas Tech Red Raiders 58-45 on Tuesday at Bramlage Coliseum.
The victory moved the Wildcats (15-4, 5-2 Big 12) into a tie for first place in the conference standings with cross-state rival Kansas.
Here are some thoughts on the game:
It’s time for K-State to return to the top 25
The wrong team was ranked in this game.
That may sound extreme, considering No. 14 Texas Tech entered Tuesday with the nation’s best statistical defense, Jarrett Culver and a glowing resume that had few blemishes. But it’s true. The Wildcats and Red Raiders are mirror images on the basketball court, and K-State beat them soundly.
Texas Tech looked downright bad trying to score on Bruce Weber’s defense. If not for some heroics from Culver (17 points) and some fluky shooting from Tariq Owens (two three-pointers), the score would have been even more lopsided.
National pundits have been slow to forgive K-State after a 10-4 start that featured an unsightly loss at Tulsa and two early conference defeats, but the majority of those setbacks came with starters Kamau Stokes and Dean Wade out or hobbled because of foot injuries. The Wildcats are playing up to preseason expectations now that they are at full strength.
It will be hard to keep the Wildcats out of the national polls if they extend their five-game winning streak and beat Texas A&M on Saturday.
“This is one of the best teams in the country,” Texas Tech coach Chris Beard said. “They return five starters from an Elite Eight team. They have character and championship DNA.”
K-State finished a few votes shy of top 25 inclusion this week, but its recent winning streak is enough to put the Wildcats over the top.
They rallied from 21 down to beat West Virginia, upset Iowa State and Oklahoma on the road and then they protected home court against TCU and Texas Tech. That’s what ranked teams do, not that K-State players are paying attention.
“We are not really worried about the naysayers,” senior K-State guard Barry Brown said. “We are just worried about getting better day by day. We knew if we were 0-3 coming out we could still be a good team. We aren’t really worried about them because they are going to be saying something if we are winning or if we are losing. What matters is the guys in the locker room and the coaches, everyone believing in each other and getting better.”
The Wildcats appear on their way.
Anything you can do, I can do better
It may be time to rethink who has the best defense in the Big 12.
One game doesn’t necessarily prove anything in absolutes, but K-State looked better than Texas Tech on that side of the court on Tuesday. K-State held the Red Raiders to 32.7 percent shooting from the field and 21.7 percent shooting from three while forcing them into 13 turnovers.
Most impressive of all, the Wildcats did that without sending the Red Raiders to the foul line. K-State players swarmed Texas Tech guards every time they drove toward the basket and the majority of those plays ended with the ball bouncing out of bounds or the referees signaling a tie up. Texas Tech only attempted 11 free throws.
“Coach Weber said before the game to go out and be the best team in the conference in this game,” Brown said. “And that would prove we are the best defensive team in the country. We had a good game plan on what to do and where to be on certain players. We went out and executed, did some switching, played some good one-on-one defense, got some rebounds and came out with the win.”
Texas Tech looked good on defense, too, and forced K-State into 17 turnovers. But the Wildcats made 54.5 percent of their shots in the first half and got to foul line 22 times.
Once again, it held an opponent to its lowest scoring output of the season.
Advantage K-State.
“They take a lot of pride,” K-State coach Bruce Weber said. “The kids bought into it. I think part of it is we have got a lot of versatile guys that can guard a lot of spots. Tonight, Mike (McGuirl) got on Culver, he got on (Davide) Moretti. It wasn’t just one guy. Makol (Mawien) and Dean have become much better ball-screen defenders. We really made it tough and built a wall and protected the paint.”
Big game Mike
Mike McGuirl doesn’t often have big games, but when he does they usually occur at big moments.
The sophomore guard proved that once again by scoring nine points and playing impressive defense during 29 minutes of action against Texas Tech.
He didn’t celebrate by showing off his biceps the way he did when he scored 17 points against Creighton in last year’s NCAA Tournament or when he poured in 18 points against West Virginia this season. But he deserved to.
It would be a boon for the Wildcats if he could continue to play that way on a consistent basis. He didn’t score more than six points in K-State’s first 14 games and then erupted against the Mountaineers. Then he went three-straight games without scoring more than three points before clicking against the Red Raiders.
McGuirl helped K-State in a big way on Tuesday. There’s no reason he can’t do that more often.
This story was originally published January 22, 2019 at 10:01 PM with the headline "K-State takeaways: Wildcats deserve to be ranked after handling No. 14 Texas Tech."