MANHATTAN, Kan. — The Kansas State men’s basketball team sent its seniors out in style with a 85-69 victory over Oklahoma in its final home game of the season on Wednesday at Bramlage Coliseum.
The Wildcats (23-7, 11-6 Big 12) shook off a slow start and outclassed the Sooners (14-16, 4-13 Big 12) for most of the game. The result was a blowout victory that allowed coach Jerome Tang and seniors like Keyontae Johnson and Markquis Nowell to celebrate with K-State fans one last time before they shift their focus to the postseason.
Nae’Qwan Tomlin led K-State with 19 points while Johnson had 16.
Here are some takeaways from the action:
Tomlin steals the show
On a night when Kansas State fans crammed into Bramlage Coliseum to bid farewell to Johnson, Nowell and a group of six seniors who led the Wildcats to one of their best seasons in recent memory, it was a junior who brought the house down with one big shot after another.
Go figure.
Tomlin played one his finest games in a K-State uniform on his way to 19 points on eight of nine field goals. He also had five rebounds. And he did all that in just 25 minutes of action. He was efficient.
The junior college transfer has faded into the background behind Johnson and Nowell at times this season, but this was a good reminder of what he is capable of when he plays his best.
Tomlin got his night started with a 3-pointer on the wing and then built off that with some high-flying dunks and layups. Then he drained another 3 later in the game.
That could unlock a whole new level of versatility for Tomlin. His one weakness all season has been an inability to make shots from the perimeter. Defenders will have to respect every part of his game if he continues to knock down 3s.
K-State gives pair of highlights on assists
Most of the time when you think about basketball highlights that are worthy of “Sportscenter” you think of high flying dunks and deep 3-pointers. The Wildcats provided their fans with plenty of those on Wednesday, but they also gave them a pair of different jaw-dropping plays.
They were both assists, and they both happened in the final minute of the first half while the Wildcats were going on a 9-0 run and taking control of the game.
Desi Sills was the first K-State guard to wow the home crowd when he sent a behind-the-back pass to Johnson on the wing for a wide open attempt from 3-point range. Johnson calmly collected the pass and then drained the shot.
A few moments later, Nowell found himself leading a fast break and decided to try and one-up his teammate. When he spotted David N’Guessan trailing him on the play he sent a between-the-legs pass to the forward that no one but N’Guessan expected. He took the pass in stride and threw down an emphatic dunk that gave his team a 34-25 lead at halftime.
That was an important sequence, because Oklahoma led for much of the first half and it looked for a while like K-State might have trouble against the Sooners. But the game was never in doubt after those two thrilling assists that led to five points.
You get a dunk! You get a dunk!
To say that K-State scored with ease at the rim against Oklahoma would be an understatement.
The Wildcats attacked the basket with reckless abandon and finished the game with a whopping seven dunks.
Sills goes out with a bang
Turns out, Sills is more than just a sixth man for the Wildcats.
The senior guard did a little bit of everything for K-State on his way to 15 points, nine rebounds and eight assists on Wednesday. He also had a crowd-pleasing block against Otega Oweh that made him look like a center. On the play, Oweh had broken away from his teammates to try and hit a layup in transition, but Sills refused to let that happen by leaping high into the air and swatting the ball away with one hand.
It wasn’t the first time Sills has come through with an impressive blocked shot. It is becoming one his best skills.
Later, he had a sensational behind-the-back pass to Johnson and a fast-break dunk.
The Wildcats haven’t lost since Tang inserted Sills into the starting lineup. He has been a difference-maker of late, and he was once again in this game.
Wildcats get revenge
Oklahoma made K-State look bad a few weeks ago when coach Porter Moser’s team whipped the Wildcats, 79-65, at Lloyd Noble Center. But K-State got revenge in the rematch.
That has become a regular occurrence for Tang. It is difficult to beat the Wildcats under any circumstances, but it is much harder to beat them twice in a season.
The Wildcats have defeated all of the other nine teams in the Big 12 at least once this season and they pulled off sweeps against Baylor and Oklahoma State. They can go for one more against West Virginia in the regular-season finale on Saturday.
But no team in the conference was able to sweep the Wildcats. That is always a good a sign.
