K-State basketball is in last place. Where do the Wildcats go from here?
There is no positive spin for Bruce Weber to use today.
The Kansas State basketball team is in last place of the Big 12 standings following a 64-59 loss to Oklahoma State on Tuesday at Bramlage Coliseum, and it’s a little scary to think about where the Wildcats might go from here.
All the progress and momentum the team seemed to be building following home victories over West Virginia and Oklahoma is gone. K-State players hoped they could take advantage of a softening schedule that featured winnable games against middling opponents like Iowa State and Oklahoma State and then finish conference play strong. Instead, the Wildcats (9-15, 2-9 Big 12) lost both games and are off to their worst start in league play since 2001.
“This was a game we sort of expected and hoped to win,” K-State junior guard Mike McGuirl said after leading the Wildcats with 16 points. “We didn’t, so it’s very, very frustrating.”
What do they play for now?
Cartier Diarra mentioned the possibility of winning the Big 12 Tournament following Saturday’s loss to Iowa State, but that is still a month away. K-State has seven games left in the regular season before it can attempt to pull off a Hail Mary in Kansas City. When K-State heads to TCU for its next game on Saturday, there won’t be much more at stake other than pride.
“Every loss hurts,” McGuirl said. “The fact they are piling up just makes it hurt even more. At this point, all we can do is come back and play as hard as we can and try to win the next game.”
The rest of the season will test Bruce Weber’s ability to keep this team together. He’s been unable to push the right buttons over the past few weeks and the Wildcats have lost games in familiar fashion, typically falling behind early, fighting back to make things interesting and then losing control late.
But things were different against Oklahoma State (12-12, 2-9). The Cowboys are doing exactly what the Wildcats wished they could. After starting conference play with eight straight losses, they have responded by winning two of their past three against soft competition.
K-State jumped out to an early lead over the Cowboys but was unable to sustain it. Oklahoma State pulled ahead late in the first half and never let the Wildcats hold a lead in the second half. Mike Boynton’s team led for 29 minutes, 18 seconds.
That was a big accomplishment for him, considering he had never before beaten the Wildcats.
“I feel like I exorcised some demons,” Boynton said. “I came into this place last year and was down 25 with 10 minutes to go in the first half. That stuck in my mind. One of the most embarrassing basketball experiences of my life.”
The Cowboys were much better on Tuesday. Yor Anei abused the Wildcats inside for 15 points and seven rebounds. And Oklahoma State made 13 of 16 shots in the second half with a punishing and patient approach on offense.
Their 81.3% shooting percentage in the second half was the second highest by any K-State opponent in school history.
K-State responded by shooting 35.7% from the floor, 31.8% from three-point range and 54.5% from the free-throw line.
“I wish I had an answer,” Weber said.
The Wildcats have tried a few new things lately, but nothing seems to work. Weber said he was ready to stop “mollycoddling” his players and “coach them harder” earlier this week. On Tuesday, he said those comments were misconstrued, because he has been hard on his team all season. He was just at his hardest leading up this game.
Whatever the case, his coaching methods didn’t work. Where do the Wildcats go from here?
“Obviously, I haven’t done enough,” Weber said, “because we were not tough enough and it’s a shame it’s hard to recover now.”
This story was originally published February 11, 2020 at 11:42 PM with the headline "K-State basketball is in last place. Where do the Wildcats go from here?."