K-State basketball got off to a promising start this season. What happened?
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- K-State opened 5-1 with a 93 PPG offense, early surge raised tournament hopes.
- Wildcats dropped 4-7 over 11 games; 3-point rate fell to 32.8% and rebounding lagged.
- Tang hired Driscoll to direct offense; defense improved; K-State 9-8, 0-4 Big 12
Nearly two months ago, the Kansas State men’s basketball team went toe-to-toe with Nebraska on a neutral court. The Wildcats came up one play short and lost 86-85 to the Cornhuskers, but no one wearing purple was down in the dumps afterward.
K-State was 5-1 with an offense that was averaging 93 points per game. And the Wildcats nearly pulled off an upset against a Nebraska team that is now 17-0 and ranked in the top 10.
At the time, it seemed like K-State basketball coach Jerome Tang had assembled a roster that was capable of contending for the NCAA Tournament.
“We’re pretty good,” Tang said at the time. “You wonder sometimes, how do we compare to other teams. I know what I was feeling and what I was feeling displayed itself today. We said we have another level we can go to, and I firmly believe that we’re going to get there.”
Fast-forward to the middle of January and K-State’s promising start now looks like nothing more than fool’s gold.
The Wildcats climbed all the way up to No. 45 in Bart Torvik’s college basketball ratings system on Nov. 22 by making 43.3% of their shots from 3-point range and successfully winning shootouts. At the time, they ranked eighth in the Big 12.
But things have changed since then. In their past 11 games, the Wildcats have gone 4-7 with an offense that has averaged 81 points over that span. K-State has made just 32.8% of its shots from beyond the arc over its past 11 games. The Wildcats have also struggled to get to the free-throw line on offense, fouled too much on defense and failed to win rebounding battles against teams with talented front courts.
If you look at just their past 11 games, the Wildcats rank 113th nationally and last in the Big 12 at Torvik. The next closest conference rival over that time is Utah at 103.
Not surprisingly, K-State (9-8, 0-4 Big 12) is tied for last place in the conference standings.
What happened?
Tang hired associate head coach Matthew Driscoll to direct the offense this season. Early on, it surprised opponents and K-State lit up the scoreboard. But it appears Big 12 coaches have figured out how to defend PJ Haggerty, Abdi Bashir and Nate Johnson.
Surprisingly, K-State has been more efficient on defense (101st nationally) than on offense (135th nationally) since the Nebraska game.
The result: K-State has been outscored by 47 points since conference play began.
Tang remains confident that the Wildcats can turn things around, starting with a road game against Oklahoma State at 9 p.m. Saturday inside Gallagher-Iba Arena. But that Nebraska game is starting to feel like it happened ages ago.