Kansas State needs improvement in this area if Wildcats hope to upset West Virginia
Much has been made of Kansas State’s inability to close out basketball games this season. Lately, though, the Wildcats have struggled with something else.
They can’t start games, either.
In their last three games, the Wildcats fell way behind against TCU, Texas and Texas Tech before the first media timeout, drastically lowering their victory chances before they even got acclimated to the way their opponents were playing.
TCU jumped out to a 7-0 lead, dropping K-State’s win probability to 32.5%, per Ken Pomeroy. Then Texas raced to a 9-2 advantage, giving the Longhorns a win probability of 74.3%. And Texas Tech bombarded the Wildcats with a 10-0 run that gave it an 83.7% shot at victory.
Add it all up, and the Wildcats were outscored 26-2 at the beginning of those games. They battled to back to make things interesting, but the damage was done.
“It doesn’t show it, but I think we are ready to play,” K-State coach Bruce Weber said. “I just don’t know what the starts are, to be honest. It’s not very good.”
Weber tried to spark his team by inserting freshman guard DaJuan Gordon into the starting lineup while junior guard Mike McGuirl missed the Texas Tech game because of a concussion, but the change didn’t work.
The Red Raiders took advantage of open looks and fouls to score the game’s first 10 points. K-State performed better against Texas and forced the Longhorns into trying desperation three-pointers at the end of their first three possessions, but all three shots went in. The TCU game was a similar story.
“We play good defense and then at the end they hit a shot and we break down,” K-State freshman forward Montavious Murphy said. “We just have to stay more focused so they don’t hit a crazy shot.”
Up next is a more difficult challenge on Saturday at home against West Virginia, which is off to a 14-2 start and boasts the nation’s second-rated statistical defense.
K-State can ill afford to fall behind against an opponent that is allowing 51 points per game in Big 12 play.
“They play very hard and they are defending well,” Weber said. “We are going to have to rebound and fight them off. We probably need two or three guys to really step up and be special if we want to have a chance, and we are going to have to rebound.”
The Wildcats are also going to have to get off to a decent start. Taking a lead into the first media timeout would significantly boost their upset hopes. At the least, it wouldn’t doom them.
“We just have to come out focused and locked in,” K-State senior Xavier Sneed said. “We do a great job preparing for the game and scouting for the game. Coaches have a lot of great calls for us defensive wise. We just have to come out and execute and do better at the beginning of games.”