K-State makes history for wrong reasons (again) in men’s basketball loss to Jayhawks
The Kansas State men’s basketball team continued its assault on the record books during a 59-41 loss against rival Kansas on Wednesday at Bramlage Coliseum.
This time, the Wildcats set a new low for points scored in the 33-year history of their home arena.
K-State reached that historical milestone of futility with a shooting performance so dreadful that the Jayhawks hardly bothered to contest outside jumpers. They knew the Wildcats were going to miss. And miss they did.
Bruce Weber’s team attempted 24 shots from three-point range and only made three of them. Things were better within the arc, but still a long way from good. K-State made 15 of 34 shots from two-point range. Even free-throw shooting was ugly. K-State only made two of six attempts from the charity stripe.
“We haven’t been good shooting all year,” Weber said. “but we’ve been better than that.”
It will be interesting to see how this low-scoring game will be remembered. Should the 23rd-ranked Jayhawks receive an abundance of praise for their defensive mastery against the Wildcats? In two meetings this season, they have held K-State to a grand total of 92 points. On Wednesday, KU limited K-State’s starters to a combined 17 points on 38 shots. That’s impressive.
But the Jayhawks have been susceptible against three-pointers all year long. K-State got open looks against them early and often with Kansas defenders clogging up the lane and contesting shots near the rim. It just missed the vast majority of them. Nijel Pack is a 44% shooter from three-point range and he missed all seven of his outside shots. Mike McGuirl is a 36% shooter from three-point range and missed all six of his attempts on Wednesday.
When a shooter is in the zone, they say the hoop can appear as large as the ocean. For K-State players, the hoop must have looked about as wide as a hole on a putting green.
“It was just us not making shots,” K-State guard DaJuan Gordon said, who led the Wildcats with 12 points. “We got what we wanted. Everybody got open shots and we just didn’t make them. If we make those shots then it’s a ballgame. That’s all.”
“We just weren’t making shots,” K-State forward Antonio Gordon added. “We got good shots, we got good looks, we’ve just got to knock them down.”
Perhaps a more patient approach that featured more shots near the rim and fewer shots from beyond the arc would have paid dividends, but Weber didn’t seem to mind his team’s shot selection.
“It’s pretty simple,” Weber said. “You go 0-for-15 from three before you hit one. I thought we had some of the most open shots we’ve had, maybe all year. We just couldn’t make them.”
In any case, you have to go all the way back to 1998 to find a time the Wildcats scored fewer points in any location — a 59-39 defeat at North Carolina State. And they only topped 40 points because Joe Petrakis and Carlton Linguard hit a pair of garbage-time shots in the closing moments.
Not even a noble defensive effort, which held KU to .908 points per possession and four three-pointers, was enough to keep the Wildcats in the game.
To put Wednesday’s clunker in perspective, Jacob Pullen scored 38 points all by himself against the Jayhawks during a thrilling home victory in 2011.
There seems to be no limit to the negative records K-State (5-18, 1-13 Big 12) will set this season. Its defeat against Kansas (16-7, 10-5 Big 12) extended the program’s longest single-season losing streak to 13. Another loss on Saturday against TCU will match the team’s longest losing skid ever at 14.
It’s hard to see them winning if they continue shooting like this.
This story was originally published February 17, 2021 at 10:38 PM with the headline "K-State makes history for wrong reasons (again) in men’s basketball loss to Jayhawks."