Fans of Kansas State basketball — and those following other Big 12 squads — have long known about Markquis Nowell, the undersized (more on that in a second) point guard who has taken a major leap in his second season with the Wildcats.
One of two holdovers from the Bruce Weber era, Nowell is a prolific set-up man, a 3-point shooter with limitless range and a pesky defender, averaging better than two steals per game in each of the last four seasons, including a career-best 2.4 per game in 2022-23.
If the national audience wasn’t especially familiar with Nowell, that changed when he delivered 27 points, nine assists and three steals to take down No. 6 seed Kentucky. The Lexington-based Cats were actually favored to defeat the No. 3-seeded Big 12 squad, but it was the 5-8, 160-pound Nowell who got the last laugh over 6-9, 260-pound Oscar Tshiebwe and company.
