Another slow start dooms Kansas State against Iowa State

Another bad start. Another failed comeback. Another loss to Iowa State.

Kansas State has played a pair of bizarre roller-coaster type basketball games against the Cyclones this season, but they both ended with the same result.

Iowa State knocked off K-State 87-79 on Wednesday at Bramlage Coliseum in a game that in many ways mirrored a 70-65 loss last month at Hilton Coliseum.

Only this time the loss felt like a serious blow to the Wildcats’ NCAA Tournament hopes instead of a missed opportunity. This could be the beginning of the end for K-State’s postseason dreams. K-State has the look of a team trying to play itself out of March Madness.

“It’s all about how we respond to the next game,”said K-State senior Wesley Iwundu after scoring 16 points and grabbing 13 rebounds. “We have got to put this one past us. We didn’t get it. So now we got to go get the next one. We have five games left, then the Big 12 Tournament. We just have to man up and go on a run and get some wins. That’s it.”

In perhaps their most pivotal game of the season, the Wildcats came out sluggish and disorganized in the first half and waited too long to make a serious push in the second.

It was a game they could ill afford to lose, yet they fell behind by 19 and never got closer than six. A sparse crowd, particularly in the student section, watched the Wildcats flounder in a game the outcome was rarely in question.

“I want (more) at the start of the game,” K-State basketball coach Bruce Weber said. “Come on, get after them. We had zero free throws at halftime. How do you play a game like hat? They played a packed defense and they played position, but you have got to get to the hoop and put some pressure on them.”

Time remains for K-State (16-10, 5-8 Big 12) to save its season, especially now that it is done playing the top four teams in the league standings, but it’s fair to wonder about their ability to bounce back given that they couldn’t better compete against Iowa State (16-9, 8-5) at home. They have also lost six of their past seven.

Perhaps some of that was due to K-State once again being hampered by D.J. Johnson’s sprained ankle. The senior forward wasn’t part of the starting lineup for the second straight game and only played 11 minutes. Sophomore point guard Kamau Stokes was also battling a sprained toe. Weber said he had to undergo a special procedure before the game to even play.

Still, those injuries didn’t explain a complete lack of energy at opening tip.

This game was decided early on when the Cyclones came out on fire, hitting 13 of their first 17 shots, and the Wildcats came out cold, hitting 3 of their first 16.

Iowa State led 36-17 with 5 minutes, 20 seconds remaining in the first half.

“They kind of got everything on us,” Weber said. “They got in the paint quite a bit. We didn’t put enough pressure on them. We didn’t get after them. We just let them run whatever they wanted on offense. They are too good to let them do that. When they get on a run they are really good.”

K-State rallied behind 21 points from sophomore guard Barry Brown to pull within six in the second half, but it wasn’t enough. The Wildcats best comeback hopes rested on an open three-pointer Brown launched from the wing with 3:33 to go, the Wildcats had the opportunity to pull within 70-67. But the shot missed long and Iowa State answered with a three from Matt Thomas on the other end.

They couldn’t keep up with Iowa State, which got 18 points from Solomon Young, 17 points from Deonte Burton and 16 points from Naz Long had 16.

Iowa State is now tied with West Virginia for third in the Big 12.

“We are playing better than we were most of the year,” Iowa State coach Steve Prohm said. “We are in a good place now. If we can keep everyone focused we will be in good shape.”

This was a solid bounce-back game for Brown, who had been in a shooting slump, but he partly negated his scoring surge with a technical foul that disrupted K-State’s flow in the second half. With 9:15 remaining, he had words with an official for what he thought was a missed goal-tending violation on an attempted Carlbe Ervin layup.

“I was just kind of mad that the play before Carlbe had his layup hit off the glass,” Brown said. “My emotions were high. I shouldn’t have gotten a technical.”

Weber said K-State players lost their poise during that stretch, and that made it harder for them to complete the comeback. Weber didn’t help matters when he used K-State’s final timeout with 4:49 remaining to discuss how the Wildcats would attack Iowa State’s switch to a zone defense. They had no opportunities to rest and regroup in the final minutes.

The Wildcats will need more when they try to salvage their fading NCAA Tournament chances in their next game Saturday at Texas.

“You have got tough times, you have got adversity, you have got to rise up,” Weber said. “It’s about character and toughness now down the stretch.”

IOWA STATE 87, KANSAS STATE 79

TableStyle: SP-bkwideplayersCCI Template: SP-bkwideplayers

Percentages: FG .518, FT .846. Three-Point Goals: 7-15, .467 (Mitrou-Long 4-9, Thomas 2-3, Morris 1-1, Burton 0-2). Team Rebounds: 4. Team Turnovers: 12 (9 PTS). Blocked Shots: 2 (Young 2). Turnovers: 12 (Thomas 5, Burton 2, Jackson 2, Mitrou-Long 2, Morris). Steals: 6 (Burton 2, Mitrou-Long, Morris, Weiler-Babb, Young). Technical Fouls: None.

TableStyle: SP-bkwideplayersCCI Template: SP-bkwideplayers

Percentages: FG .448, FT .714. Three-Point Goals: 4-18, .222 (Patrick 1-1, Brown 1-3, Sneed 1-5, Wade 1-5, Stokes 0-4). Team Rebounds: 5. Team Turnovers: 8 (17 PTS). Blocked Shots: 2 (Brown, Wade). Turnovers: 8 (Stokes 4, Iwundu 2, Brown, Sneed). Steals: 7 (Brown 3, Ervin, Iwundu, Johnson, Sneed). Technical Fouls: Brown, 9:14 second.

Half: Iowa State 42-26. Attendance: 11,387.

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This story was originally published February 15, 2017 at 8:20 PM with the headline "Another slow start dooms Kansas State against Iowa State."