No. 4 Kansas upset by K-State Wildcats at Bramlage. Here’s what decided Monday’s game
The Kansas men’s basketball team has only itself to blame.
The Jayhawks had plenty of chances to put away a desperate Kansas State Wildcats team — which entered Monday on a four-game losing streak — but didn’t.
Kansas couldn’t create any separation, whether it was due to tired legs, mental mistakes or foul trouble. And after hanging around all game, the Wildcats did just enough to come out on top in an ugly overtime iteration of the Sunflower Showdown.
Kansas State defeated in-state rival No. 4 Kansas 75-70 on Monday at Bramlage Coliseum.
K-State’s Arthur Kaluma essentially clinched the game with 18 seconds left in overtime after making two free throws to put Kansas State up 74-70.
After that, Dajuan Harris missed a layup with 11 seconds to go. K-State’s David N’Guessan recovered the rebound and Tylor Perry made one free throw to put K-State up five points with five seconds left.
Here’s what happened before that.
Kansas guard Kevin McCullar was fouled with 21 seconds left in overtime with KU trailing 72-70, but he missed the front end of a one-and-one. K-State got the rebound.
Long before that, the Jayhawks appeared in control of the game — in regulation, no less. The Jayhawks led by as many as 11 in the second half before K-State came charging back to take the lead.
Trailing by two in regulation, KJ Adams dunked the ball to even the score. Perry missed a potential game-winner and a heave from McCullar was off the mark. That sent the game to overtime.
Hunter Dickinson scored 21 points, while Harris and McCullar added 15 each, but it wasn’t enough for the Jayhawks (18-5, 6-4 Big 12), who lost for the second consecutive year in Manhattan.
Perry led all Kansas State (15-8, 5-5 Big 12) players with 26 points. Cam Carter added 19 points for K-State.
Up next: Kansas will host No. 13 Baylor at home on Saturday. Meanwhile, K-State will head to Provo, Utah, to face No. 21 BYU.
Until then, here are some takeaways from Monday’s game...
KU’s two biggest problems show up again
Two issues surrounding this Kansas men’s basketball team are a lack of bench scoring and a low 3-point-attempt rate. KU ranks No. 323 in the nation in the latter stat, meaning very little of the Jayhawks’ scoring comes from long range.
As usual, those problems were prevalent again vs. K-State. And they cost them the game.
Kansas State got 11 points from its bench, compared to two from Kansas. The Wildcats also took (and made) a lot more 3-pointers.
Kansas State finished the game shooting 9-for-26 (34.6%) from deep. Meanwhile, KU shot 3-for-15 (20%) from 3-point land.
After losing both categories badly, the Jayhawks were lucky to have some level of control of the game for as long as they did.
One KU positive: Defensive pressure
The Jayhawks did an excellent job of pressuring the Wildcats into mistakes.
KU players got into passing lanes, sent smart double-teams and made it difficult for Kansas State to make post-entry passes.
The Jayhawks had 11 steals and forced 16 turnovers, leading to 21 points off those takeaways. The Jayhawks had a 13-point edge in that category.
The turnovers were pivotal in keeping the game close for the Jayhawks, who struggled to manufacture offense at times. KU committed only nine turnovers on the night.
K-State minimizes Johnny Furphy
After having the best game of his young career against Houston on Saturday, expectations were high for Furphy.
Well, he’s certainly had better nights.
Kansas State ran Furphy off the 3-point line, got into his airspace and made life difficult for the Aussie guard on the offensive end. Furphy never looked entirely comfortable, down to the end when his final 3-point attempt was blocked.
He scored two points while shooting 1-for-3 from the floor in the first half. He finished with four points on 2-for-7 shooting (0-4 3-point) for the game.
Furphy also appeared to struggle some on defense. He gave up a couple of buckets because he didn’t contest in time and moved too slowly laterally. But perhaps his most egregious mistake came midway through the first half.
As the shot clock ticked to about two seconds, Furphy committed a foul after playing excellent defense for nearly the entire possession.
Kansas coach Bill Self got up and looked irritated before appearing to yell to the freshman, “Come on.”
Furphy has been a revelation for the Jayhawks since moving into the starting five. But K-State was able to contain him on Monday.
This story was originally published February 5, 2024 at 11:07 PM.
