Kansas State basketball cruises past Kansas City, 69-53: Three takeaways

MANHATTAN — Kansas State used another big first half to set the tone Thursday night and cruised to a 69-53 victory over Kansas City at Bramlage Coliseum.

The Wildcats, who improved to 3-0, led 41-25 at halftime and were up by as many as 20 early in the second half before Kansas City rallied to pull within 10. K-State regained control down the stretch behind a scoring barrage from guard Desi Sills, who had 10 points after the break.

Keyontae Johnson led the Wildcats with 19 points, seven rebounds and six assists, Cam Carter a career high 16 points, with Sills 11 points. Markquis Nowell added nine points, six assists and three steals, with Nae'Qwan Tomlin also scoring nine to go with seven rebounds and three steals.

Shemarri Allen led all scorers with 21 points for UMKC (1-4). Anderson Kopp added 13 points.

Here are three takeaways from a relatively drama-free K-State victory over Kansas City:

Cam Carter joins the party on offense

Johnson, Nowell and Tomlin had done the bulk of the scoring through K-State's first two games, but against Kansas City, sophomore guard Carter was the one who provided the early spark.

Carter, who scored a total of 10 points in victories Texas-Rio Grande Valley and California, had more than doubled that by halftime against Kansas City with 14 at the break, thanks to four 3-pointers.

After the Wildcats missed six of their first threes, Carter went to work, knocking down four over the final 11:20 of the period. As a team, K-State recovered from the slow start to hit 7 of 16 from beyond the arc.

Kansas City, which missed its first six from 3, got two in the last three minutes of the half from Kopp.

Johnson, the Wildcats' season scoring leader, knocked down two 3-pointers in the period — Nowell had the other — and finished the half with 11 points.

K-State's defense holds Roos in check early

Kansas City didn't help its own cause on offense with less-than-stellar shooting in the first half, but K-State's defense had something to do with that.

The Roos shot 37.9% in the first half, including two of nine from 3-point range. The Wildcats also forced 11 turnovers before intermission.

Kansas City picked up the pace significantly in the second half, hitting six of its first eight shots to briefly cut the K-State lead to 10 points before the Wildcats regrouped. The Roos shot 40.8% for the game, but again did themselves no favors with another 11 turnovers in the second period to finish with 22.

K-State was far from perfect, especially in the second half. The Wildcats shot 35% in the period and missed all four of their 3-point attempts. They had 14 turnovers for the game.

Wildcats head to the islands unbeaten

Kansas State take a perfect 3-0 record into next week's Cayman Islands Classic.

The Wildcats will play three games in as many days, starting with a 6:30 p.m. first-r ounder against Rhode Island on Monday. Depending on how that comes out, they'll face either Nevada or Tulane on Tuesday at either 4or 6:30 p.m., with the final round on Friday.

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 knocks off Kansas City 69-53