Why Carter Diarra is unlikely to return to K-State’s starting five after Alabama loss
It came as a surprise when Cartier Diarra was not part of Kansas State’s starting lineup during a 77-74 loss against Alabama on Saturday at Coleman Coliseum.
The junior guard had started each of K-State’s first 18 games and he entered the Big 12/SEC Challenge as the team’s second leading scorer, averaging 12.7 points per game. Was he hurt? Could Bruce Weber be disciplining him in some way? The move raised some questions.
Turns out there wasn’t anything juicy behind the decision to bring Diarra off the bench in favor of David Sloan, DaJuan Gordon, Xavier Sneed, Montavious Murphy and Makol Mawien. Weber was only thinking about one thing when he mixed things up. He wanted Gordon in the starting lineup instead of Diarra. It’s as simple as that.
“I thought DaJuan would give us a nice spark in the starting lineup, and he did,” Weber said. “It was a pretty smart move. He is the one who got us going and gave us the lead. He plays so hard. I guess I was smart for once.”
It’s telling that Weber would rather play Gordon, a freshman guard from Chicago, than Diarra, an experienced but mistake-prone playmaker, in a difficult road environment like the one the Wildcats encountered against the Crimson Tide.
In a season that seems to be going nowhere for K-State (8-11, 1-5 Big 12), Weber seems more willing than ever to start building for the future by relying on his youngest players now.
That strategy paid dividends against Alabama (12-7, 4-2 SEC). The Wildcats fell short of victory, but Gordon made some nice hustle plays in the opening moments and helped them take a 37-36 halftime lead. Then they battled back from a 16-point deficit in the second half to nearly steal the game late.
Diarra even seemed to respond favorably to coming off the bench by scoring a team-high 17 points, albeit on 19 shots.
The Wildcats took pride in the way they played, even though it wasn’t enough to win.
“We competed tonight and we showed a lot of heart and a lot of grit coming from down on the road against a SEC team that is probably one of the better teams in their conference,” K-State guard Mike McGuirl said. “I am really proud of our guys and although we didn’t win we are going to build off this. We have still got 12 regular-season games to go and the Big 12 Tournament. Who knows what can happen?”
It’s been a while since a K-State player spoke positively after a loss. Perhaps a new starting lineup was a welcome change for a team that had been dealing with myriad distractions and two player suspensions this week following its much-publicized brawl with Kansas at the end of their Sunflower Showdown game at Allen Fieldhouse.
The Wildcats tried as best they could to block outside noise before this game, and they didn’t seem distracted when they took the court.
“The guys were ready to play,” senior wing Sneed said. “We always talk about the first five minutes of the game and playing your butt off. That’s what these guys did. Credit to those guys who were on the floor at that time.”
It doesn’t seem like Weber will be tempted to move Diarra back into the starting lineup anytime soon.
Though Diarra brings undeniable scoring punch to the floor, he is the team’s most turnover-prone player. He made a trio of three-pointers and a driving layup to cut a 16-point deficit all the way down to one, but careless passes were also a reason why the Wildcats were in a big hole to begin with.
“The reason he didn’t play was more of his doing than anything,” Weber said.
Like his players, Weber was proud of the way K-State competed against Alabama. But he was displeased with silly mistakes like 16 turnovers and 28 fouls. Down two players, the Wildcats had to play smarter than that to win on the road.
That’s something he will continue to stress moving forward, which doesn’t bode well for Diarra’s hopes of returning to the starting lineup.
“We played against a team who is very, very hot and we gave them a heck of a game,” Weber said. “Our guys came focused and played their butts off. I am happy for that, but it’s the same old story. We are right there, but we can’t get over the hump.”
This story was originally published January 25, 2020 at 9:30 PM with the headline "Why Carter Diarra is unlikely to return to K-State’s starting five after Alabama loss."