Rapid recap: Cam Carter becoming a weapon for Kansas State

Kansas State injury report

Kansas State has had three players not be available already this season. Nae’Qwan Tomlin was suspended, Ques Glover is out six to eight weeks with a knee injury and Arthur Kaluma was not dressed in the 91-68 win over South Dakota State.

According to K-State head coach Jerome Tang, Kaluma has a knee injury that just needed a little bit of rest. It was bothering him and he was unable to practice Sunday. Because he was not able to practice, Kaluma was not able to play against the Jackrabbits.

Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports did announce that Kaluma is expected to play versus Providence on Friday. The Friars are off to a hot start after annihilating Wisconsin on Tuesday.

Kansas State's Arthur Kaluma (knee) is expected to play in Friday's game against Providence in the Bahamas, per Jerome Tang.

DNP last night against South Dakota State.

Averages 9 PPG and 8 RPG.

Nae'Qwan Tomlin remains indefinitely suspended with no timetable for a return.

— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) November 14, 2023

Improving

After the loss to USC, Tang was very open about how poorly Kansas State played. He said his team only played about four good minutes in Las Vegas. After the win against Bellarmine Friday, Tang said K-State only played eight good minutes.

In the win over South Dakota State, the Kansas State head coach shared that his team played 15 good minutes in the first half. The first 20 minutes the Wildcats were playing good defense and getting paint touches and knocking down shots.

However, in the second half, Tang thought his team got caught watching the scoreboard and only played about six to eight good minutes.

K-State freshman breaks out

Monday was the second big game for a Wildcat freshman as well. Dai Dai Ames had his moment in the win over Bellarmine Friday and on Monday it was time for RJ Jones to make his splash. The Texas native had 14 points, including going 4 of 5 from three-point range in the victory.

Tang knows Jones can get buckets and make big shots, but what he was more impressed with was Jones’ chase down block in the first half. K-State has worked with the freshman on not getting pushed around and being tougher in some situations and the block was that work paying off.

Cam’s role

Cam Carter continues to be on a roll to start the season.

The Kansas State guard had a career high 25 points in the win over the Jackrabbits and shot 50 percent from the floor. Carter was also tasked with guarding South Dakota State’s best player and Summit League Preseason Player of the Year Zeke Mayo as well and limited him to just 11 points on 13 shots.

Mayo also had five turnovers for the game.

Like with Jones, Tang was more impressed with the Louisiana native’s defense.

K-State needs Carter to be a weapon on both ends of the floor. Against South Dakota State he bought into the role of being a two-way player. Tang also went as far as to say Carter can be one of the best two-way players in America.