Print edition: 
MANHATTAN — Devoid of nerves for his season debut Tuesday night at Bramlage Coliseum, Kansas State senior Jamar Samuels had one mission in hitting the floor against Maryland-Eastern Shore.
Go hard. Simple stuff.
"I'm a senior, so the nervousness is gone" Samuels said after K-State's 92-50 victory. "I just wanted to get out and help my team tonight."
Samuels started after missing two games because of a violation of team rules, and finished with 12 points. He was active on both ends of the floor, going after balls in the passing lanes and playing solid post defense.
"The way we came out in the second half is the way we want to play," Samuels said. "It felt good to just show that we're capable of that."
The Wildcats led 36-29 at halftime after struggling at times in the first half. Eastern Shore tied the score 11-11 on back-to-back three-pointers from Louis Bell with 16:34 left and took a 14-11 lead on a three from Hillary Haley just over one minute later.
Kansas State rallied and then got a little bit of breathing room late in the half after a basket by Jordan Henriquez gave them a 25-23 lead, then a steal and two free throws by Angel Rodriguez made the score 27-23 with 4:15 left. Samuels capped an 8-0 run with a two-handed dunk after a steal by Martavious Irving for a 31-23 lead.
"The problem with this team is that sometimes they put the brakes on," K-State coach Frank Martin said. "I told them at halftime that they weren't getting to the ball, they weren't getting rebounds. They needed to play with that same aggression I see in practice."
The Wildcats opened the second half with a 19-4 run that the Hawks couldn't recover from. The win improved K-State to 3-0.
"Obviously, K-State was too much for us," Eastern Shore coach Frankie Allen said. "K-State just has the ability to play harder and longer than us... their style is aggressive, man-to-man defense and that gave us problems."
Thomas Gipson, a 6-foot-7, 275-pound freshman forward, led the Wildcats with 13 points and nine rebounds.
"The reason that (Gipson) is playing for us is he goes out and gives effort every day," Martin said. "I don't have to worry about that with him... every play he's out there giving maximum effort. He still makes a ton of mistakes but I never get excuses from him."
Martavious Irving and Rodney McGruder added 11 points each. Irving returned to the lineup after missing last Monday's win over Loyola Chicago with an ankle injury.
"I don't think I had to call a play for the first five or six minutes of the first half," Martin said. "We just attacked."
The Wildcats get a four-day break for Thanksgiving before returning to practice Sunday night. K-State is host to George Washington on Dec. 1 before starting a stretch where they play six of seven games away from Bramlage.
