How windmill dunks have gone from highlight to blooper for Kansas State basketball
The most exciting moment of Kansas State’s march to a Big 12 championship last season will always be easy to identify. It happened near the end of a thrilling home victory against Kansas when Cartier Diarra threw down a windmill dunk that sent the decibel levels soaring inside Bramlage Coliseum.
K-State wasted little time immortalizing the play by adding it to the team’s pregame highlight package. Some students across campus stopped shaking hands with Diarra when they saw him in class, instead choosing to reenact the dunk in his presence.
It was that big of a deal.
Things have changed considerably since then. The highlight play that defined both a memorable win over a rival and one of the best seasons in school history is now a blooper that has plagued a struggling team that set the program record for losses with a 69-63 defeat against Oklahoma State on Wednesday at Gallagher-Iba Arena.
The Wildcats are 9-21 on the season and 2-15 in the Big 12. This is the first time the K-State men’s team has lost more than 20 games. It is also the first time it has lost more than 14 conference games. The miserable teams from 1946 (4-20) and 2000 (9-19, 2-14 Big 12) are no longer record setters.
K-State has lost 10 straight games, and two of those defeats have featured missed windmill dunks that not only cost the Wildcats points but also led to easy transition buckets for the opposition.
It happened again at Oklahoma State when senior guard Xavier Sneed blew what should have been an automatic fastbreak layup or dunk by attempting to throw down an emphatic windmill dunk and missing badly off the back of the rim.
The Cowboys scooped up the rebound and made a quick layup on the other end. Instead of falling behind 24-23 late in the first half, they led 26-23. That swing turned out to be crucial in a game that went down to the final minute.
“It’s disappointing, obviously,” K-State coach Bruce Weber said afterward. “Just go make it. Make the layup, make an easy dunk. But it happened and there isn’t much you can do about it. You can’t change it now.”
The most frustrating thing of all: Diarra missed a windmill dunk of his own not that long ago during a narrow loss at Texas Tech. His blunder came in the second half of that game. He had an opportunity to tie the score with an easy make, but the Red Raiders gathered up his miss and hit a transition three-pointer on the other end.
Weber might want to start working on that situation in practice.
“Make the shot,” Weber said. “That is all I care about. Make the shot. It is pretty easy. When you have an open layup, make it. We have had a couple that have been crucial misses in gut-check parts of games.”
Why does K-State keep losing? That might be a good place to start.
Junior guard Mike McGuirl shook his head in disbelief when he was asked what the Wildcats can do in future games to make sure they get back to taking advantage of easy scoring opportunities.
“Be basic,” McGuirl said. “That is what Coach Weber always says, be basic. He always says everyone wants to do these crazy, fancy dunks, but a normal, regular layup counts the same and it’s a lot easier. It’s how everyone has done it in the past. You don’t get extra points for flashiness. It’s not anybody’s fault. It’s collective. Those don’t lose us the game. It’s some stops we didn’t get. All in all, we haven’t been where we needed to be.”
He has a point. K-State rallied back from a 26-23 halftime deficit to take a 48-44 lead midway through the second half. When David Sloan knocked down a three to give the Wildcats that four-point advantage, they seemed well-positioned to end their losing streak.
But they couldn’t close out the game on a positive note.
Highlights have been few and far between for the Wildcats this season. Lowlights have been easier to find. Missed windmill dunks always are.
This story was originally published March 5, 2020 at 12:28 AM with the headline "How windmill dunks have gone from highlight to blooper for Kansas State basketball."