K-State Wildcats fight back but fall to 0-4 in Big 12 after home loss to Texas Tech
Different lineup. Same result.
The Kansas State Wildcats went with a new starting five and a different rotation than usual during a 77-63 loss against the Texas Tech Red Raiders on Tuesday at Bramlage Coliseum. Those changes helped K-State battle back from a big deficit and compete until the end against a ranked opponent, but they weren’t enough for victory.
K-State (7-9, 0-4 Big 12) lost its fourth consecutive game in front of a sparse crowd, leaving coach Bruce Weber to rub his forehead in desperation as he wondered what it will take for this team to get its first conference win of the season.
No. 23 Texas Tech (11-5, 2-2) won an important road game that will keep it within striking distance of the top teams in the league.
Kyler Edwards led Texas Tech with 24 points. Cartier Diarra led K-State with 19 and Xavier Sneed added 14.
This game looked like a Texas Tech victory from the start.
The Red Raiders opened the game in dominant fashion and raced to a 10-0 lead before the Wildcats could even get to the first media timeout.
“We adjusted, but the poor start to the game is what we could not overcome,” K-State coach Bruce Weber said. “We did some good things to catch up, but every time it gets to the point where we need a couple plays, we don’t do it.”
Much to Weber’s chagrin, Texas Tech didn’t have to work all that hard to pull ahead by double digits.
Edwards opened the scoring with a three-pointer and then kept it going while being fouled while attempting a three. After making all three ensuing free throws, Davide Moretti converted a four-point play while being fouled by K-State forward Makol Mawien.
The way Texas Tech plays defense, it’s hard for any team to come back from an early deficit, especially one like K-State, which has struggled to score all season.
The Red Raiders pulled ahead by as much as 32-17 and appeared to have a stranglehold on things until the Wildcats responded with 11 straight points and went into halftime trailing 37-30.
“These Big 12 games are hard to win, especially on the road,” Texas Tech coach Chris Beard said. “So we’re really pleased we were able to get a win tonight. At the top of the list of reasons why is that we have so much respect for Coach Weber and this program.”
A pair of technical fouls highlighted the first half. Edwards picked up a soft technical for screaming the words “and one” after making a contested layup. Later, Weber got a technical for aggressively protesting a charging foul against Antonio Gordon in which the Texas Tech defender that contested his shot was standing inside the restricted arc.
The Wildcats seemed to feed off their coach’s energy and played inspired basketball to take a 46-45 lead on a driving layup from Diarra at the 13:24 mark of the second half.
With DaJuan Gordon starting in place of junior guard Mike McGuirl, who missed the game because of a concussion, K-State seemed like a more energetic group than it has in previous games. Weber also benched senior forward Makol Mawien for all but six minutes, leaning on freshmen Antonio Gordon and Montavious Murphy inside.
When they played their best together, good things happened. The Wildcats went on an 11-0 run in the first half and a 9-0 run in the second half. The game was tied at 48-48 with 11:42 remaining.
But when they made mistakes together, things went south. Texas Tech owned the beginning and the end of the game. It responded to K-State’s charge with a 13-2 run to take control of things late in the second half.
“We’ve got a tough, resilient team,” K-State senior Xavier Sneed said. “We’ve got to be tougher at certain moments in the game, but we’ve got a lot of guys that are just going out there and playing as hard as they can. We can’t fault them for that, but we’ve just got to get some plays taht can go our way.”
K-State will try to bounce back when it returns to the court for its next game against West Virginia on Saturday.
This story was originally published January 14, 2020 at 9:27 PM with the headline "K-State Wildcats fight back but fall to 0-4 in Big 12 after home loss to Texas Tech."