Three things we learned about K-State basketball in exhibition loss at Missouri
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- K-State lost 100-91 at Missouri in exhibition, exposing early weaknesses.
- Transfer PJ Haggerty led K-State with 21 points and six assists in 21 minutes.
- Haggerty’s scoring efficiency suggests he will pace K-State’s offense this season.
The Kansas State men’s basketball team lost an exhibition game to the Missouri Tigers 100-91 on Friday in Columbia.
Here are a few things we learned about the Wildcats in their preseason debut.
PJ Haggerty looks like he will be K-State’s alpha scorer
Memphis transfer PJ Haggerty looked as good as advertised, at least on offense.
The talented ball-handler led the Wildcats with 21 points on 13 shots. He also dished out six assists and got to the free-throw line seven times. Not bad, especially when you consider that he only saw 21 minutes of action.
He did a little bit of everything for K-State, but his scoring set him apart.
Many expected Haggerty to lead K-State in scoring this season. And he gave no one any reason to doubt that on Friday.
Haggerty was aggressive when the ball was in his hands. He attacked the rim off the dribble and fired away from the perimeter, draining a pair of 3-pointers.
One play stood out for him. With time winding down late in the first half, Haggerty drove to the rim on an isolation play and converted an and-one layup when K-State needed him to make a big play. That was encouraging to see.
In previous years, it was often difficult for K-State to come up with clutch buckets because it lacked a go-to scorer. That may not be as much of a problem this year. Haggerty’s ability to score, and get to the free-throw line, should give K-State reliable points when games start to count.
Jerome Tang gave us a first look at his starting lineup
K-State coach Jerome Tang showed confidence in his starting five in the team’s first exhibition game.
He went with PJ Haggerty at point guard, Abdi Bashir at shooting guard, Nate Johnson on the wing, Elias Rapieque at forward and Khamari McGriff down low.
Johnson had the best night outside of Haggerty, as the Akron transfer finished with 14 points on 11 shots.
Things could obviously change moving forward, but Tang seemed comfortable with his starting five. He played most of them for more than 20 minutes on a night when he wanted to get most of the roster on the floor.
The top reserves for the Wildcats were Mobi Ikegwuruka, CJ Jones and David Castillo, at least in terms of minutes played.
Overall, 12 K-State basketball players saw action. Eleven of them scored.
The Wildcats have work to do on defense
Allowing Missouri to reach triple digits won’t show up in the record books, because this was just an exhibition game.
But that doesn’t mean Tang won’t be annoyed by the ease with which Missouri scored at times.
The Tigers got way too many easy buckets in the paint and in transition. That is why they were able to score 100 points and lead by as many as 19.
Missouri scored 54 points in the paint and got to the free-throw line 34 times. The Tigers also benefited from 29 fast-break points.
Four Missouri players reached double figures, with Anthony Robinson and Jayden Stone leading the way with 16 points apiece.
K-State won’t win many games this season with that kind of defensive effort.