Kansas State Wildcats no match for No. 4 Texas Longhorns in blowout road loss
Rudi Williams had seen enough.
The Kansas State guard turned his head and threw his hands up in disgust as he watched Courtney Ramey lift Texas to a 20-point lead late in the first half with an off-balance floater over a pair of defenders on Saturday at the Erwin Center in Austin. The Longhorns were on their way to an 82-67 victory, and Williams’ reaction summed things up for the Wildcats.
Everything seemed to go right for Texas. Nothing came easy for K-State.
That combination led to a predictable result.
“It was a tough task for us,” K-State basketball coach Bruce Weber said, “but all we can do is our best. We have had a bunch of issues to deal with.”
Indeed, the odds were stacked heavily against K-State in this game, and the Wildcats never challenged the nation’s fourth-ranked team on the road. The Wildcats entered the weekend with a depleted roster that featured only four players at full strength. The other five who played on Saturday were all limited for various reasons. Three players (Nijel Pack, Kaosi Ezeagu and Montavious Murphy) were unavailable.
They seemed even more undermanned than when they lost to Oklahoma State with only six active scholarship players in their last game.
“It has taken a toll,” K-State forward Davion Bradford said. “I feel like us coming up short has had some disadvantages, but I also feel like the more we get people back and have time together and do things together and improve in practice we are going to get better in the long run.”
It appeared that the Wildcats (5-9, 1-5 Big 12) might catch a break when the Longhorns (11-2, 5-1 Big 12) announced they would be without Greg Brown, Kai Jones and Brock Cunningham. Believe it or not, Bruce Weber had more scholarship players available than Texas coach Shaka Smart. But playing with a new lineup seemed to spark the Longhorns rather than limit them.
For example: seldom-used forward Kamaka Hepa entered the starting lineup and made five three-pointers on his way to 15 points. He was previously averaging 1.0 points and 0.3 rebounds per game. Andrew Jones also drained four shots from the outside. And Jericho Sims threw down crazy dunks like he was playing in an all-star game. One of them came from a pass that Ramey bounced high off the backboard on a fast break. Replays of the slam were quickly shared across social media.
The Longhorns also showed off a full-court press on defense that caused myriad problems for the struggling Wildcats. Texas got K-State out of sorts with in the first half and broke the game open with an 18-0 run. It went on to lead by 28.
“I knew they would be tough,” Weber said. “I did not think we would struggle with their press. Those three or four turnovers against the press led to layups. They beat us in transition and then they went seven for 14 from three. You just mix it in and you’ve got a big deficit.”
K-State could do nothing to stop Texas from lighting up the scoreboard.
Davion Bradford led K-State with 14 points and seven rebounds, while Mike McGuirl, Antonio Gordon and Williams all reached double figures. But none of that mattered with Texas draining 12 three-pointers, throwing down dunks and shooting 53% from the field.
The Wildcats had an exceptionally poor effort on defense, but they were also weak trying to score near the rim. They only made 18 of 39 two-point shots and had three of their shots blocked.
Tired of watching K-State players miss contested layups, Weber pleaded for more ball movement and assists in the second half.
To their credit, the Wildcats never gave in and actually covered the game’s 17-point spread thanks to a late surge. But that didn’t feel like much of a moral victory.
“There is no consolation,” Weber said. “We didn’t come here to say, ‘We didn’t quit and got back into it.’ We have to be better.”
If there were any positives for K-State in this game, they came on the injury front. Freshman guard Luke Kasubke made his college debut after missing every other game with a toe injury. Antonio Gordon also returned to the rotation after missing time because of Covid protocols.
The Wildcats hope both can get back on track and help them when they return to the court on Tuesday at Oklahoma.
This story was originally published January 16, 2021 at 9:21 PM.