MANHATTAN, Kan. — It wasn’t easy, but the Kansas State men’s basketball team kept its winning streak alive by fighting past Oklahoma State for a 65-57 victory on Tuesday inside Bramlage Coliseum.
K-State (15-1, 4-0 Big 12) fell behind early and was locked in a tight contest with the Cowboys (9-7, 1-3) heading into the final media timeout of the night. But the Wildcats made more than enough clutch plays down the stretch to win and stay on top of the conference standings.
The biggest play of them all came with 38 seconds remaining, when Markquis Nowell found Keyontae Johnson with a pass high above the rim and the senior forward slammed it home for an alley-oop dunk that sent the home crowd into a frenzy. That gave the Wildcats a 62-57 lead, and they added onto that advantage with free throws in the final seconds.
Nowell led K-State with 20 points and seven assists. His hot streak of games continued, even though he failed to eclipse 30 points for the first time this calendar year. Johnson came through with 12 and Desi Sills added 11.
Oklahoma State was led by 23 points from Kalib Boone.
K-State basketball coach Jerome Tang celebrated the win at midcourt by joining in on the Wabash Cannonball in front of the student section.
The No. 11 Wildcats are next in action on Saturday at No. 17 TCU.
Until then, here are some takeaways from their latest game:
Add it to the highlight reel
On a night filled with loud noises inside Bramlage Coliseum, the loudest of all was saved for Johnson’s dunk in the final minute.
It’s a good bet that K-State will add that play to its pregame hype reel before future home games starting immediately.
The play had a little bit of everything. Nowell launched the ball so high into the air no one was totally sure if Johnson would be able to grab a hold of it. That raised anticipation levels before Johnson did, in fact, grip the ball high above the rim and then throw it down with authority.
Johnson flexed his muscles afterward and the entire arena celebrated. A crowd of 11,000 went bonkers.
Nowell continues to shoot the lights out
In hindsight, it’s a little silly that anyone thought Nowell was on his way to a quiet game when he got off to a slow start Tuesday.
Nowell caught fire in the second half and made a string of deep 3-pointers that swung momentum Kansas State’s way. One came while he was being fouled by OSU guard Bryce Thompson, which led to a four-point play. Another three came quickly on a possession when Nowell crossed midcourt and put up a Hail Mary almost immediately.
The K-State point guard finished with 20 points on 6-of-12 shooting. He made five shots from 3-point range and also tacked on seven assists.
Nowell has shown so much range in recent games that is becoming dangerous for opposing teams to leave him open regardless of where he is on the court.
OSU provides blueprint for how to defend K-State
When K-State scored 116 points against Texas and then followed that up with 97 points against Baylor, it seemed like there was nothing either team could do to slow down the Wildcats and their prolific offense.
Things changed when Oklahoma State slowed down the pace of this game and forced K-State to run halfcourt sets. That allowed the Cowboys to roll out a variety of defenses and clog up passing lanes, making it much harder than usual for the Wildcats to put the ball in the basket.
That strategy worked wonders in the first half. Oklahoma State took a 32-30 lead as K-State went into the locker room with more turnovers (9) than assists (8). Johnson and Nowell both looked human. That gave the Cowboys a legitimate shot at pulling off an upset.
At least it seemed that way until Nowell caught fire in the second half and the Wildcats began to pull away.
Still, the Cowboys proved it makes more sense to try and beat the Wildcats with defense than by turning the game into a track meet. That is something K-State may need to get used to moving forward.
Finding a different way to win
One of the most impressive things about the job Tang has done this season is that K-State has won games in more than just one way.
Some nights they run with opponents and win shootouts. Other nights they are capable of winning with defense.
K-State survived this game thanks to the way it played on the defensive end of the floor. Sure, Nowell and Johnson came through with some clutch baskets, but the Wildcats didn’t need all that many of them because of the way they were keeping the Cowboys off the scoreboard.
Oklahoma State made 33% of its shots from the field and only drained five 3-pointers all night long. K-State didn’t need to be at its sharpest on offense on a night like this.
Feeling doomy
The K-State fan base is clearly getting behind this basketball team. Bramlage Coliseum hosted its first sellout crowd since before the coronavirus pandemic began on Tuesday and the arena was loud every time the Wildcats needed it to be.
Even with many students off campus before the start of the spring semester and a 6 p.m. tip, there weren’t many open seats.
They like to call this place The Octagon of Doom when it reaches critical mass and fans make things difficult for visiting teams. It was definitely worthy of that nickname against the Cowboys.
Don’t expect things to change anytime soon. The majority of K-State’s remaining home games have sold out.
