Kansas State Wildcats fall into last place with Big 12 defeat against Oklahoma State
If this isn’t rock bottom, the Kansas State basketball team can see it from here.
In a season already filled with disappointing games, the Wildcats suffered their most demoralizing result yet when they lost to Oklahoma State 64-59 on Tuesday at Bramlage Coliseum. The defeat dropped them into a last-place tie with the Cowboys at the bottom of the Big 12 standings.
Look out below. It’s going to be hard for K-State (9-15, 2-9 Big 12) to make up ground on the rest of the conference after this.
“I wish I had an answer,” K-State coach Bruce Weber said. “We compete, we battle, but we just don’t make the right plays at the right time.”
The Wildcats deserved this loss for several reasons. Start with this: they only made 20 field goals against a zone defense and shot 55% from the free throw line. But they also struggled badly on defense against Oklahoma State forward Yor Anei, who surprisingly led the Cowboys with 15 points and seven rebounds, and never showed much fight after the Cowboys threw an early punch.
K-State didn’t lead at any point in the second half and, at times, had trouble staying within two possessions.
Lindy Waters hit a three-pointer with 2 minutes, 14 seconds remaining to all but clinch the game, giving Mike Boynton his first victory in five tries against K-State as the coach at Oklahoma State (12-12, 2-9). Of course, the Cowboys didn’t miss much in the second half, making 13 of 16 attempts.
“Another tough battle on the road in the Big 12, but that’s what they all are and it’s February,” Boynton said. “Just got to find a way to grind out as many wins as you can. Every win in this league is a valuable one as we continue to try to finish our season strong, specifically for our seniors. I was proud of the way our whole team played.”
Mike McGuirl led the Wildcats with 16 points off the bench and Cartier Diarra added 15. The only other K-State player to reach double figures was Makol Mawien, who finished with 11.
This has been a frustrating few days for K-State. The team had hoped to pick up a pair of victories against fellow middling opponents Iowa State and Oklahoma State to jump start hope of a strong finish to the season.
It felt like the Wildcats were making progress. A winning streak seemed possible. Instead, they lost both games and now need some victories to avoid the No. 10 seed in the conference tournament.
“This was a game we sort of expected and hoped to win,” McGuirl said. “We didn’t so it’s very, very frustrating.”
One sequence summarized K-State’s struggles in this game best. Near the end of the first half, the Wildcats had a lengthy possession that ended with three humorous misses and no points. It began when Cartier Diarra missed a three and Xavier Sneed extended the possession with an offensive rebound. Then DaJuan Gordon missed a three and Diarra kept the possession going with an offensive rebound. Then Makol Mawien had his shot blocked in the paint.
Sneed also missed a breakaway dunk off the back of the rim in the second half.
Another bad sign for the Wildcats: Anei attempted and made the first three-pointer of his college career in this game. Anei, a 6-foot-10 sophomore from Overland Park, has been in a slump lately. But he looked like an All-Big 12 player against the Wildcats.
K-State couldn’t do much to stop him or the rest of his Oklahoma State teammates once the Cowboys surged ahead 27-21 at halftime. Bruce Weber’s team will hope for a better result when it next takes the floor on Saturday at TCU.
This story was originally published February 11, 2020 at 10:23 PM with the headline "Kansas State Wildcats fall into last place with Big 12 defeat against Oklahoma State."