Wildcat report: Tennessee 70, Kansas State 58
Box score
TENNESSEE 70, K-STATE 58
Kansas St. | Min | FG-A | FT-A | R | A | F | Pt |
Iwundu | 35 | 5-8 | 4-7 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 14 |
D.Johnson | 28 | 2-6 | 0-0 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
Wade | 12 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 3 |
Brown | 34 | 6-16 | 2-2 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 17 |
Stokes | 30 | 3-7 | 5-7 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 11 |
Ervin | 19 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Sneed | 19 | 1-6 | 3-5 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 6 |
Maurice | 9 | 0-1 | 1-2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 |
Budke | 8 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Patrick | 6 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Totals | 200 | 19-48 | 15-23 | 28 | 12 | 19 | 58 |
Percentages: FG .396, FT .652. 3-Point Goals: 5-16, .313 (Brown 3-7, Wade 1-1, Sneed 1-3, Budke 0-1, Iwundu 0-2, Stokes 0-2). Team Rebounds: 1. Team Turnovers: 13 (12 PTS). Blocked Shots: 4 (Sneed 2, Iwundu, Maurice). Turnovers: 13 (Brown 4, D.Johnson 2, Ervin 2, Iwundu 2, Sneed 2, Wade). Steals: 5 (Brown 2, Budke, Iwundu, Sneed). Technical Fouls: None.
Tenn | Min | FG-A | FT-A | R | A | F | Pt |
Alexander | 18 | 3-4 | 2-3 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 8 |
G.Williams | 34 | 7-10 | 2-4 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 17 |
Bone | 18 | 2-8 | 0-1 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 4 |
Bowden | 32 | 3-9 | 5-7 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 13 |
Hubbs | 31 | 5-10 | 0-0 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 10 |
Turner | 27 | 3-6 | 0-0 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 7 |
Evans | 19 | 2-7 | 4-5 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 9 |
Schofield | 16 | 1-3 | 0-1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
Phillips | 5 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Totals | 200 | 26-58 | 13-21 | 37 | 16 | 18 | 70 |
Percentages: FG .448, FT .619. 3-Point Goals: 5-14, .357 (Bowden 2-5, G.Williams 1-1, Turner 1-3, Evans 1-4, Phillips 0-1). Team Rebounds: 6. Team Turnovers: 11 (15 PTS). Blocked Shots: 4 (Alexander 2, Evans, Turner). Turnovers: 11 (G.Williams 2, Schofield 2, Turner 2, Alexander, Bone, Bowden, Evans, Hubbs). Steals: 6 (Evans 2, Bone, Bowden, Hubbs, Turner). Technical Fouls: None.
Kansas St. | 22 | 36 | — | 58 |
Tennessee | 39 | 31 | — | 70 |
A—14,398 (21,678).
Wake-up call
At this time last week, Kansas State was on a winning streak that featured a victory over then No. 7 West Virginia. Everyone on the team was in good spirits.
Things have changed.
K-State (15-6, 4-4 Big 12) has suffered back-to-back losses and will need to close the season strong to feel good about its NCAA Tournament chances.
“It’s a wake-up call,” senior forward D.J. Johnson said. “Everybody is looking ahead. You have got to stay focused on the game and what’s in front of you. Everyone is looking ahead, saying ‘We are going to make the NCAA Tournament.’ Well, coach said it today. The most important game is the game in front of you, and that’s TCU.”
A victory against TCU on Wednesday at Bramlage Coliseum would boost morale before K-State embarks on a difficult three-game stretch at Baylor, against Kansas and at West Virginia.
“We have got to worry about one game: TCU on Wednesday,” K-State coach Bruce Weber said. “We have got to get our focus and get healthy. There are a lot of ups and downs in the season. We got a chance to go 5-4 in the turn of the league and stay in the upper half. That is all we can worry about and where our focus has to be.”
Shooting woes
K-State’s offensive struggles in the first half were mostly due to a lack of three-point shooting.
The Wildcats missed all six of their outside attempts and struggled to get anything going inside against a packed defense. Weber said K-State switched to an all motion approach in the second half, which paid dividends. It made five of 10 shots from three in the second half.
Big game?
Weber and players described their trip to Tennessee as a big game all week, but their effort didn’t reflect that on Saturday.
Tennessee upset No. 4 Kentucky earlier this week and added to that momentum, while K-State suffered its second consecutive loss.
“I was kind of hoping they would have a letdown,” Weber said of Tennessee. “Obviously, they didn’t. They took it to us right from the start.”
Bench help
Foul trouble and nagging injuries forced Weber to dig into his bench for help on Saturday. Seldom-used guard Brian Patrick and forward Austin Budke combined to play 14 minutes. Patrick went scoreless while Budke finished with two points.
Kellis Robinett
This story was originally published January 28, 2017 at 5:13 PM with the headline "Wildcat report: Tennessee 70, Kansas State 58."