MANHATTAN — The Kansas State Wildcats knew if they were going to gut out a slim victory over Wichita State on Saturday night, they would have to hit more shots in the second half.
The Wildcats turned to one of their men of the night, Markquis Nowell, to make the final shot and he delivered with a three-point jumper from the top of the arc with less than a minute left in the game. Nowell finished his night scoring 11 points.
“I was happy to see one go in first and foremost,” said Nowell. “They left me open. And I just felt that it was a rhythm, that I should take it and then it went in. But I feel like our team really locked in the last seven minutes of the game. We got some key rebounds, got some key stops, and that’s what really helped us get this victory.”
The Wildcats scored first and led in the opening minutes before the Shockers began to hit more shots and take advantage of their possessions. Nae’Qwan Tomlin knocked down a three-pointer and layup before David N’Guessan dunked a score for an early 6-0 advantage.
Wichita State then went on an 11-0 run highlighted by Xavier Bell’s five points off a three-pointer and a layup.
Tomlin hit a three-pointer with 12 minutes remaining in the first half and gave his Wildcats a one-point lead but Wichita State would answer immediately with a Jaykwon Walton three-pointer.
“The shots are gonna go in at some point in time,” said KSU head coach Jerome Tang. “If we kept defending and we kept attacking the paint, I thought every time we got to the paint something good would happen, and we didn’t need to settle for shots. I know they will open shots, but that’s exactly what they wanted us to do.”
Shocker James Rojas stretched the Kansas State deficit to seven points with six minutes left in the first half on a breakaway slam dunk.
Tomlin and Johnson scored 11 and nine points in the first half, respectively. A Tomlink dunk and a Johnson two-point jumper kept the Wildcat deficit to three points in the final minutes of the first half.
Wichita State led Kansas State at halftime, 32-29.
It was a low-scoring affair. Kansas State got a two-pointer from N’Guessan a couple minutes into the half. The Wildcats then went on a five minute-plus scoring drought until Johnson nailed a two-point jumper to bring Kansas State within four points, 40-36.
Cam Carter knocked down a three-pointer for Kansas State halfway through the second half before Johnson scored a two-point jumper and a layup with seven minutes left in the game to bring the deficit within three points.
Kansas State regained the lead back with five minutes remaining in the game. The go-ahead basket was a layup delivered off Tomlin’s fingers to take a 47-45 advantage.
The Wildcats defense also held the Shockers to an impressive 18 points in the second, 14 points fewer than they allowed in the first half, 32 points.
“We were deeply inspired by our football team’s defensive stand on the goal line and decided we want to make this a defensive game, and don’t worry about making shots tonight,” said Tang. “I thought our guys in the second half did a really good job of guarding and rebounding. I think I need to have Will Howard come in and let them know they have some offense.”
