MANHATTAN — Keyontae Johnson wasn’t going to let the fact that he was facing his former team in the Big 12/SEC Challenge on Saturday keep him from playing his game.
Johnson and the No. 5 Kansas State men’s basketball team (18-3; 7-2) cruised by Florida at home with a 64-50 final. The senior guard accounted for 13 points and 11 rebounds and the Wildcats took care of the Gators in a game in which they never trailed.
“Today was amazing. It was a special day seeing old teammates. And fun to be out there playing against them,” said Johnson. “I felt like it was a great experience and glad the Big 12 and SEC have their games going on and we played Florida. I just really appreciate it.”
Markquis Nowell was on pace for the first ever triple-double in Kansas State history in the first half but came up short while still finishing with 13 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.
The Wildcats began the night by streaking out to a 5-0 lead when David N’Guessan banked in a layup to give his team an early five point advantage. Cam Carter then stretched the lead to 11-3 a few minutes later when he rolled in a layup.
Carter was solid in the first half for Kansas State, nailing a three to stretch the lead to nine points, 15-6. Carter scored seven points in the first seven minutes of the game.
Midway through the first half, N’Guessan dropped in a layup to extend the Kansas State lead to double digits, 19-8. N’Guessan slammed home a monster dunk only a minute later on a fast break as part of a nine-point first half for the junior.
“His (N’Guessan) energy was great. There’s not a lot of guys who are as fast or quick as him at the positions he can play,” said Kansas State head coach Jerome Tang. “Defensively, he covers a lot of mistakes so that really helps.”
Florida responded in the first half mainly behind Myreon Jones who knocked down a three with five minutes left before the half to bring the Kansas State lead down to 10 points, 26-16.
Jones scored nine points in the first half alone including a pair of three’s for Florida.
A Johnson layup and a Nowell three in the final three minutes of the first half stretched the Wildcat advantage to 21 points at halftime, 37-16.
Florida began the second half on an 8-0 run led by Will Richard’s six points inside the perimeter.
When Riley Kugel banked in a layup with 13 minutes left in regulation to bring the Gators within 11, it would be the closest Kansas State would allow them to get the rest of the night.
“I was proud of our guys. We locked in,” Tang said. “We needed to improve our rebounding and I thought we did that. Part of that was the scheme and part of that was David (N’Guessan) playing.”
The Wildcats out-rebounded the Gators overall, 49-36.
