Three takeaways from Kansas State basketball's senior night 85-69 victory over Oklahoma
MANHATTAN — Jerome Tang could not have scripted a better ending for his first senior class as Kansas State head coach.
Not only did the No. 11-ranked Wildcats roll to a convincing 85-69 victory over Oklahoma on Wednesday night in their home finale, but all six seniors got in on the act.
The Wildcats scored the last nine points of the first half to take control of the game, then poured it on in the second period, allowing the sellout crowd to celebrate early and often. K-State, which improved to 23-7 overall and 11-6 in the Big 12, shot 70.4% in the second half to ensure that Oklahoma (14-16, 4-13) never got back in it.
Junior forward Nae’Qwan Tomlin led the Wildcats with 19 points on 8 of 9 shooting with a pair of 3-pointers, but the three senior starters did their part as well, with Keyontae Johnson scoring 16 points, Desi Sills 15 and Markquis Nowell 11.
Oklahoma got 20 points from Milos Uzan and 18 from Otega Oweh.
With the victory, K-State finished 16-1 at home for the season, 15-1 in Bramlage. Their other home game was a win against Nebraska at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City.
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K-State now has won four straight heading into the regular-season finale at 1 p.m. Saturday at West Virginia.
Here are three takeaways from a happy night in Manhattan.
Hail to the Wildcat seniors
Jerome Tang said afterward that he had contingency plans for the postgame ceremony, win or lose, but it turned out that wasn’t necessary.
After Tang’s dance in front of the student section and alongside the pep band to the Wabash Cannonball and the players shook hand with fans around the arena, each of the six seniors addressed the crowd.
But not before each senior contributed to the victory.
Keyontae Johnson, the Big 12’s second-leading scorer, had five rebounds and three steals to go with his 16 points on 7-of-12 shooting with two 3-pointers. Markquis Nowell made three 3-pointers and scored eight of his 11 points in the second half, but also registered his seventh double-double with 10 assists to go with three steals and just one turnover.
And then there was Desi Sills, who flirted with a triple-double, scoring 15 points, grabbing nine rebounds and dishing out eight assists.
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From the bench, Abayomi Iyiola got in the scoring column with a late basket and grabbed three rebounds, Tykei Greene added four points on 2-of-3 shooting and walk-on Nate Awbrey, after hearing the crowd chant his name, made two free throws in the final minute.
Defense, rebounding carry Wildcats early
Kansas State may have shot lights-out in the second half and finished the first period with a flurry, but the offense was nowhere to be found in the opening minutes as they missed 10 of their first 11 shots.
But after spotting Oklahoma and early 5-0 lead, the Wildcats never trailed by more than four. The reason: defense and rebounding.
The Wildcats limited Oklahoma to 32.3% shooting in the first half and outrebounded the Sooners 25-17 before the break. K-State continued to control the boards after intermission, winning the overall battle, 37-26.
K-State put together a 7-0 run to grab its first lead and go up 25-20 with 4:20 left in the half. And after the Sooners came back to tie it at 25, the Wildcats again locked down, holding the Sooners scoreless over the last 3:25.
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K-State shuts down Oklahoma’s big guns
While Kansas State stars Markquis Nowell, Keyontae Johnson and Nae’Qwan Tomlin all contributed to the victory, the Wildcats also neutralized Oklahoma’s top weapons.
Grant Sherfield, who came in ranked fifth in the league in scoring at 16.3 points per game, had just seven points on 2 of 10 shooting, including 1 of 7 from 3-point range. Jalen Hill (10.1 ppg) was held to eight points and Tanner Groves to two before he was ejected for throwing an elbow on an offensive foul with just under two minutes left.
Milos Uzan and Otega Oweh combined for 38 points to lead the Sooners, but they could not overcome the lack of production from their most reliable scorers.
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 vs. Oklahoma takeaways from the senior night game
