Nijel Pack’s return is lone remaining hope in disappointing K-State basketball season
The Kansas State men’s basketball team misses Nijel Pack ... badly.
If that wasn’t already clear, a 69-47 loss to West Virginia on Saturday at Bramlage Coliseum left no doubt.
The Wildcats turned the ball over a whopping 28 times, the most by any K-State team since 2002, and looked hapless on offense. Their scoring output of just 47 points set a new season low.
Most frustrating of all: None of that seemed like a surprise. The Wildcats have played four games since their starting point guard was abruptly sidelined by COVID-19 earlier this month, and they have performed dreadfully without him. Struggling like a football team without its quarterback or an orchestra without its conductor, they have averaged an unsightly 54.5 points per game across four straight losses as he has watched from home or on the bench.
When asked if he has identified a common thread from those four losses, K-State basketball coach Bruce Weber had to stop himself from responding with a sarcastic remark.
“I think there is one person, and we all know who it is. He hasn’t’ been there,” Weber said of Pack. “He gives us a ball-handler, he gives us a shooter, he gives us composure and he gives us intelligence. Nothing against those other guys, but you need a guy who can run a show. Even though he is a freshman, he gives us a chance.”
The good news for K-State is that Pack is expected back in the rotation when the Wildcats play their next game on Wednesday at Baylor. He was in uniform on Saturday and even warmed up with teammates before opening tip. But he is still recovering from his bout with COVID and was not yet physically ready to play meaningful minutes against a ranked opponent.
That will change after a few days of practice. His return can’t come soon enough for the Wildcats. He is their best outside shooter. He is their top ball-handler. He averages 10.7 points per game. And he brings a calming presence to the court that his other young teammates can’t duplicate.
There is a reason why Weber prioritized Pack, a former four-star recruit, and celebrated when he committed to K-State and became the first member of its 2020 recruiting class.
Aside from senior guard Mike McGuirl, he might be the most valuable player on the roster.
“It will be a great help to get him back,” freshman guard Selton Miguel said. “He is definitely a leader. He is our point guard, a really good shooter and he makeS us better.”
But it isn’t all good news for K-State. Valuable as Pack may be, it’s hard to fathom how his absence single-highhandedly sunk K-State’s offense like a rogue iceberg.
The Wildcats have struggled mightily in their past two games, scoring 50 points against Oklahoma and then 47 against West Virginia. This is a group that only made 3 of 15 shots from three-point range on Saturday and wilted every time it had an opportunity to get back in the game.
Weber has said this team lacks a go-to scorer. That’s true. But the team has seemed to lack much more than that recently. Simple entry passes looked difficult against West Virginia. Weber said it is frustrating to call out an offensive set and see it get blown up within seconds.
Perhaps inserting Pack back into the starting lineup will fix a lot of those issues. Maybe it won’t.
Either way, he will have his work cut out for him. That much is also abundantly clear.
This story was originally published January 23, 2021 at 7:40 PM with the headline "Nijel Pack’s return is lone remaining hope in disappointing K-State basketball season."