Injury and all, Markquis Nowell simply willed Kansas State basketball to epic overtime win
NEW YORK — Kansas State fans weren't the only ones holding their collective breath when Markquis Nowell crumbled to the floor with 15 1/2 minutes left in the second half of the Wildcats' epic NCAA Tournament battle with Michigan State.
His K-State teammates were stunned as well, watching their vocal and emotional leader writhing in pain after rolling his right ankle on a fearless drive to the basket. But the Wildcat players also kept their cool while trainers wrapped the ankle, soon convinced that Nowell wasn't done yet.
"The whole team was worried," forward Nae'Qwan Tomlin said. "But at the end of the day, coach has us focus on the next thing. We can't focus on him being down.
"We have a whole game in front of us, and so we had that mindset of next guy up."
Turns out that the next guy up was Nowell, their fiery 5-foot-8 point guard, who bounced off the bench at the 13:11 mark. He soon had the Wildcats back on track and on their way to a classic 98-93 overtime victory in the East Regional semifinal.
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K-State's Markquis Nowell breaks tournament record with 19 assists
Nowell, who arguably has been the best player in the tournament through the first three rounds, not only scored 20 points in willing K-State to victory, but he also broke the single-game record with 19 assists. Oh yes, and he also had five steals, including one in the closing seconds of overtime to seal the victory.
"I just wanted to do it for my teammates," said Nowell, who through three tournament games is averaging 21.3 points, 14 assists and 3.7 steals. "I love being out there with these guys, and I wasn't going to let a little injury like this that happens on the basketball court all the time stop me from playing in the Sweet 16 and advancing to the Elite Eight."
Not only did Nowell will the Wildcats to victory in what will go down as an instant classic, but he also did it in his hometown. Nowell, who grew up in Harlem, now has K-State within one game of the school's first Final Four since 1964.
Next up, at 5:09 p.m. Saturday, is Florida Atlantic (34-3), the tournament's Cinderella team, which advanced as the East's No. 9 seed with a 62-55 upset of No. 4 Tennessee. K-State came into the regional semifinals as the highest remaining seed at No. 3.
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When Nowell left the game with his injury, K-State was up, 50-46, but Michigan State was charging. He came back just as the Spartans' A.J. Hoggard completed a three-point play that capped a 17-5 run to give them a 55-52 advantage.
Nowell quickly made his presence felt on the next possession. When with the shot clock near zero, he banked in an off-balance 3-pointer to tie it back up.
Point guard leads Kansas State to win in overtime
After the teams went to overtime tied at 82-82, Nowell still had enough left in his tank to help fuel a 16-11 finish, with K-State scoring eight of the game's last nine points.
With 56.2 seconds left and the game even at 92, Nowell found Keyontae Johnson on a well-timed lob that Johnson finished with a reverse overhead dunk. After Michigan State hit one of two free throws to pull within one, it was Nowell who inbounded under the basket with 4.7 seconds on the shot clock and found Ismael Massoud for an open jumper that made it 96-93 at the 17-second mark.
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And then, as Michigan State desperately looked for a 3-pointer to tie the game, Nowell came up with a steal, took it coast-to-coast for the layup, and the celebration was on.
When asked if there was any doubt Nowell would return to the game after the injury, teammate David N'Guessan scoffed at the notion.
"No, he's a dog," N'Guessan said. "We stayed calm, trusting the process, and finished strong."
Johnson, who led the Wildcats with 22 points, said seeing Nowell back in the game was all the inspiration the team needed to finish.
"It means a lot," Johnson said. "He's our starting point guard. His IQ, his feel for the game, he brings everybody confidence, and when he came back, I felt like — everybody saw how he was trying to fight through his injury, and we just wanted to fight back for him."
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Markquis Nowell proves first-year coach's faith in him
First-year K-State coach Jerome Tang saw last year, as an assistant at Baylor, what kind of fighter Nowell was. It's one reason he went all out in trying to convince him to stay. Nowell and Massoud were the only players that remained from last year's roster.
"When I was at Baylor and I watched film of him, it told us that pound for pound, he was the toughest kid in the Big 12," Tang said. "And I knew what I got.
"I had to keep that dude here. And the crazy thing is I didn't have to figure out how to keep him here. He was saying and he was trying to figure out how to get me here. He's incredible."
Arne Green is based in Salina and covers Kansas State University sports for the Gannett network. He can be reached at agreen@gannett.com or on Twitter at @arnegreen.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas State basketball in NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 vs. Michigan State
