Pistons legend Isiah Thomas took a moment to congratulate Kansas State guard Markquis Nowell with the perfect message following his incredible performance in the Wildcats’ win against the Spartans in a Sweet 16 matchup on Thursday.
Nowell recorded 20 points and broke the men’s NCAA tournament single-game assist record with 19 in the game that included an astonishing dish on an alley-oop to Keyontae Johnson in overtime. However, ahead of finding Johnson for the iconic dunk, Nowell was talking trash on the court—much like Thomas did during his playing days in Detroit—turning to fans in the crowd that included Thomas and Spartans’ legend Mateen Cleaves, saying “watch this” and that MSU was not going to win.
On Friday, the Naismith Hall of Famer responded to Nowell’s banter and posted a video with a great message for the Wildcats’ guard.
“[Markquis] Nowell, you turned it out last night,” Thomas said in the video. “I just wanted to say congratulations to you… You put on a show. You did your thing. Everybody was excited and I just want to tell you one more thing... watch this.”
No. 3 Kansas State will now face No. 9 Florida Atlantic in the Elite Eight on Saturday with a chance to punch their ticket to the Final Four in Houston.
