Kansas State Wildcats eager for ‘redemption’ against Marquette star Markus Howard
There’s a chance the top scorer in all of college basketball won’t play for Marquette when the Golden Eagles take on the Kansas State Wildcats at 8 p.m. Saturday inside Bramlage Coliseum.
Markus Howard, a senior guard who is averaging 26 points this season, missed Marquette’s last game while recovering from a concussion and coach Steve Wojciechowski has said it’s unclear if Howard will be healthy enough to take the court this weekend.
That news may spawn conflicting emotions among K-State fans. Some will want the Wildcats to go against one of the nation’s best players, while others will hope for an easier path to victory. But there is no debate inside the K-State locker room.
“I want him out there,” K-State guard Cartier Diarra said. “I want to play teams when they are at their best. He is a really good player and we know he is the head of the snake. We want that redemption game and playing them or beating them wouldn’t feel the same without him on the court. Hopefully that concussion is gone and he can play.”
If he plays, Howard will provide a difficult test for K-State on defense. It’s been a long time since the Wildcats hosted a nonconference game against an opponent that featured an elite scorer. You probably have to go back to 2009 when Klay Thompson visited Bramlage as a sophomore with Washington State.
Howard’s offensive production compares to former Oklahoma stars Buddy Hield and Trae Young. He can shoot from the perimeter, create off the dribble and get to the free-throw line.
Howard erupted for 51 points in a game last week against Southern California and dropped 45 on K-State last season when Marquette beat the Wildcats 83-71 at Fiserv Forum.
K-State players still have nightmares about that game. This is their opportunity for payback.
“I don’t want to call this a revenge game, but it’s definitely a redemption game,” Diarra said. “They beat us last year pretty bad and Markus Howard made things difficult for us. Him scoring 45 is something we’re not used to. That’s not the K-State way. We have got to redeem ourselves on Saturday and prove that our defense is top notch.”
How do the Wildcats slow down a player like Howard? Good question.
Few teams have defended him well this season. On top of his 51-point outburst last week, he scored 40 against Davidson and 38 in the opener. But Maryland limited him to six points in the championship game of the Orlando Invitational and Robert Morris held him to 11.
K-State coach Bruce Weber will try and duplicate those efforts as best he can, with Xavier Sneed drawing the primary defensive assignment and several other players like Mike McGuirl and Diarra switching on him. Avoiding fouls will be key.
“We’ve got to keep him off the free throw line,” Weber said. “We fouled him 13 times last year and he had 20-some free throws. That’s big. That’s easier said than done. He’s smart, he knows how to play, he can shoot the three, he knows how to use his body to get into you and draw fouls. We’ve got to be solid on him.”
Even that might not be enough.
“We need to make everything tough for him,” Diarra said. “We have to make sure he doesn’t get as many touches as usual, because he is a great player and can score the ball. He’s a lot shorter than me and a lot of our other players. Hopefully we can use that to our advantage.”
With or without Howard, this will be an important game for the Wildcats. They need a resume-building victory after losing both of their games at the Fort Myers Tip-Off. Fans will also be eager to see them play against a known opponent. Teams from other power conferences rarely visit Manhattan. This is only the sixth time it’s happened this decade.
K-State will also wear special throwback uniforms for the occasion.
It would be a shame if Howard isn’t part of the fun.
“They’re a good team that beat us last year,” Weber said. “They were a NCAA team and they’ve got one of the best players in the country. It’s a nice challenge to see where we’re at.”
This story was originally published December 6, 2019 at 5:00 AM.