Five takeaways from Kansas State’s basketball loss to USC Trojans on opening night
When Jerome Tang agreed to begin the college basketball season with a high-profile game against USC in Las Vegas on Monday, he viewed the event as an ideal learning experience for his team.
In his mind, Kansas State was either going to win and return to Manhattan with an impressive result or the Wildcats were going to lose and find out exactly how much they need to improve.
K-State was going to benefit no matter what.
That logic will be tested after the No. 21 Trojans outclassed the Wildcats on their way to a 82-69 victory.
USC was the better team from start to finish, with Boogie Ellis scoring 24 points and Isaiah Collier adding 18. K-State had a bad shooting performance and couldn’t make up for it with defense or hustle.
The Wildcats have much work to do if they hope to begin competing with top 25 teams as the season progresses.
This was a humbling result for Tang’s team, even if it turns out to be beneficial in the long run.
Here are some thoughts on the action.
K-State was ice cold shooting the ball
It’s hard to win a basketball game when you only make 31% of your shots.
K-State had to try and overcome a woeful shooting effort against USC on Monday at T-Mobile Arena and was unable to do so.
The Wildcats only made 22 of 71 shots from the field and 8 of 33 shots from 3-point range. Perhaps the most revealing stat about their shooting: K-State grabbed 23 offensive rebounds but only finished with 15 second-chance points. Even when it was getting the ball in ideal scoring range it couldn’t take advantage.
Maybe K-State players were dealing with jitters on opening night. Three of their best shooters weren’t reliable against the Trojans. Cam Carter went 4-of-16, Tylor Perry went 5-of-17 and Arthur Kaluma went 1-of-11.
“The good thing is that those are the guys you want to take shots,” Tang said. “Those guys work. They spend a lot of time in the gym and they just have to go out there and trust their work.”
Perry did end up leading the Wildcats with 22 points, but the bulk of his scoring happened late after the game was already decided.
It is worth pointing out that K-State didn’t have Nae’Qwan Tomlin (suspended) or Ques Glover (injured). But the Wildcats likely would have lost this game even with a complete roster.
K-State averaged 0.908 points per possession.
“We’re a new team,” Perry said. “We’re still figuring out how to jell together. There were some first game jitters, of course, on a stage like this. I felt like we executed down the stretch. We have to get a whole lot better, but I feel really good about us. Now, I’m not too worried about it.”
Will McNair gave the Wildcats solid minutes inside
Tang may want to consider using Will McNair more in future games.
The 6-foot-11 forward gave the Wildcats valuable production inside, finishing with eight points in just 10 minutes of action. He made several nice post moves when he got the ball in the paint and showed off good touch around the basket.
Other parts of his game could use some work, but the transfer from New Mexico State/Mississippi State can clearly be relied upon to score.
No quit from the Wildcats
Give K-State credit for fighting until the final buzzer.
USC appeared in complete control when it held a 19-point lead with just 6:33 remaining in the second half, but K-State refused to let the Trojans coast to a lopsided victory.
The Wildcats played with passion on defense and started to make a few shots. It wasn’t enough to pull off a come-from-behind victory, but they did cut the lead down to single digits and force USC coach Andy Enfield to call timeout and reset his team’s mindset.
It was encouraging to see K-State play with that kind of heart on opening night.
“We have got fighters,” Tang said. “We may have lost tonight, but (it) wasn’t because of a lack of effort, right? I like this group, because they’re always going to give you an effort that gives you a chance to win. We just now have to learn how to execute and not have wasted energy. But they want to win.”
USC put on a show in the backcourt
The Trojans are going to be a dangerous team this season, especially if freshman Bronny James is eventually cleared to play.
USC has serious talent on its roster. Nowhere was that more evident than in the backcourt, where it got a combined total of 58 points from Kobe Johnson, Collier and Ellis.
When Enfield’s team needed an important bucket it gave the ball to one of those players and let them make a play. K-State isn’t at that stage yet, which is a big reason why it couldn’t keep pace with USC.
This felt like a big game
There wasn’t much of a crowd at T-Mobile Arena throughout a long day of games for the Hall of Fame tipoff event. But the biggest crowd of the basketball showcase arrived for K-State and USC.
K-State fans filled much of the arena’s lower bowl with lavender and made lots of noise whenever their team scored.
Famous athletes such as Shaquille O’Neal and Davante Adams were also in attendance. They sat courtside as K-State players warmed up.
Tang thanked K-State fans for traveling to Las Vegas and supporting his team afterward. There was also a decent number of USC fans in the crowd. That made this a fun neutral-court environment that doesn’t happen much at this time of year with college hoops.
This story was originally published November 6, 2023 at 11:29 PM.