Kansas State basketball glad to have Desi Sills back for Big 12 Tournament opener with TCU

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — When Desi Sills missed Kansas State's regular-season finale Saturday at West Virginia, it revealed two different things about his importance to the Wildcats.

First of all, they clearly missed his presence on the court in an 89-81 loss to the Mountaineers. It was their first setback in five games since Sills became a starter after serving as sixth man most of the season.

But what stood out to Tang, was the outpouring of love that his teammates showed for Sills, who missed the game to attend his cousin's funeral.

"It's a tough situation for him, and I thought one of the coolest things, we apparently have multiple group chats on our team, and apparently, there's quite a few of them that I'm not involved in," Tang said Monday. "But Jareem (Dowling, assistant coach) told me, he said, 'Coach, you should have seen after the game how the guys were texting with Desi, and he was texting back to them.'

"How much they love him and missed him and he's saying how much he loved them and missed them, and couldn't wait to be back. Just to be around people who are going to continue to love and care about him and stuff. So I'm excited to get him back. Obviously it's a tough situation but think being in this environment can be good for him."

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Sills will be back in the lineup at 8:30 p.m. Thursday when third-seeded K-State (23-8) takes on No. 6 seed TCU in a Big 12 Tournament quarterfinal game at T-Mobile Center.

Sills learned about his cousin's death right after pregame warmups for his first start, a 61-55 victory over Iowa State that started a four-game K-State winning streak. Tang was doing a radio interview when he got a text to see his senior guard in the locker room.

"His cousin passes away, and so we were at that moment going to get him in a vehicle and on a flight back home if he needed to," Tang said. "(But) his grandma and mom said it's best for him to stay here."

Desi Sills a 'winner' persevering and excelling with K-State

Any time Tang discusses Sills, a 6-foot-2 super-senior guard from Jonesboro, Arkansas, the first word he uses is winner. From his days leading Jonesboro High School to two state championships, through college stops at Arkansas for three years and Arkansas State last season, Sills' teams have never had a losing record.

It showed again following his cousin's death, when Sills not only persevered, but also excelled in victories over Baylor, at Oklahoma State and then at home on senior night against Oklahoma.

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"He played three games from that point, and I think three of his best games," Tang said. "So when you talk about how his being a winner and his toughness manifest on the team, we're talking about three really big games that we won, that he played great in and was able to set aside what was going on in his personal life to perform on the court, because he loved his teammates and they loved him."

Even though he didn't start the first 26 games, Sills ranked third on the team in playing time, averaging 29 minutes, and currently is fourth in scoring at 8.5 points, fourth in rebounding (3.6) and second in assists (2.4). In his last game, against Oklahoma, he flirted with a triple double, scoring 15 points with nine rebounds and eight assists.

"We missed Desi a lot," point guard Markquis Nowell said. "He brings that energy and that passion and that maturity to the team that we need.

"We definitely missed him being out there with us."

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: K-State basketball's Desi Sills is back for Big 12 Tournament vs. TCU