Five takeaways from Kansas State’s 76-49 basketball exhibition victory over Washburn
The Kansas State men’s basketball team played its lone exhibition game of the season on Tuesday at Bramlage Coliseum and had little trouble defeating Washburn 76-49.
Jerome Tang and the roster he assembled over the past few months looked comfortable in their new surroundings.
Nae’Qwan Tomlin and Cam Carter were the most impressive K-State newcomers. Carter scored 13 points in a variety of ways, while Tomlin delivered 11 points and seven rebounds. Both of them seem ready to contribute right away as Big 12 basketball players.
Overall, the Wildcats appear eager for the season to start for real on Monday against Texas-Rio Grande Valley.
Here are some thoughts on the exhibition opener:
Keyontae Johnson can really finish at the rim
K-State players have said that Florida transfer Keyontae Johnson is capable of beating his defender off the dribble and scoring an important bucket whenever he chooses to do so.
That does not appear to be hyperbole, based on the way he played on Tuesday.
Johnson attacked the basket early and often in this game and finished with eight points, taking a back seat to his teammates when the game got out of hand in the second half. Still, he was by far the most impressive scorer on the court.
He routinely blew by his man with ease and finished in a variety of ways around the rim. Johnson made standard layups, scored with off his hand and even went past the basket for a nifty reverse lay in at one point. K-State fans aren’t accustomed to seeing those kind of highlights from their team, but they may need to grow accustomed to them this season.
Johnson only played 17 minutes, but Tang explained that was by design.
“Man, he was terrific,” Tang said. “We played a private scrimmage and we probably played him too much. He played 31 minutes and had a double-double. We purposely said, ‘Hey, we’re going to play him less,’ not for any reason other than let’s get some other dudes in there and not leave him there as long. He could have easily played 30 minutes.”
There is a reason why Johnson was an All SEC player and a potential NBA Draft pick when he was at Florida. He is an excellent scorer who knows what he is doing, even in traffic. If he stays healthy, it’s hard to see anyone else leading the Wildcats in scoring this season.
Zone defense? No problem!
When Bruce Weber was roaming the sideline at Bramlage the Wildcats were notoriously bad at scoring against a zone defense. They seemed to struggle against it every single year, regardless of who was on the roster.
That could change under Tang.
Washburn tried to slow K-State down with a zone defense late in the first half and the Wildcats knew exactly how to attack it, responding with back-to-back dunks.
The first one came from Nae’Qwan Tomlin when he surged into the paint and finished in the middle of four defenders. The second came on an even more impressive play when Desi Sells sent a lob pass beyond the basket to Tykei Greene, who grabbed the ball above the rim and threw it down for a crowd-pleasing score.
Granted, those quick buckets came against a Division II opponent that was completely outmatched. But they were still encouraging to see.
Don’t expect the same starting lineup every night from Tang
Tang was unwilling to share any information with reporters about the five players he planned to use in K-State’s starting lineup against Washburn. While that is unusual from a coach with nothing to hide in an exhibition against an inferior foe, there was a reason for his silence.
He doesn’t want anyone on his roster to think they have a guaranteed spot in the starting five. His reasoning: players can grow content if they feel like they have arrived. He wants them to compete in practice every single day. Playing time is always on the line.
With that in mind, it’s reasonable to expect Tang to experiment with lineups when the regular season gets underway.
Markquis Nowell, Cam Carter, Keyontae Johnson, Abayomi Iyiola and Ismael Massoud started on Tuesday.
It came as a small surprise that Tomlin wasn’t out there, but he proved his value by nearly recording a double-double. Desi Sills also flashed his talent off the bench. They could each easily earn a starting spot in the near future.
The lineup may also change based on matchups. Tang used 15 different players against Washburn, with every scholarship player making an appearance, and he didn’t seem to be married to any one lineup.
This is a bigger, more athletic K-State team
The Wildcats flexed their muscles inside against the Ichabods.
K-State grabbed 54 rebounds and limited Washburn to 38. It also took advantage of easy looks around the basket by converting 14 of 21 layups and five of six dunks. Making shots around the rim was a challenge at times for previous K-State teams. Perhaps it will also be for this team when it plays stronger competition. But it was still a refreshing change.
It wasn’t just one K-State player making things happen inside.
LSU transfer Jerrell Colbert was the last big off the bench, and he looked fantastic throwing down a pair of dunks and coming up with a highlight block that had his teammates howling from the bench. His final stat line: five points, five blocks, one rebound in eight minutes.
That will do.
Tang later explained that Colbert is not the No. 3 big in K-State’s rotation. But he wanted to get an extended look at other players in an exhibition setting. Fans can expect him to play more starting next week.
Something to improve
There wasn’t much to complain about from K-State in this game, but that doesn’t mean it was a perfect effort from the Wildcats.
They were sloppy at times on offense and turned the ball over 19 times. That could have hurt them against a better opponent.
K-State also only shot 22% from three-point range. That number obviously needs to improve.
Tang was most upset about the turnovers afterward, saying that the Wildcats strive to limit themselves to under 11 turnovers in each game.
This story was originally published November 1, 2022 at 9:18 PM.