Three takeaways from Kansas State basketball's 75-69 NCAA Tournament victory over Kentucky

GREENSBORO, N.C. — It's time to start spreading the news.

Kansas State is on its way from the Little Apple to the Big Apple, and how fitting that the Wildcats sealed the deal with some old-fashioned New York toughness.

Point guard Markquis Nowell, who goes by Mr. New York City on social media, scored 23 of his game-high 27 points in the second half, and fellow New Yorker Ismael Massoud knocked down the 3-pointer with 2 minutes, 21 seconds left to put the Wildcats in front for good Sunday on the way to a 75-69 NCAA Tournament victory over Kentucky at Greensboro Coliseum.

The Wildcats, seeded No. 3 in the East Region, improved to 25-9 and will face No. 7 Michigan State on Thursday in the Sweet 16 at New York's Madison Square Garden. The Spartans upset second-seeded Marquette 69-60 on Sunday.

"It still feels surreal, but I've got to give all the honor and the glory to God himself, man," Nowell said of the realization that he will be home in New York to play at Madison Square Garden. "I couldn't have done it without my teammates and my coaching staff.

"They put together a good game plan, and we believed in it, and I'm just happy we got the victory today."

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K-State trailed by as many as many as eight points in each half, but on each occasion persevered and stormed back to take the lead. The Wildcats' 12-4 run to finish the first half gave them a 29-26 edge at intermission.

Kentucky (22-12) scored 13 straight points early in the second half to lead again by eight, 39-31, and was still up by four with just under four minutes left. That's when K-State made its decisive run, a 13-2 spurt keyed by three 3-pointers and four Nowell free throws.

After Massoud's long-range 3-pointer from the right side gave the Wildcats a 64-62 lead, Keyontae Johnson followed with a three at the 1:20 mark and Nowell helped seal it by hitting both ends of a one-and-one at 37.4 seconds.

In addition to Nowell, K-State got 13 points from Johnson and 12 each from Nae'Qwan Tomlin and Desi Sills. Tomlin led the Wildcats with six rebounds.

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"I'm so proud of them," K-State head coach Jerome Tang said.

For Kentucky, big man Oscar Tshiebwe was as good as advertised with 25 points and 18 rebounds. The Wildcats also got 21 points, nine rebounds and four assists from point guard Cason Wallace, and 11 points from Chris Livingston.

Here are three takeaways from a historic Wildcat victory.

'Defense wins championships'

Kansas State seemingly couldn't buy a basket in the early going, hitting just 3 of 12 shots in the first 10 minutes. And Tshiebwe was a terror on the offensive boards, giving Kentucky seemingly limitless second-chance opportunities.

But the Wildcats remained locked in defensively, holding Kentucky to 29.4% shooting in the first half despite 11 points and 11 rebounds from Tshiebwe.

"That was huge," said forward David N'Guessan, who came off the bench to give the Wildcats four points and four rebounds, but more importantly had three steals while helping out defensively on Tshiebwe. "We knew Oscar was going to get him numbers like he does pretty much in every game, but we were trying to limit everybody else's touches, and I think we did a pretty good job."

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K-State missed all 12 of its first-half 3-point attempts but made 12 of 17 from two-point range. The Wildcats' spurt at the end of the period came primarily in transition off Kentucky misses and turnovers.

"Defense win championships," Sills said. "Coach said if they scored quick, get out in transition and get the easy buckets, and I feel like we did that good tonight."

The Wildcats had a 9-3 advantage in fast-break points in the half and a 20-8 edge for the game.

Wildcats for three, three, three

Nothing was falling for Kansas State from beyond the 3-point line in the first half and well into the second. But when Nowell finally got a long one to go down with 14:30 left in the game — after 14 straight misses — the lid seemingly came off the basket.

Well, sort of.

They didn't get their second one until Nowell buried another one at the 6:10 mark to tie the game at 54-all. But when they needed the deep ball the most, it came with a flurry.

More:Kansas State basketball counting on Nae'Qwan Tomlin to deliver in NCAA battle with Kentucky

Lance Ware had just dunked with 3:58 left to put Kentucky up 60-56, when Nowell knocked down his, and the team's, third to key the sprint to the finish. Massoud and Johnson, who never found a rhythm on offense the whole game, followed in short order and that was that.

Johnson was just 5 of 14 from the floor and the one at the end was his only 3-point make in four tries.

"I challenged him to step up and be the player that he is," Nowell said of Johnson, his fellow first-team Big 12 all-conference player. "At the moment, he didn't really like it, but I knew that it was going to bring (the best) out of him.

"I was happy with the reaction that I got because I knew that he would be mad, and he would step up. I'm just happy that one fell, and we shared a moment at half court together after."

Massoud, who took only one other shot in his 16 minutes, contributed defensively against Kentucky's big men, but it was the 3-pointer that he'll always remember.

"I had confidence," Massoud said. "I knew my time was going to come when I was going to need to hit a big shot and I was just making sure I stayed ready.

"I knew it was good as soon as it left my hand."

More:Despite high seed, Kansas State basketball keeps underdog mentality in NCAA Tournament

Mr. New York City saving his best for last

As good as he has been all season, Nowell has take his game up a notch on college basketball's biggest stage.

After recording his eighth double-double of the season with 17 points and 14 assists — not to mention six rebounds and three steals — in Thursday's 77-65 first-round victory over Montana State, Nowell did a little of everything against Kentucky.

The Wildcats' little big man — he's listed at 5-foot-8, though he claims that he's closer to 5-6 or 5-7 — played the role of facilitator in the first half, scoring just four points on four shot attempts, but dealing out five assists with one steal.

But when Kentucky went on a run early in the second period, fueled by three K-State turnovers, Nowell took matters into his own hands.

"In the second half, the first five minutes I saw that they were playing me for the pass, and I got two quick turnovers. So I just decided to be aggressive and get downhill and look for my shot a little bit more."

Did he ever.

He still had four assists in the second half, but he also was 5 of 10 shooting, including 3-for-6 from 3-point range, and hit 10 of 11 free throws.

"Fantastic. Outstanding. Amazing," Sills said when asked for words to describe Nowell's performance. "Not really shocked, but shocked the world."

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: Takeaways from Kansas State men's basketball NCAA second round