Kansas State got one final bitter taste of life on the road in the Big 12 Saturday afternoon, ending the 2022-23 regular season with a 89-81 loss at West Virginia.
The 11th-ranked Wildcats were without senior guard Desi Sills, who did not travel with the team because of a family funeral.
“Defensively, ball-handling, being able to run certain things,” said head coach Jerome Tang about the impact of Sills not playing. “Last few games or so, we had gotten into a really good rotation of subbing and things that we thought we’d be effective with both on the offensive end, and this just changed everything. It was a good learning experience, though. Some things happened out there that haven’t happened during the last five games that are things we can address and be ready and more prepared for the next time. He’ll be back for the Big 12 Tournament.”
K-State (23-8, 11-7 in Big 12 play) excelled from long range, going 12-of-28 from 3, including 9-of-20 in the second half, but only 10 of the Wildcats’ 46 second-half points came from inside the 3-point line.
West Virginia (18-13, 7-11), meanwhile, shot 51% from the field and was 22-of-25 from the free throw line while K-State shot 45% and 9-of-12 from the stripe.
Keyontae Johnson and Markquis Nowell ended the day with 24 points. Johnson picked up most of his in the first half and ended the day with four 3-pointers while Nowell was shutout of the first half but caught fire in the second, going 7-of-17 including 6-of-11 from behind the arc.
Cam Carter also chipped in 13 points.
The game was sloppy on both sides throughout the first half as the teams combined for 24 turnovers, 12 each. K-State ended the game with 20 total turnovers.
“Live ball turnovers — there’s not any defense for that,” Tang said. “In (West Virginia’s) home wins, they’ve made 23 free throws, and tonight they made 22. There’s no defense at the free throw line. When (West Virginia fifth-year senior guard Erik) Stevenson decides he’s going to rise up over the top of you and drill shots the way he was, it makes it hard.”
The Wildcats shot out to a quick 8-0 lead to start the game before West Virginia got on the board with 3-pointer from Kedrian Johnson.
Johnson was one of three Mountaineers to score 20 points Saturday afternoon, led by Stevenson who had 27 points on 11-of-22 shooting with five 3s.
Johnson had 23 points and Emmitt Matthews Jr. had 20.
Three K-State turnovers powered a 11-2 West Virginia run, giving the Mountaineers their first lead of the game, 14-13.
The Wildcats responded right back, outscoring the Mountaineers 13-2 over the next five minutes to push their lead to double digits. Keyontae Johnson had seven points in that run and had 16 points overall in the opening 20 minutes.
Just when it felt like K-State had taken control, West Virginia regrouped and fought its way back into the lead, holding the Wildcats to just one bucket over the next four minutes to take a 33-31 run after a 15-3 spurt.
The Wildcats went into the second half trailing 38-37.
It took Johnson nearly 10 minutes into the second half to get his first bucket, but it was a big one, a wide-open corner 3-pointer to get within five.
One possession later, he hit a catch-and-shoot 3 from the left shoulder to cut the West Virginia lead to four, 61-57. Nowell got a steal on West Virginia’s next and looked to have an easy layup, but his shot was blocked in what appeared to be a goaltending. However, officials did not call it.
Instead of a potential two-point game, the Mountaineers responded on the next possession with a 3-pointer from Stevenson, ballooning their lead to 10 points at the 8:49 mark.
From there, the Mountaineers kept full control, leading by as much as 15 down the stretch.
“I always tell the team, where we want to go, we call that (the) place the fire,” Tang said. “Everybody wants the trophy and the confetti to fall, but you have to think, what does it look like 20 minutes before the trophy ceremony and the confetti falls. That’s a place of fire. It’s chaotic. The crowd is going crazy. You have to try and communicate. It’s a tough situation to be in, and you have to be able to be calm in those tough situations. ”
With the loss, the Wildcats are now the No. 3 seed in the Big 12 Tournament. They will play No. 6 TCU, whom they split with during the regular season. Tip-off is set for Thursday at 8:30 p.m. at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City. The game will be televised on ESPN or ESPN2.
