Mike McGuirl adds another ‘magical moment’ to K-State career with Oklahoma heroics
Whenever his time as a Kansas State basketball player comes to an end, no one will be able to say that Mike McGuirl’s career lacked big moments.
The senior guard delivered his latest, and arguably best, one yet on Tuesday when he led the Wildcats to a 62-57 victory over the No. 7 Oklahoma Sooners at Bramlage Coliseum.
He scored a team high 19 points, grabbed seven rebounds and drained a flurry of three-pointers in the closing minutes that sparked his team to an improbable come-from behind win, lifting the spirits of an entire fan base in an otherwise dreadful season.
When the game was over, McGuirl was so happy that he said he couldn’t have scripted it any better.
No one disagreed.
“Mike had his magical moment,” K-State coach Bruce Weber said. “It’s something he will remember for a long time.”
“He just took over,” added sophomore guard DaJuan Gordon. “He played confident. He just took over and showed who he really is. I feel like this is a big game for Mike and his career. There was a lot of pressure on him this year, being a senior and having a crazy losing streak and things like that. Today Mike helped the whole team with the leadership before the game, yesterday in practice and doing scout. Mike showed up big.”
McGuirl was so good that, for a brief moment, it felt like he was back in the NCAA Tournament as a freshman scoring 17 points to help K-State win a first round game against Creighton. Or maybe this was closer to the time he flexed his muscles while scoring 18 points to spark the biggest comeback in school history against West Virginia as a sophomore on the way to a shared Big 12 championship.
The only difference: Everyone was counting on him as a senior this time.
McGuirl was at his best when K-State needed him most. The Wildcats appeared doomed when the Sooners took a 53-47 lead with 3 minutes, 57 seconds remaining. Not only were they ahead by two possessions, they were in the double bonus and they were having little trouble getting stops on defense.
As usual, K-State got off to an ugly shooting start and missed all but four of its first 24 attempts from three-point range.
A jolt of instant offense didn’t appear on the way. But McGuirl found the confidence to keep firing away from downtown, and he didn’t stop until the Wildcats won the game.
His first clutch three-pointer came from the corner with 3:33 remaining when freshman guard Nijel Pack found him with a desperation pass as the shot clock was winding down. McGuirl hit nothing but net and made the score 53-50.
Following a defensive stop, he brought the ball up court and launched another three, this time early into the possession. Another swish made it 53-53.
He got the ball again after another defensive stop and, sure enough, made another quick three to put the Wildcats ahead for good 56-53.
“Y’all know I like to let it fly,” McGuirl said. “I was just thinking do what I can to help the team win. At the end it was just making some shots. I got open and I made them. I felt good all night, but at the end I felt really good.”
Weber didn’t love McGuirl’s shot selection, but there was no arguing with the results. His heroics sparked a 15-4 closing run.
“I thought the first one was just a good shot, good execution,” Weber said. “The second one, he was starting to feel a little bit of a heat check. The third one was definitely a heat check. I thought it had no chance.”
It felt appropriate that McGuirl’s big game occurred on the night K-State honored him as the team’s lone senior.
He will still play one more home game (against Iowa State on March 6) and there’s also a chance he will return as a “super senior” next season. Weber is crossing his fingers Tuesday wasn’t “truly his senior day.”
McGuirl has provided steady leadership all season and is one of the main reasons K-State was able to weather a record 13-game losing streak and then rebound with back-to-back wins over TCU and Oklahoma.
He has persevered, and so have the Wildcats.
That’s what made his latest big moment potentially better than the rest.
This story was originally published February 24, 2021 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Mike McGuirl adds another ‘magical moment’ to K-State career with Oklahoma heroics."