KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Bruce Weber era came to an end with a whimper for the Kansas State men’s basketball team.
At least that is how things felt in the immediate aftermath of the Wildcats’ 73-67 loss against West Virginia in the opening game of the Big 12 tournament on Wednesday at T-Mobile Center.
It is more or less a forgone conclusion that K-State will part ways with Weber in the upcoming days. It is just a matter of how and when it happens. If this is indeed the end, Weber’s 10-year tenure with the Wildcats comes to a close with a 184-147 overall record.
There were some remarkable highs and lows along the way.
His most impressive achievements include five NCAA Tournament appearances, two shared Big 12 championships and one run to the Elite Eight. The lows, which have become too frequent of late, include four losing seasons. K-State has not posted a winning record or advanced to the postseason since 2019.
K-State (14-17) had its best team since this season. The trio of Nijel Pack, Markquis Nowell and Mark Smith were good enough to earn all-conference honors and to help the Wildcats start 14-11, but they weren’t able to close out many tight games and ended the year with six straight losses.
This defeat was a microcosm of the season in many ways.
The Wildcats tied things up at 55-55 with 9:12 to play when Nowell drained a 3-pointer from the corner. The purple-clad fans on hand made T-Mobile Center sound like Bramlage Coliseum East.
But the Mountaineers made important plays when it mattered most and pulled away for the victory.
K-State’s season comes to an end with the loss. West Virginia (16-16) will play top seed Kansas at 2 p.m. Thursday in the Big 12 quarterfinals.
Here are some key takeaways from the game:
Nobody made the big shot
It would have been interesting to see how this game might have turned out had K-State made an occasional momentum-shifting shot.
The Wildcats simply couldn’t seem to make the shot that would really allowed them to take control, like an open 3 from Mike McGuirl that could have put them up four in the first or a transition attempt from Mark Smith that would have tied the game early in the second or a shot from Nijel Pack that could have given them the lead in the final minutes.
McGuirl missed all five of his shots from 3-point range, Pack wasn’t quite as sharp as he was during the regular season and Mark Smith couldn’t swing the game K-State’s way either.
West Virginia made a clutch 8-0 run with the game on the line. That was the type of offense K-State couldn’t duplicate.
Markquis Nowell returns
Nowell returned to the lineup after missing the final two games of the regular season with a hamstring injury.
He made an impact for the Wildcats, but he clearly wasn’t himself. Not in the early going anyway.
The junior transfer from Arkansas-Little Rock finished with eight points and four assists, but he was held scoreless in the first half and failed to make a big difference on the defensive end.
He was more of a factor in the second half after he warmed up. Nowell once again proved his value to the Wildcats. He has missed four games this season, and K-State lost all four of them. Their chances of beating West Virginia without him seemed small, but he gave them a chance.
The Wildcats were 14-13 with him on the floor this year. It makes you wonder if they would still have a shot at a postseason berth had he played in every game.
Ismael Massoud steps up down low
There was no mystery about who Weber wanted to play at the five spot in this game.
Ismael Massoud started at center and rarely left the court. He played 35 minutes.
The sophomore kept K-State in the game by scoring 13 points in the first half. He went 3 from 3 from beyond the arc. But he was unable to score in the second half.
