Kansas State’s second-half rally falls short against Marquette in 73-65 home loss
A good crowd filled Bramlage Coliseum on Saturday to watch Kansas State play one of its biggest nonconference home games in recent memory, but the Wildcats were unable to give their fans reason to celebrate.
Marquette raced to a double-digit lead and then held off a K-State rally in the second half to win 73-65.
The loss drops the Wildcats to 5-3 and leaves them in a deep hole as they work to return to the NCAA Tournament for a fourth-straight season.
They were no match for the Golden Eagles, who are now 7-2, even while wearing special throwback uniforms and playing in front of by far the biggest crowd of the year. Marquette was the better team behind star guard Markus Howard, who entered the day as the nation’s leading scorer and then made 6 of 16 shots for 19 points against K-State.
But he also got lots of help. Jamal Cain came off the bench and hit three three-pointers and scored 17 points, while Sacar Anim added 13 points.
The Golden Eagles led 39-26 at halftime and never trailed after the opening moments when K-State’s Makol Mawien began the game by making a three-pointer. The Wildcats mounted a comeback attempt behind some hot shooting from Cartier Diarra and pulled to within 45-44 at the 12:55 mark of the second half on a hook shot from Levi Stockard. But it wasn’t enough.
Marquette answered with seven straight points and took control from there.
Momentum began to shift back its way when Cain was credited for two points following a goal-tend from Stockard. Howard drained a three on Marquette’s next possession and then Cain threw down a dunk to make the score 52-44.
Still, the Wildcats fought until the end.
Intensity wasn’t a problem in this game. K-State played with energy and passion the whole way, and did a solid job defensively against Howard. It simply struggled to put the ball in the basket.
The Wildcats fell behind by 13 in the first half while only making 9 of 34 shots from the field. They found a way to manufacture points in the second half, and four K-State players finished in double figures with Diarra leading the way with 14 points.
They simply needed more after falling into their first-half hole.
Two plays summed up K-State’s struggles on offense.
The first occurred in the first half when Xavier Sneed drove to the rim and attempted a finger-roll layup that he almost always makes. It looked like K-State was about to get a momentum-boosting basket that could help it stay close with Marquette in a marquee nonconference game.
But the shot missed off the back iron and the Golden Eagles collected the rebound. Then they got the ball up court to Sacar Anim for a quick jumper. Moments later, David Sloan missed a similar shot and Marquette guard Greg Elliott took advantage with a three-pointer on the other end.
It was that kind of night for K-State. Even when it seemed like things were going their way, they weren’t.