What we learned from Kansas State’s double-digit basketball loss against UNLV
Excellent timing, several days of rest and home-court advantage meant nothing for the Kansas State men’s basketball team against UNLV during a 68-58 loss on Saturday at Bramlage Coliseum.
With that in mind, it’s difficult to overstate just how telling a result this was for the Wildcats.
Not only did they lose a home game they were favored to win, they lost a home game against an opponent that entered the day without a single victory and was playing its fourth road game of the week fresh off an appearance in the relocated Maui Invitational. If ever there were a time for K-State to whip up on an opponent, this seemed like it.
But none of those apparent advantages helped the Wildcats (1-3) against the Rebels (1-4). K-State fell behind early and then wilted late with the game on the line.
“We need to be able to learn how to close out games,” K-State freshman guard Nijel Pack said. “We have been right there in every game that we have lost. We just need to be tougher.”
David Jenkins led UNLV with a game-high 25 points, Bryce Hamilton added 18 points and Wichita native Caleb Grill pitched in 12 to lift the visiting team to victory.
A small number of fans were allowed inside Bramlage for the first time this season, but they didn’t have much to cheer about. Grill was the only player to hear lots of applause on Saturday. He received a hero’s welcome when he returned to the court after the game ended and looked up at a group of about 25 friends and family wearing UNLV red.
The Rebels were the better team from the start and jumped out to a 7-0 lead before the Wildcats made adjustments and pulled within 31-30 at halftime. But that wasn’t enough. K-State was unable to complete its comeback attempt and ended up losing by double digits.
Mike McGuirl led the Wildcats with 17 points, but he needed 13 shots to score them. DaJuan Gordon and Pack both chipped in nine points.
K-State needed more on a night when UNLV made 12 three-pointers and led by 11 points at different times in the second half.
The Wildcats did make a second-half push and pulled to within three with 5 minutes, 55 seconds remaining, but Antonio Gordon missed an open layup and then Nijel Pack missed a floater in the lane. Missed layups was a theme for K-State throughout the game.
It only made 36% of its shots from the field, with many of its bricks coming at close range.
“I asked how many guys missed layups at halftime and I bet five guys raised their hands,” K-State coach Bruce Weber said. “You make four of those, then the score is different at halftime and the game is different.”
After those missed opportunities in the second half, UNLV responded with eight straight points to take control of the game.
It will be interesting to see where K-State goes from here. Even though it only won one of its first three games, the Wildcats talked confidently about the future because they held second-half leads against Drake and Colorado. With improved defense, they said, they would start winning more games.
They seemed to take a step forward in their last game against UMKC. But this was a step back.
Without Montavious Murphy, who was sidelined with a knee injury, the Wildcats failed to take advantage of their size advantage against UNLV and were forced to play small for long stretches.
Kaosi Ezeagu was a complete no-show, scoring just two points and grabbing three rebounds in 18 minutes of action.
UNLV had lots of success against him early on as it scored the first seven points of the game.
“They came with a lot of energy,” McGuirl said. “They were hungry. We knew coming into this game they were 0-4, but are much better than what their record indicates. They were in tough games, sort of like we were to start the year. They came out hungry and made tough shots, and that’s how they came out and got us right away.”
The Wildcats will try to move past their loss to the Rebels in their next game, which is now against Fort Hays State at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Bramlage, a game added to the schedule Sunday. K-State then plays Milwaukee on Friday.
“It’s a rough start,” Pack said, “but the basketball season is going to be a roller coaster. Right now we are going down, but we are going to go back up at some point. I believe fully in us.”
This story was originally published December 5, 2020 at 9:22 PM.