Wildcat report: Cincinnati 75, Kansas State 61
Friday’s box score
CINCINNATI 75, KANSAS ST. 61
Kansas St. | Min | FG-A | FT-A | R | A | F | Pt |
Iwundu | 27 | 5-10 | 6-6 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 19 |
D.Johnson | 22 | 3-6 | 2-2 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 8 |
Wade | 33 | 4-9 | 0-0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 9 |
Brown | 33 | 3-10 | 0-0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 7 |
Stokes | 34 | 2-10 | 0-0 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
Ervin | 19 | 1-3 | 1-2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
Maurice | 15 | 2-5 | 1-3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
Sneed | 12 | 0-0 | 2-2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
Budke | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
McAtee | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Schoen | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Patrick | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Winter | 1 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Totals | 200 | 21-54 | 12-15 | 21 | 10 | 19 | 61 |
Percentages: FG .389, FT .800. 3-Point Goals: 7-18, .389 (Iwundu 3-5, Ervin 1-1, Wade 1-3, Brown 1-4, Stokes 1-5). Team Rebounds: 2. Team Turnovers: 7 (9 PTS). Blocked Shots: 2 (Maurice 2). Turnovers: 7 (Wade 2, Brown, Ervin, Iwundu, Sneed, Stokes). Steals: 7 (Brown 4, Wade 2, Ervin). Technical Fouls: None.
Cincinnati | Min | FG-A | FT-A | R | A | F | Pt |
Clark | 34 | 6-10 | 2-4 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 15 |
Washington | 21 | 5-6 | 6-8 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 16 |
Caupain | 38 | 7-10 | 7-7 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 23 |
K.Johnson | 33 | 1-3 | 0-1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
Evans | 37 | 4-8 | 0-0 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 9 |
Cumberland | 23 | 4-5 | 0-0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 9 |
Brooks | 11 | 0-1 | 1-2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
Jenifer | 2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Moore | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Totals | 200 | 27-43 | 16-22 | 28 | 10 | 12 | 75 |
Percentages: FG .628, FT .727. 3-Point Goals: 5-11, .455 (Caupain 2-4, Cumberland 1-1, Clark 1-2, Evans 1-3, K.Johnson 0-1). Team Rebounds: 3. Team Turnovers: 10 (12 PTS). Blocked Shots: 4 (Evans 3, Clark). Turnovers: 10 (Clark 3, Evans 3, Caupain 2, K.Johnson, Washington). Steals: 4 (Evans 3, Clark). Technical Fouls: None.
Kansas St. | 28 | 33 | — | 61 |
Cincinnati | 39 | 36 | — | 75 |
A: NA.
A reunion gone awry
Kamau Stokes had a few calls to make when he realized Kansas State was on track to play Cincinnati in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday.
Stokes, a sophomore guard at K-State, has history with two Bearcats players. He grew up playing alongside Justin Jenifer and Tory Caupain in his hometown of Baltimore.
“When I was 7, we played in Baltimore for Baltimore’s Best until I was 10,” Caupain said. “We were second in the nation at 9. We have a great relationship with his family, the whole team still communicates.”
Stokes contacted Jenifer and Caupain over the weekend. They told him they would see him in Sacramento after he helped K-State defeat Wake Forest in the First Four. He told them he looked forward to the reunion.
The Bearcats enjoyed it more. Jenifer played two minutes, but Caupain led Cincy with 23 points.
Playing against friends isn’t always the easiest thing to do, but the situation didn’t bother Stokes, though he had five points on 2-of-10 shooting.
“When we stop on that court, it’s all business,” Stokes said Thursday. “No friends on the court. After the game we’re family again, but on the court we’re opponents.”
11-seed magic
In past years, No. 12 seeds have built quite the reputation as spoilers in the NCAA Tournament. This year, the No. 11 seeds stole the show.
Xavier beat Maryland on Thursday, then USC knocked off SMU and Rhode Island downed Creighton on Friday. But that magic ran out before K-State took the floor.
Playing first-class
Golden 1 Center is among the nicest arenas the Wildcats will play in. The arena, constructed in 2016 as part of a successful effort to keep the Kings in Sacramento, is a first-class venue.
The downtown arena cost $558.2 million to build and seats 17,608. Its best feature might be its state-of-the-art videoboard, which extends the full length of the court and is among the largest in the NBA.
A capacity crowd was in attendance for the evening session of games Friday, with UCLA fans best represented, though many seats weren’t filled for the first game between K-State and Cincinnati.
Three at a time
Friday posed a unique challenge for basketball fans in the Sunflower State.
Kansas, K-State and Wichita State all played at similar times. Fans could watch all three at once with enough screens in front of them.
Weber thought it was a good problem for fans to have.
“It has got to be fun for basketball fans in the state,” Weber said. “I know they all have their loyalties to one school or another. The one thing I appreciate is that when I go around, whether it is Kansas or Wichita State fans, they speak very highly of us if they aren’t playing us.”
Kellis Robinett
This story was originally published March 17, 2017 at 9:07 PM with the headline "Wildcat report: Cincinnati 75, Kansas State 61."