Kansas State’s hoops losing streak continues with blowout road loss against Oklahoma
Kansas State’s men’s basketball struggles are bound to come to an end at some point, but the Wildcats didn’t take a step toward that goal during a 76-50 road loss to Oklahoma on Tuesday at Lloyd Noble Center in Norman.
If anything, K-State looked farther away than it has all season from competing with quality Big 12 competition.
Not even having 10 scholarship players available for the first time in weeks was enough to help the Wildcats avoid another double-digit defeat. They have now lost five straight games since conference play resumed earlier this month by an average of 15 points per contest.
Talk about adding insult to injury.
“It hurts bad to keep losing by double figures,” sophomore guard DaJuan Gordon said, “but we just keep trying to push and keep trying to fight and keep getting better so we can get some wins.”
Perhaps things will improve when starting point guard Nijel Pack returns to the lineup after he clears Covid protocols, most likely next week. And maybe things will get better when players like Kaosi Ezeagu, who played his first game since Dec. 5 on Tuesday, Luke Kasubke and Gordon return to full-go status.
But it’s hard to think optimistically when blowout losses mount like they have for the Wildcats.
There weren’t many positives for K-State coach Bruce Weber to talk about following this defeat. The Wildcats played well enough to take a 22-17 lead at the 6:03 mark of the first half and then got blown out the rest of the way.
“Obviously we got our butts kicked again,” Weber said.
The Wildcats were at their worst on offense, shooting just 36% from the field and going 3 of 15 from three-point range. They had some early success working the ball inside, but that stopped in the second half as OU big man Kur Kuath blocked five shots.
Gordon returned to the starting lineup after battling an ankle injury in recent weeks and scored a team-high 13 points, but no one else on the team reached double figures. Senior guard Mike McGuirl had his worst game of the season, scoring three points on nine shots.
The Wildcats (5-10, 1-6 Big 12) were also below average on defense. The Sooners (8-4, 4-3 Big 12) found open shots against the Wildcats all night and enjoyed several uncontested fast-break dunks as K-State players failed to get back in transition.
Oklahoma moved the ball much better than K-State, and that’s a big reason why it finished with 19 assists and the Wildcats only had 10. De’Vion Harmon led Oklahoma with 16 points, while Alondes Williams added 13 and Kuath added 12.
The game was so lopsided that Ezeagu was asked if he thought any of K-State’s players had given up.
“I don’t feel like anyone has checked out,” the sophomore forward said. “Coach will tell you that after the Texas game our practices were still really intense and everyone was still competing. Every game, we are still competing. It doesn’t matter. After this game, we will regroup, go to practice and still compete. If anyone checks out, we will check them. We are still in this. Scoreboard or not, we are still in this.”
Added Gordon: “Whatever our record is, it doesn’t define us.”
To their credit, the Wildcats did play some of their best basketball in weeks at the start of the game. They surged ahead by working the ball inside and taking of advantage of offensive rebounds. They also stood strong on defense and at one point held Oklahoma without a point for four straight minutes.
But Oklahoma had too much fire power and began to show it by closing out the first half on a 15-2 run. Then it dominated the second half.
It was the third straight game in which K-State couldn’t keep pace, despite a solid start.
That, among other things, will need to change if the Wildcats hope to end their losing streak in their next game against West Virginia on Saturday at Bramlage Coliseum.
“When you get to that gut-check part of the game and you have to get a stop or take care of the basketball,” Weber said, “you have to execute to keep yourself in the game. That is going to be the big thing.”
This story was originally published January 19, 2021 at 7:42 PM with the headline "Kansas State’s hoops losing streak continues with blowout road loss against Oklahoma."