What K-State guard Cartier Diarra hopes to learn from big game against West Virginia
You might have to watch a lot of basketball before you see another stat line like the one Cartier Diarra delivered for Kansas State during an 84-68 victory over West Virginia on Saturday at Bramlage Coliseum.
The junior guard did more than a little bit of everything. He did a lot of everything … good and bad … on both ends of the floor.
Diarra finished with a career high 25 points, six rebounds, four assists, two steals and seven turnovers.
“Cartier was really good,” K-State coach Bruce Weber said. “Obviously he had great numbers, except for the turnovers.”
Diarra’s play was alternately mesmerizing and frustrating, sometimes on the same possession. Diarra’s afternoon was perhaps best personified during a series of plays in the second half in which he lost the ball on a risky pass into the lane, got it back on the perimeter following a mad scramble and then drained a three.
When the game was over, some were comparing Diarra to Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston, a talented NFL passer who threw for 33 touchdowns but also 30 interceptions this season.
Diarra might be the college basketball equivalent. When he was at his best on Saturday, he was attacking the basket and kicking the ball to his teammates and the Wildcats were leading the Mountaineers by 24. They haven’t looked better since Barry Brown, Kamau Stokes and Dean Wade were on campus.
But when he was at his worst, Diarra was turning the ball over left and right and West Virginia cut a huge deficit all the way down to six. The Wildcats almost let this one slip away.
“I definitely can’t have that many (turnovers),” Diarra said. “I never want to have more turnovers than I have assists. Those turnovers led to points for them. We should have won by 30 or more, but they made their run off the turnovers I made. That is something I need to learn from before next game.”
His performance is difficult to analyze. Diarra was the most exciting player on the court, but not always for the right reasons.
Some, like Diarra and Weber, will focus first on the turnovers. Seven is too many, especially considering he was moved away from the point at times in this game while David Sloan ran the offense.
Diarra could have done more, or perhaps less, to help the Wildcats in this game. But it’s hard to envision them winning at all without him. K-State has been in desperate need of a player who can create off the dribble and score without Weber calling out set plays every time down court. Diarra provided that against West Virginia, even if some of his aggressive plays didn’t work out.
Few, if any, envisioned K-State scoring 84 points against one of the nation’s best defensive teams.
“He was terrific,” Bob Huggins said. “He really was.”
Diarra also motivated K-State players before the game began. After the Wildcats began Big 12 play with four straight low-scoring defeats, he sent a group text to his teammates urging them to do more in this game.
“I feel like we have a really good scoring team,” Diarra said. “We should be averaging 80 points a game. Today, we did that. I feel like everyone kind of held up their side of the numbers that I told everybody they should have. That is why we came out with the win.”
Nobody did more than Diarra.
As long as the good outweighs the bad, that seems like a good thing for the Wildcats.
This story was originally published January 18, 2020 at 6:01 PM.