Kansas State Overcomes Ugly Offense with Stellar Defense in Win Over Cincinnati

KANSAS STATE ON-COURT OBSERVATIONS

Calling that ugly offensive basketball is probably pretty generous. Kansas State was still stuck on seven points, still in the game versus Cincinnati, more than halfway through the game’s first 20 minutes. The first half set basketball back quite a bit.

However, winning will never be ugly, in my opinion. Because the alternative is losing.

But hats off to the K-State defense. It was on the verge of being the worst Wildcat defense in the last 25 years. Instead, they are now top 40 in the nation in that category thanks to a splendid finish in that phase. And it really turned when Dug McDaniel committed to that end of the floor.

If not for a wretched non-conference performance, the Wildcats would probably be dancing. While you want to be playing your best basketball in March, it also doesn’t mean to be awful in November and December. You simply can’t get blown out at home by LSU or against Wichita State at Koch Arena.

Kansas State was 3 of 18 from the three-point line, and somehow the Bearcats were worse. And the Wildcats deserve credit for some of that. Though McDaniel is much better and dedicated to guarding, Brendan Hausen has also improved mightily in that department and Max Jones is as tough as nails.

And while David N’Guessan and Coleman Hawkins aren’t going to necessarily defend the rim, their versatility and ability to guard multiple spots on the floor gives the Wildcat coaching staff a lot of options when putting together a game plan.

I’d talk about offense, but we all know it was brutal, and K-State still won 54-49.

FANALYSIS

Kansas State has now played three games that came down to the last few minutes against Cincinnati, and after losing on a last second shot last year, the Wildcats swept the Bearcats this year. It was an ugly, grinder type game on the road, but K-State made plays in the second half to win it.

Kansas State fell behind by eight with just under six minutes left in the first half but fought back to tie it and then trailed by only three at the break. The Wildcats then trailed by seven with less than 15 minutes left before a 16-4 run put K-State up by five.

Cincinnati cut the lead to one, but Kansas State led the rest of the way and the defense held off the Bearcats for a five-point win. The Wildcats held the Bearcats to four points over the final 6:21 after Cincinnati cut the lead to a single point.

Cincinnati’s keys to winning this season were inside the arc, from the free throw line and off turnovers.

K-State had a narrow edge on twos, making 19 of 36 (52.8 percent) compared to 19 of 39 (48.7 percent). They also made 7 of 10 (70.0 percent) from the free throw line compared to 5 of 11 (45.5 percent) for Cincinnati. Finally, Kansas State did lose turnover rate 19.2 percent to 16.0 percent, but the Wildcats were able to win points off turnovers 17-12. 

Both teams struggled from the three-point line, but K-State made 3 of 18 (16.7 percent) compared to only 2 of 18 (11.1 percent) for the Bearcats. At the end of the game Kansas State had it’s best defensive efficiency of 0.78, which was also Cincinnati’s second worst offensive efficiency this season.

The Bearcats also had their third worst turnover rate this season. 

N’Guessan continues to rebound from a few subpar games with another excellent performance. We’ll take 18 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, two steals, 80 percent from two-point range and an efficiency of 1.44. The senior has been the best player for K-State all season.

McDaniel continued to struggle on twos, making only 36.4 percent, but he scored 13 points with four assists and two steals. His defense was very good on Jizzle James and Day Day Thomas, a pair of guards playing as well as anyone over the last eight games.

Hawkins made his return, and though he had six turnovers and only made 4 of 10 from the field, he contributed nine points, eight rebounds and three assists. He showed much better than his 0.60 efficiency in this one.

Max Jones had an efficiency of 0.97 thanks to only 1 of 6 on threes, but he made 75 percent of his twos and had seven rebounds with his nine points.