What we learned from Kansas State’s rare blowout victory against Jacksonville
Kansas State accomplished something during a 70-46 victory over Jacksonville on Monday at Bramlage Coliseum that it hadn’t previously done this season.
The Wildcats won big.
They started hot and never trailed against the Dolphins, which was a welcome change for a young roster that hasn’t found many opportunities to play loose, have fun and celebrate a drama-free victory. They won this game by a wider margin (24 points) than their other three wins combined (14 points).
“I’m happy for our guys,” K-State coach Bruce Weber said. “We thought we could break their spirit a little bit and we were able to do that.”
K-State took care of business against a lesser opponent and that had to feel like an early Christmas gift. The Wildcats (4-5) will now get a few days off before trying to even their record in their next game against Omaha on Dec. 29.
A winning streak will be within reach if the Wildcats continue playing the way they did against the Dolphins (6-4). This was easily K-State’s most balanced effort of the season, with nine different players combining to make 27 field goals on 23 assists.
That allowed K-State to lead by 19 points at halftime and by 30 points in the second half. The rout was on with the Wildcats playing some of their best defense of the season. Jacksonville only made 34% of their shots.
On the other end of the floor, freshman guard Nijel Pack led the way with 16 points. It seemed like he busted out of his slump by knocking down four three-pointers. But DaJuan Gordon also had a strong game with 13 points and 12 rebounds for his second double-double in three games. Senior guard Mike McGuirl had 12 points and seven assists.
All three of them got to enjoy the final few minutes of this game from the bench after lifting the Wildcats to a lopsided victory. It was the first time they experienced that feeling all season. Their goal is to experience it again.
“It felt great being able to rest a little bit,” Pack said. “We were able to get our guys in and that was exciting to watch. It’s also exciting to end our little mini first half of the season with a win and go into Christmas break with some confidence.”
Here are some thoughts from the game:
Nijel Pack is back
K-State’s freshman point guard shot the ball so well in his first few games of the season that Bruce Weber said he was surprised every time that Pack missed.
Well, that praise turned out to be a little premature. Pack went into a prolonged shooting slump over the Wildcats’ next five games. After making seven of his first 12 attempts from three-point range, he only made three of his next 20 from the outside. Those struggles forced him to become a pass-first guard at times.
But things changed for the better against the Dolphins, as he drilled four of six three-pointers on his way 16 points, while also grabbing six rebounds and dishing out five assists.
“That is nice numbers for anyone,” Weber said, “and when you consider he is a freshman it’s even more impressive.”
It is also the kind of all-around effort that the Wildcats need to get from Pack in order to compete with most Big 12 teams.
Perhaps this will get him back on another hot streak.
“I wasn’t shooting as well as I did at the start of the season,” Pack said. “I knew that would be incredible to keep doing that, but I wouldn’t say it was a slump. My teammates kept looking for me and I had confidence. My coaches built that confidence into me. I came into today with some confidence and things started to go for me.”
DaJuan Gordon showing expanded skills
As a freshman, Gordon didn’t record a single double-double.
Heck, it was rare for him to finish games with a single-double, as he only exceeded 10 points six times and never had more than eight rebounds.
His game has clearly changed in the past year. Gordon delivered his second double-double in his past three games against Jacksonville by scoring 13 points and grabbing 12 rebounds.
Under perfect circumstances, he admits he would rather be more of a pure scorer and knock down a handful of three-pointers every game. But he has struggled with his outside shot this season, and that has forced him to focus on other areas. That has made him a more complete player, and when his shot is working like it was against the Dolphins (he hit three three-pointers) then he is in a position to really help his team.
He looks like a different player than he did last year.
“It’s just different situations,” Gordon said. “I was in a whole other situation with the way our team was set up. This year, I have to take what they are giving me. I haven’t been able to make any threes, so I have got to take what I am working with which right now is getting rebounds steals and stuff like that.”
Weber has encouraged Gordon to play closer to the basket and help K-State with hustle plays, telling him that “whether you make shots or not you can help our team. It’s what you do and how hard you play that makes you successful.”
It seems like that style of play is what suits the former four-star recruit best right now. He isn’t playing exactly the way he wants, but he is still finding ways to help the Wildcats win games.
Two more encouraging signs
A pair of stats popped out after this game for the Wildcats.
1. They combined for 23 assists. That is an unusually high number for K-State this season, and the team would have had even more if not for a few missed layups and one dunk that went clanging off the rim.
2. They held the Dolphins to 33% shooting and 0.71 points per possession. Both were new season-lows for K-State opponents. Weber’s team hasn’t put up much resistance on defense this season, as evidenced by the 100 points Baylor scored against it over the weekend, but that finally changed on Monday. Jacksonville likes to shoot three-pointers, and K-State made it difficult for it do so all afternoon.
If either of those trends continue, K-State will be a more formidable squad when Big 12 games resume next month.
This story was originally published December 21, 2020 at 2:50 PM.