Three takeaways from Kansas State’s record-shattering 116-103 victory against Texas
It won’t be much longer before the Kansas State men’s basketball team gains enough respect to enter the top 25.
The Wildcats were one of the first teams left out of the national polls when they were released earlier this week, but they would almost certainly be in if voters picked their teams again today. There would be no denying K-State after it defeated No. 6 Texas by the unexpected score of 116-103 on Tuesday in its first Big 12 road game of the season at Moody Center in Austin.
Scoring records were shattered in this game.
This was the most points the Wildcats had scored since, well ... ever. Their previous single-game high was 115 against Delaware State in 1991 and Fresno State in 1994. K-State broke that record thanks to 36 points from Markquis Nowell, 28 from Keyontae Johnson and 17 from Cam Carter.
The Wildcats made 60% of their shots and 54% of their three-pointers. They also got to the free-throw line 33 times and only missed twice. The Longhorns were red hot themselves and made 51% of their field goals. But it didn’t matter at the rate K-State put the ball through the basket.
This was a statement victory for K-State (13-1, 2-0 Big 12), which picked up its first win of the season against a ranked opponent. Texas (12-2, 1-1 Big 12) entered the day with an undefeated record at home and just one loss on the entire season. But the Wildcats beat them with a scintillating performance that saw them average 1.468 points per possession.
K-State led 58-40 at halftime and pulled ahead by as many as 20 in the second half. Then the Wildcats made enough clutch plays to prevent a Texas comeback.
The Wildcats will try to continue their winning ways in their next game at Baylor on Saturday. Until then, here are some takeaways from the Texas action:
Record-setting performance on offense
You could fill up a hard drive with all of the records that K-State broke on offense in this game.
The Wildcats scored 100 points for the first time since a nonconference home game against North Florida in 2010. They scored 100 points against a team from a power conference for the first time since a 101-96 victory over Xavier in the 2010 NCAA Tournament. And it was the first time they scored 100 points in a Big 12 game since 2008.
Of course, K-State surged past those run-of-the-mill games that eclipsed the century mark by breaking the program’s all-time scoring record.
This was also the first time K-State had played in a game in which both teams reached 100 points.
ESPN reported that no unranked team had ever previously scored more points against a top 10 opponent in a road game.
The Wildcats were so hot that at one point in the first half the play-by-play announcer on The Longhorn Network wondered aloud, “What is going on?” He spoke as if he was quoting Jim Halpert from “The Office” as he watched K-State players make one shot after another.
This came as a major surprise, considering K-State entered the day averaging 75.6 points per game. The Wildcats did top 90 points against Texas-Rio Grande Valley and Incarnate Word, but this was a completely different animal.
One more unique stat: This was the first time Texas had suffered a loss in its new arena.
K-State coach Jerome Tang kept his remarks simple after the masterpiece was complete.
He said: “How much fun was this?”
Two-headed animal
Johnson and Nowell delivered a pair of stat lines that will be remembered by K-State fans for a very long time.
Johnson, a senior forward, scored 28 points on 10-of-16 shooting. He also grabbed nine rebounds and sent out five assists. It felt like he could no wrong against the Longhorns.
Nowell, a junior guard, was even better. The Wildcats’ spark plug led the team with 36 points on 9 of 15 shooting. He also had nine assists, three rebounds and three steals. He scored his career high by driving to the basket for layups and stepping outside to make deep three-pointers.
But the Wildcats also got plenty of help from Cam Carter, who finished with 17 points. Abayomi Iyiola and Nae’Qwan Tomlin also reached double figures. All eight K-State players who made it into the game scored.
The Wildcats obviously had issues on defense, but it was a flawless effort on offense.
“This was such a team win,” Tang said. “We had five guys in double figures, and one more was real close to that. We hit shots at the free-throw line and we had two guys in Keyontae Johnson and Markquis Nowell who made big shots. Every time the crowd got riled up those guys made big shots and quieted the crowd.”
It’s time to take K-State basketball seriously again
The Wildcats entered this game as a 10-point underdog and beat one of the best teams in the Big 12 by 13 points on the road.
If that doesn’t say something about the high ceiling that this team has, well, it’s hard to say what else it would take to win you over.
K-State is off to its best start in more than a decade and now has a statement victory to validate its early success. Some understandably wondered if the Wildcats could sustain their hot ways against an extremely challenging Big 12 schedule. It remains to be seen exactly how high they can finish in the conference standings, but it’s already clear that they can hold their own.
Fans will understandably start to dream a little bit after a game like this. Maybe K-State can earn a favorable seed in the NCAA Tournament later this year. Perhaps the Wildcats can contend for a Big 12 championship.
It’s all on the table now. That doesn’t mean it will happen, but it’s reasonable to start expecting big things from this team.
Maybe the best sign of all is that this group isn’t satisfied.
“This was great,” Tang said, “but now we have to find a way to get a little bit better.”
This story was originally published January 3, 2023 at 11:10 PM with the headline "Three takeaways from Kansas State’s record-shattering 116-103 victory against Texas."