Kansas State’s struggles continue in loss to Saint Louis at Sprint Center
Bruce Weber raised his arms in disbelief and turned away from the court in disgust as Kansas State fouled Saint Louis guard Yuri Collins on the way to the hoop in the final minute of the Billikens’ 66-63 victory over the Wildcats on Saturday at Sprint Center in downtown Kansas City.
His frustration summed up the current state of K-State basketball.
The Wildcats (6-5) have lost five of their past seven games and seem unable to play with poise in crunch time against capable opponents.
K-State lost control of this game in the final moments and failed to score after Levi Stockard tied things up at 63-63 with a pair of free throws with 2 minutes, 15 seconds remaining.
The Billikens (10-2) pulled ahead when Collins hit a layup with 2:02 remaining and then padded their lead with a free throw following the foul that sent Weber into a tizzy. Xavier Sneed missed a three-pointer that could have sent the game to overtime in the closing seconds.
“It’s Christmas but it’s Groundhog Day,” Weber said. “The Bill Murray movie, I loved it. Every time he relived the day he got to change something to help for the next thing. Problem is in these games we can’t rewind them and we get losses. Hopefully we learn from them and eventually find a way.”
Stockard, a junior forward, and fellow reserve David Sloan tried their best to guide K-State to a much-needed victory. Stockard scored a career-high 17 points on just five shots and Sloan came off the bench to spark the offense with seven points and eight assists. But it wasn’t enough.
Saint Louis raced to an early 18-7 lead and fought back after K-State pulled even at halftime and then ahead in the second half.
Javonte Perkins led Saint Louis with 12 points, while Jordan Goodwin added 11.
The Billikens were the more balanced team all night, making things look easier than the Wildcats on both offense and defense.
“That was a great win overall,” Saint Louis coach Travis Ford said, “because it was in a really tough environment as far as how many people were there. It was a home game for them.”
It was a back and forth game that took a violent swing in the first half.
Cartier Diarra’s eyes nearly popped out of his head when he was called for a charge and Weber sent him to the bench with two fouls midway through the first half.
The Wildcats appeared to be in drastic trouble with the Billikens racing to an early lead and their most creative player heading to the sideline.
But it turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
K-State looked like a different team after backup point guard Sloan took over the offense and fought back to make it a game. One has to wonder why he isn’t playing more.
The Wildcats trailed 18-7 largely with Diarra running the offense but they rallied back and tied the game up at 31-31 with Sloan leading them on a 24-13 run. Diarra only played 15 minutes, scoring six points and losing six turnovers.
“After coming in from junior college I feel like I am feeling more comfortable,” Sloan said, “and really understanding what it takes to play at this level.”
K-State tried to take command in the second half and had several opportunities to win late, but a pair of ugly turnovers from Sloan and Diarra hurt its chances.
First, Sloan attempted to throw an alley-oop pass to Diarra as Diarra jumped to the rim for a dunk and the ball bounced off his hands out of bounds. Later, Diarra tried to throw a full-court pass with Saint Louis leading by two, and it was intercepted.
They were bad decisions in a disappointing loss.
“We need to execute and take care of the ball,” Stockard said. “We had key turnovers at the end of the game, not being poised. We have to work on our poise at the end of games.”
K-State will try to bounce back in its next game on Dec. 29 against Tulsa at Bramlage Coliseum.
This story was originally published December 21, 2019 at 8:30 PM.