K-State’s Ismael Massoud delivered the shot of his life vs. Kentucky in NCAA Tournament

Blair Kerkhoff
·3 min read
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It was all Ismael Massoud could do to contain himself after hitting what he called the biggest shot of his career

“I’m not going to lie, I had to suppress some emotion,” Massoud said. “In that moment, it hit me a little bit but I had to stay focused on the game.”

The deep three-pointer with 2:21 remaining gave Kansas State a two-point lead over Kentucky, and K-State didn’t trail again in the NCAA Tournament second-round game.

Massoud’s splash, quickly followed by a Keyontae Johnson step-back three, started an 8-0 run that created the separation in Kansas State’s 75-69 triumph that sends the Wildcats to an East Region Sweet 16 game in New York on Thursday.

Massoud doesn’t start and he’s not the team’s top three-point shooter. But he’s a good one at 39% and has made enough to earn such nicknames as “Swish-Ish,” and “Big 12 Ish.”

The Big 12 reference refers to his increased success in league play, when he made 41% from deep. Massoud, a 6-foot-9 forward, delivered one of the biggest baskets of the game with a three-pointer late in an overtime victory at Baylor.

“This one tops any other one,” Massoud said.

Kansas State had struggled from deep most of the game. The Cats missed all 12 of their three-point attempts in the first half and ran the streak to 13 before Markquis Nowell buried a corner triple to help blunt Kentucky’s early second-half momentum.

Nowell was the only K-State player with a made three when Massoud rose up for a shot taken just a step from his bench.

“I had confidence he was going to knock it down,” Johnson said. “He’s shown before he could do it. I’m grateful he got the moment and embraced it.”

After the basket made it 64-62, Kentucky got a good look, a corner jumper by Chris Livingston that skipped across the rim. Kansas State’s David N’guessan grabbed the rebound.

Then it was Johnson’s turn. Also from in front the K-State bench, Johnson stepped back to make sure both feet were behind the three-point circle, and launched.

“It’s a shot I always work on, and I trust my work,” Johnson said. “I knew it was going in.”

The lead was now 67-62 with 80 seconds remaining, and with the best guard on the floor, Nowell, running the show the game was in good hands. Nowell finished with 27 points and nine assists and was the only player in the game who didn’t come off the floor.

After the game and the handshake line, Massoud’s eyes watered as he posed for photos, hugged and celebrated with Kansas State fans.

Here was a player who spent his first two years at Wake Forest and had played on the Greensboro Coliseum floor, where a former Wake Forest player, Randolph Childress, captured 1997 ACC Tournament MVP for his remarkable play in helping the Demon Deacons win the title.

When Kansas State learned it would open the NCAA Tournament in Greensboro, Massoud texted Childress and said, “I hope I can have a Randolph Childress moment.”

“I don’t think my shot was as good as that,” Massoud said. “But I’ll take it.”