Kansas State will take on Texas without Nino Williams and Jevon Thomas

The Kansas State basketball team hit the road for its regular-season finale against Texas without two starters on Friday.

Senior forward Nino Williams and sophomore point guard Jevon Thomas will not play for the Wildcats when they take on the Longhorns at 3 p.m. Saturday. The K-State athletic department announced the news Friday evening in a news release. Neither player traveled with the team, remaining in Manhattan for different reasons.

Williams, according to the release, stayed home for personal reasons, but he will re-join the team on Monday as it prepares for the Big 12 Tournament. K-State’s first game in the tournament will be Wednesday or Thursday. It can clinch the No. 6 seed and a first-round bye in the tournament by beating Texas. A loss will drop it to the No. 8 seed and a Wednesday matchup with No. 9 seed TCU. Williams is the team’s second-leading scorer, averaging 11.3 points and 5.2 rebounds.

In a text message to the Eagle, Williams’ legal guardian, Derek Zeck, said Williams will be ready to focus on basketball when the team returns from Austin. But he did not elaborate on Williams’ personal issues.

“All good,” Zeck wrote. “He’ll be back for the Big 12 Tournament for sure.”

Thomas, who is averaging 4.5 points and 3.3 assists, will not play for unspecified reasons decided on by K-State coach Bruce Weber. The release did not mention Thomas’ availability for the Big 12 Tournament. Team spokesperson Tom Gilbert would not comment further.

Their absences are poorly timed.

Earlier this week, K-State players said beating Texas on the road would be one of the most difficult challenges of the season. And that was when they thought they were going to be at full strength.

Texas won the first meeting in Manhattan 61-57 behind defense that included four blocks from center Prince Ibeh. The 7-footer disrupted countless K-State shots in the paint, holding Thomas Gipson without a made field goal. The Longhorns used a 2-3 zone in that game and clogged up every inch of space inside the three-point arc with tall defenders. They have since switched to man defense. K-State players are preparing for both.

Gipson hopes he can recreate his last game at the Erwin Center, in which he scored 24 points, and forget about the matchup from last month.

“I just have to try and get them in foul trouble and do the things that I did do last year to help us score,” Gipson said. “It is a lot harder going against their 2-3 zone, because they have a lot of length. It’s not just that first person you have to get by, it is that other 7-footer who is coming to block your shot, as well. I just have to play tough in the post.”

He will need to be at his best to go up against the Big 12’s biggest frontcourt without Williams, K-State’s only other reliable post presence. Thomas will also be missed for his defense and ballhandling ability. Guards Nigel Johnson, Marcus Foster and Tre Harris may all have to spend time playing point guard. Sophomore forward Wesley Iwundu may bring the ball up court, as well.

Of course, that will be nothing new for them.

K-State has played short-handed throughout the season, missing players due to injury at times and to suspensions at others. Foster and freshman forward Malek Harris each missed three games after being suspended by Weber for unspecified violations of team rules last month. K-State lost all three games.

Each loss hurt, but none of those games felt as important as this one.

Much will be on the line at the Erwin Center. A K-State victory over Texas will also secure a finishing record of at least .500, which would give it a shot at the NIT. The game could also have NCAA Tournament implications, with the Longhorns fighting for an at-large berth and the Wildcats pushing to get on the bubble.

The game is also on the road, which has not been kind to K-State. The Wildcats are 3-16 in true road games the past two years, including 1-9 this season. Their only victory came in overtime at Oklahoma, while the nine losses included clunkers against Long Beach State, TCU, Tennessee and Texas Tech. They have lost six straight on the road.

“Unless you are winning the league, you are not going to have the greatest road record,” Weber said. “It’s probably having that focus and maturity on the road. You don’t have that emotion and energy you get from the crowd at Bramlage. You have to bring that on your own. We don’t always do that.”

Something will have to change if they hope to win Saturday, especially down two starters.

This story was originally published March 6, 2015 at 12:31 PM with the headline "Kansas State will take on Texas without Nino Williams and Jevon Thomas."