Three things we learned from Kansas State’s demoralizing home loss to Iowa State
Bruce Weber slammed his clipboard on the floor when he realized the Kansas State men’s basketball team was on its way to a 74-73 loss against Iowa State on Saturday at Bramlage Coliseum.
That kind of frustration is rare from Weber, but he clearly realized the importance of this game.
Without a victory, K-State (14-14, 6-10 Big 12) can say goodbye to any realistic hopes of earning an at-large berth into the NCAA Tournament. Weber’s days as head coach might also be numbered if the Wildcats are unable to reach the postseason next month.
“I keep saying we’re good enough,” Weber said. “I told you guys I believe we belong in the NCAA Tournament, but now you have got to earn it. We have put ourselves in another bind.”
Iowa State (20-9, 7-9) nearly blew a 15-point lead when K-State forced a series of turnovers in the final two minutes that cut the deficit to a single point, but the Wildcats were unable to score a go-ahead bucket. Their best opportunity came on their penultimate possession when Nijel Pack brought the ball across midcourt and tried to make something happen. But the sophomore guard was unable to get off a shot and turned it over in the face of defensive pressure.
The Cyclones made a pair of clutch free throws to clinch the game a few seconds later before Pack hit a three-pointer at the buzzer.
Pack led K-State with a game-high 32 points, but he didn’t get enough help from his teammates.
Maize, Kansas, native Caleb Grill led Iowa State by draining six three-pointers on his way to 18 points.
Here are some key takeaways from the game:
Wasting another strong game from Nijel Pack
The Wildcats got one of the best games of the season from their best player on Saturday, but it didn’t help them win the game.
That has been an unfortunate problem for K-State this year.
When Pack scored a career-high 35 points against Kansas, the Wildcats lost. When he torched Baylor for 31 points, they lost again. As if that weren’t bizarre enough of a trend, he scored 32 points against Iowa State and K-State couldn’t find a way to win this game either.
“I don’t know why that keeps happening,” Pack said. “I think today should have worked out if I had been better with the ball. I mean, six turnovers is terrible. That’s the key right there. Almost half of our turnovers came from me, so if I had been better with the ball and cut down on a couple of those you never know what could have happened. Today should have been the day. I just need to cut back on some turnovers.”
Still, it was startling to see how much heavy lifting Pack did compared to his teammates.
Pack made six three-pointers and 11 field goals, while his teammates combined to make one three-pointer and nine field goals. He scored 32 points, while his teammates combined to score 41 points.
Point guard Markquis Nowell managed to get to the free-throw line late in the game and score 16 points, and Mark Smith bullied his way to the line for 12 points and nine rebounds, but no other K-State player managed more than six points.
It was almost as if K-State was trying to beat Iowa State three on five.
“He was trying to help us win,” Weber said of Pack, “and some of the other guys didn’t do enough.”
Fire up the Grill
Add Caleb Grill to the list of recruits who Bruce Weber let get away during his tenure with the Wildcats.
Grill, a product of Maize who is now a junior guard for the Cyclones, terrorized K-State from the three-point line in this game.
He came off the bench to make 6 of 10 shots from beyond the arc for a game-altering 18 points.
That was a big change from the first Famageddon matchup of the season, when he took 12 shots and only made one of them. K-State won that game in overtime. Grill said he blamed himself for that result and vowed to redeem himself in the rematch.
“The first time we played K-State, I really felt like I let the team down in my performance,” Grill said. “I’ve been looking forward to this game for the past two weeks, hoping to get the chance to help us win like we did tonight.”
It was a memorable day for Grill. Not only did he have a career shooting performance in his home state, he did it in front of a large crowd of family and friends sitting behind the Iowa State bench. He had his own cheering section inside Bramlage Coliseum.
End of the line for Weber?
Now that the Wildcats’ hopes of reaching the NCAA Tournament have all but been eliminated, it’s time to start wondering if this might be Weber’s final season as the head coach at K-State.
Reaching the NCAA Tournament was the stated goal for this team coming off a pair of losing seasons. Not reaching the postseason definitely puts Weber’s future in jeopardy.
He built up a great deal of good will when he guided K-State to a pair of Big 12 championships and five NCAA Tournament appearances in his first seven seasons. Even though he was never the most popular coach in Manhattan, few could argue with his accomplishments. But fans are getting restless now that the Wildcats haven’t posted a winning season since 2019.
Weber only has one year remaining on his contract. His buyout is $1 million, and it drops to $500,000 on April 30.
K-State athletics director Gene Taylor will need to part ways with Weber or offer him an extension in the coming weeks. There’s no way he returns as a lame-duck coach in the final year of his current deal. It’s also possible Weber could retire.
Clarity will likely arrive soon.
The only thing that could save Weber at this point is an unlikely run to the NCAA Tournament. The Wildcats might only be able to get there by winning the Big 12 Tournament. That’s how much losing this game hurt K-State’s postseason resume.
This story was originally published February 26, 2022 at 3:56 PM.