Meeting with new head football coach Colin Klein proved to be the highlight of Bramlage’s afternoon as Kansas State (5-4) lost its fourth straight game and its second straight inside the Octagon, falling 78-67 to the Seton Hall Buccaneers (9-1). K-State entered the game as a 2.5-point favorite but created another bed-soiling situation.
I’m sorry that we had to fall from such a great height and be kicked hard by reality.
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Kansas State came out with more firepower than the previous game (don’t step on the crossbar), firing up the crowd with a backdoor alley-oop set-piece from Nate Johnson and taking the lead 2-0. Kentucky State would never lead again down the stretch. Poor perimeter defense allowed Seton Hall to knock down a few three-pointers early on to seize the lead. Kansas State’s Dorin Buca, who averaged 10 minutes per game against Bowling Green, did not play. He came off the bench at halftime and provided a heroic spark, adding four points, four rebounds and two assists, shutting out the Buccaneers at the rim on multiple occasions. The Cats even tied the game at 26 before Seton Hall went on an 8-0 run (with Buca out) to regain the lead 35-29 at halftime.
After halftime, only one team advanced – and it wasn’t the White and Purple teams. Seton Hall led by six points, 44-31, and a 13-point lead before head coach Jerome Tang called an emergency timeout to stem the bleeding. Seton Hall continued to hold the Cats back, causing Don to eventually get emotional and pick up a T on a no-call, and P.J. Haggerty looked to get tripped on his drive to the basket (honestly, the contact wasn’t a foul; Haggerty tripped over his own feet). Hagerty then caught two quick individuals on an absolute garbage call in front of Don on a sideways play at Seton Hall, and it was unbelievable how Don managed not to get kicked out. Technical free throws extended the Buccaneers’ lead to 16 points before Kansas State pulled within nine points, 51-42. It didn’t take long for the Cats to make multiple comebacks, allowing Seton Hall to extend its lead to 16 points, 60-44. Another nice little run cut Kentucky State’s lead to eight points, but Seton Hall extended the lead to 17 before the 4-under media timeout. After the timeout, it was clear that the only thing in question was the final margin, which ended at 78-67 after a late flurry from the Cats.
All five Kansas State starters scored in double figures, led by Khamari McGriff who had 12 points, eight rebounds and three blocks. Hagerty scored 11 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists, somehow only 6 turnovers. Buca had a solid game; although he only had 5 points, he had 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 blocks, and as mentioned before, his presence in the paint stopped some of Seton Hall’s offense.
The Buccaneers’ AJ Staton-McCray finished with 16 points (albeit on 3-for-15 shooting), five rebounds, four assists and three steals.
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three keys
1) Defense? Elective.
Start watching from 3? Check. Overplaying the passing lane and giving up an easy shot? Check. Allow coast-to-coast layups when your “defense” is more or less back to normal? Check.
If this is the best the defense can come up with, this team will get burned in conference play. That being said, the defense is perhaps Just enough to win this game.
2) Attack? attack.
Turnover? Check. brick? Check. No actual offensive flow? Check. The Best Shooters In America™ shot 6-30 from three (3-26 in the first 38 minutes) and 23-62 overall (an impressive 37% from the field) and got off to a great start in their new facility on campus, with all the bricks coming from the stripes (15-35, 43% from the field). It all comes down to offensive execution.
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This team looks lost offensively right now – much like the teams that mired in offensive ineptitude late in the Bruce Weber era. They don’t move well, or more accurately, they don’t move in a way that puts the defense out of position. The result is a lack of open shots. when we able Finding open shots, we’ve been really trying to make shots. The result is a death spiral in confidence that trickles down to free throw shooting.
Even if the defense improves, if we don’t score the ball more efficiently, mediocre teams in the Big 12 will beat us easily.
3) Hagerty? Clearly average.
3-12 from the field today, 11 points. 5-12 Offline. There’s no denying that his usual defense was terrible today. It all happened against Bowling Green, going 6-19 from the field and 4-9 from the free throw line. Division I scorers are struggling.
He was lying on the floor looking depressed. He looked frustrated on the bench. Over the past few games, he’s been increasingly having trouble shooting, and when he does, the shot attempts go from difficult to requiring divine intervention. He would stand up and beg for a call almost every time.
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I don’t know if there’s an injury or something, but if this is how our best scorer handles adversity and hardship, it’s going to be a very long season for him. For us.
The old man shouted to the cloud:
It was only a matter of time before this question came up: College basketball referees are impartial. so. Bad.
There are a lot of missed calls in our game. foul. Goal. travel. so much. As I sit here watching the CU/CSU game, a late call came in that the ball came out of CU on the rebound. The referees came together and changed the call against the CSU player. CSU’s challenge – video review showed the ball slipped from a CSU player’s fingers – however, the referees turned the decision back to CU. all the timewhat is not reviewable is that a CU player fouled a CSU player in the process – and That’s what a phone is supposed to do.
All of us – fans, players, coaches, program – are hamstrung by the Zebras’ incompetence, especially in close games. I sit here wondering why I care about the outcome of a game so often marred by mediocrity.
Colorado State won. Screw CU.
Next
Mississippi Valley State enters the Octagon on Monday, December 8th. Can the cats come up with something? I’m not holding my breath right now.
