Kansas State Wildcats alumni team cruises in first round of The Basketball Tournament
Kansas State’s alumni basketball team made an impressive statement in the opening round of The Basketball Tournament.
Purple & Black defeated DaGuys STL 72-59 on Thursday at Koch Arena to advance on the bracket and move a step closer to the $1 million prize that awaits the champion of this event.
The team will next be in action at 6 p.m. on Friday against Team Arkansas.
That figures to be a more challenging game for the former Wildcats, who entered this tournament as a No. 2 seed. Team Arkansas is a No. 3 seed and also won its opening game without any drama.
Marcus Foster clinched the game for Purple & Black by draining a free throw while the former Wildcats were one point away from the target score in Elam Ending. He earned himself $1,000 by making the shot, because he was wearing Puma shoes and Puma is the main sponsor of TBT.
Foster was one of the key contributors for Purple & Black, along with Thomas Gipson, D.J. Johnson, Justin Edwards and Kamau Stokes.
They helped the former Wildcats jump out to a double-digit lead in the first half and then never looked back.
Some teams have looked disorganized and unprepared in this tournament. Not Purple & Black.
“A lot of preparation,” Johnson said during a postgame interview on ESPN2. “That is a good job on our coaching staff and our fans as well, plus our sponsors. They made sure we got here and had plenty of time to prepare.”
Purple & Black has won games in The Basketball Tournament before, but making a deep run in the event has always been a challenge. They will look to change that this weekend.
“It feels real good to win,” Johnson said. “I’m happy to be moving on and we have got five more to go.”