Three takeaways from Kansas State’s heartbreaking 64-63 home loss against Marquette
The Kansas State men’s basketball team was unable to win its second consecutive matchup against a marquee opponent and lost a Big East/Big 12 Battle game 64-63 against Marquette on Wednesday at Bramlage Coliseum.
It was a disappointing result for the Wildcats, both because they were starting to build positive momentum following a rivalry victory over Wichita State and because they were in position to beat the Golden Eagles until Ismael Massoud was unable to convert a reverse layup over defender Oso Ighodaro on the final shot of the night.
“We have a lot of growing to do,” K-State guard Mark Smith said. “I felt like we can definitely use this game to grow. We have a lot of experience, but not being in a game like that. We had a couple possessions in the second half that got a little out of control. At one point we missed a lot of free throws. We missed some layups. We just have to keep growing and getting better.”
K-State surged ahead 37-31 by scoring the first seven points of the second half, but Marquette was the better team the rest of the way. It looked like Shaka Smart’s team might win by double digits when it took a 61-54 lead with 5 minutes, 32 seconds remaining.
But the Wildcats refused to go away. They scored six straight points to make the score 61-60. Then Kam Jones and Mike McGuirl traded three-pointers, which set up K-State with one final chance to win.
K-State center Kaosi Ezeagu rebounded a missed free throw from Jones and Markquis Nowell brought the ball up the court. The game was in his hands, and Wildcats coach Bruce Weber called a play for Nowell to read the defense and make something happen. Weber later said he hoped Nowell would keep the ball and shoot from the outside, but he passed to Massoud on the base line. From there, Massoud drove to the basket and put up a potential game winner underneath the rim, but it was heavily contested and blocked.
“Obviously, it hurts,” Weber said. “I thought we played well at times and then at other times we have to get a little more mature and understand the game and not try to win the game by yourself. I think that’s probably the biggest thing.”
It was a commendable effort for the Wildcats (5-3), who were once again without leading scorer Nijel Pack as he recovers from a concussion. But the Golden Eagles (8-2) found a way to get the road win.
Here are some key takeaways from the game.
Transfers to the rescue
Where would K-State basketball be right now without the three transfers Weber added to the roster?
That’s a scary thought following this game.
Massoud (Wake Forest), Nowell (Arkansas-Little Rock) and Smith (Missouri) were the main reason the Wildcats had a chance against the Golden Eagles.
They all had terrific games. Smith was probably the best of the bunch with 17 points and eight rebounds. He played hard, bullied his way to the rim and forced Marquette players to foul him seven times. But he got lots of competition from his fellow newcomers.
Nowell flirted with the first triple-double in school history and ended with 11 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds. Weber may need to make room for him in the starting lineup even after Pack returns to action.
And Massoud contributed 16 points and six rebounds, a nice bounce-back effort for the sophomore forward after he struggled mightily against Wichita State.
They combined for 44 points. That’s good. Alas, everyone else on the team combined for just 19 points. That’s bad.
K-State didn’t miss Pack during its gutsy win against Wichita State a few days ago. But it really could have used him in this game. Well, that or a healthy Selton Miguel. The sophomore guard only played 18 minutes against Marquette while battling a knee ailment he suffered in practice earlier this week.
Returning players like Kaosi Ezeagu and Luke Kasubke both played huge roles against the Shockers. Then they combined for two points against the Golden Eagles. Consistenty is not their forte.
“We have got to get healthy,” Weber said. “We have got to get guys back and then continue to make strides and get better ... I still believe we can be a good team.”
Weber is hopeful both Miguel and Pack will be healthy enough to play in their next game against Green Bay on Sunday.
The Wildcats will take contributions from anyone on the roster. The hard thing about only getting strong games from newcomers is that this was the first time they had played together in a game that went down to the wire. That showed during crunch time.
K-State may have won had Smith converted just a few more baskets. As good as he played, he also missed an easy transition layup in the first half and misfired on three critical free throws in the closing moments.
“After practice, maybe I should make 100 free throws or something because some of those were just real long misses,” Smith said. “I don’t know what I need to do to make my free throws, but especially as the older guy, I have got to do it.”
Nowell passed up an opportunity for the final shot. Instead, Massoud put up a low-percentage layup in traffic.
“I should have done a better job of seeing how much time was left,” Massoud said. “But before that possession we were in the huddle talking about trying to get something at the basket. I was just trying to get to the basket. Maybe I could have kicked it out or something like that. But I was just trying to draw a foul and get a layup.”
Those missed opportunities ended up making a big difference.
But K-State’s newcomers could have used some more help from their more veteran teammates.
Wasting a good crowd
For the first time all season, a rowdy crowd showed up to cheer on the Wildcats at Bramlage.
The announced attendance of 7,184 was still well below capacity at the Octagon of Doom, but the student section was packed with lavender-clad fans who showed up early and roared after every bucket from the home team.
That was a drastic change from K-State’s first four home games of the season when only a few thousand fans showed up for opponents like Florida A&M and Albany and the arena was mostly quiet.
K-State players noticed, perhaps a little too much.
“The atmosphere was great tonight,” Smith said. “But when the crowd got going, we all kind of wanted to make a play instead of wanting to play all the way through a possession. That is kind of what coach said. You have to be emotionally tough, and mission focused. Sometimes, tonight, we just kind of got out of character and we got sped up and took quick shots that we normally don’t.”
The Wildcats worked hard to generate fan support for this game. They wore their popular two-tone lavender uniforms and went out on campus earlier in the week to give students donuts and try to capitalize on the good publicity they generated by beating Wichita State.
It worked. But it will be interesting to see how many of those fans return for future games following a heartbreaking loss like this. Upcoming home games against Green Bay, McNeese State and Morgan State are unlikely to draw big crowds. Neither is a Jan. 4 home game against Texas, which will be played at the same time as the K-State football team takes on LSU at the Texas Bowl.
K-State basketball players may need to wait until Texas Tech comes to Manhattan on Jan. 15 for another rowdy crowd.
Encouraging game for Bradford
It’s been a mostly disappointing season thus far for Davion Bradford.
After a strong freshman campaign, during which he looked like K-State’s best pure center of the Weber era, he has done little as a sophomore. He has come off the bench in every game this year and often struggled to make an impact.
This game looked like more of the same in the first half when Nowell twice found him with terrific passes in the paint to set him up for dunk attempts, but Bradford was unable to finish either opportunity.
That was not a good sign, considering he also missed a dunk last week against Wichita State.
But something changed for him after those plays and he finished with nine points and a rebound. Perhaps this was his first step back toward regaining his freshman form. He came down with pneumonia before the season and is still a long way to go before he gets his stamina back. But this was a step in the right direction.
This story was originally published December 8, 2021 at 10:22 PM.