Three takeaways from Kansas State’s humbling road loss against the Houston Cougars

Kansas State started the week on top of the Big 12 basketball standings.

Now? Well, after a pair of humbling road losses against some of the best teams in the conference, it feels like the Wildcats are a tier below the true contenders in the league championship race.

The Houston Cougars sent a message to the Wildcats, and anyone else watching from home, about just how difficult it is to beat Kelvin Sampson’s team at home right now. The Cougars demolished the Wildcats 74-52 in front of a raucous crowd at Fertitta Center.

K-State looked completely overmatched against Houston’s elite defense and walked away with a discouraging loss.

The Wildcats were never in this game. The Cougars jumped out to an 11-0 lead and poured it on from there. It took K-State 5 minutes, 48 seconds to score its first basket. That was a sign of things to come.

Cam Carter led the Wildcats with 16 points, but offense was otherwise hard to come by.

Houston plays better defense than any team in the country, and it absolutely smothers teams in its home arena. No visiting squad has eclipsed 55 points against the Cougars here all season ... and that team (West Virginia) still lost by 34. K-State was but the latest victim of Houston’s home dominance.

This game was perhaps best summed up by a desperation shot from Dorian Finister in the second half. The Wildcats found so little success trying to attack Houston’s defense that he was forced to heave up a prayer from midcourt with the shot clock expiring. The shot missed and the Cougars surged ahead by more than 20.

Houston (18-2, 5-2 Big 12) has now won four straight games. K-State (14-6, 4-3 Big 12) has lost two in a row and will try to bounce back when it returns to the court for its next game against Oklahoma on Tuesday at Bramlage Coliseum.

Until then, here are some takeaways from Saturday’s action against Houston:

Another slow start for the Wildcats

One thing both of K-State’s recent road losses (at Iowa State and at Houston) have in common: slow starts.

The Wildcats weren’t ready from the get-go against the Cyclones earlier this week and fell behind by 14 in the first half. On Saturday, they fell behind by even more against the Cougars.

Houston and its defense are built to play from ahead. Trying to mount a comeback of any kind against the Cougars, especially down double digits on the road, is virtually impossible.

K-State turned the ball over too often early in both of its past two games and didn’t shoot well, either.

It will almost certainly be easier for the Wildcats to start strong when it returns home next week. But that is something they need to improve on when they hit the road for future games.

Lone bright spot on offense

Cam Carter has matured into a consistent scorer for the Wildcats.

The junior guard led K-State with a team-high 16 points on Saturday. He was one of the few players in lavender uniforms who didn’t seem intimidated by Houston or the environment.

He scored the bulk of his points beyond the arc, as he went three for six on 3-pointers. But he also got to the rim and grabbed five rebounds.

That was a positive for the Wildcats on a day when those were hard to come by.

Unfortunately, he fouled out with 4:47 remaining in the game. He was also in foul trouble against Iowa State. Keeping him on the floor needs to become a priority for the Wildcats.

Houston might have the best home-court advantage in the Big 12

These next few paragraphs may read like sacrilege for basketball fans at Kansas, K-State, Iowa State and Texas Tech, but Houston may benefit from a bigger home-court advantage than any other team in the Big 12.

At the very least, Fertitta Center is in the same stratosphere as Allen Fieldhouse, United Supermarkets Arena and every other building in the conference.

Much of that has to do with the team that Houston puts on the court.

The Cougars are difficult to score against when they set up their half-court defense, and it becomes nearly impossible to do anything against them in their own building when they benefit from a home crowd and friendly whistles.

Houston also has the advantage of a small arena with a low ceiling. There is no video board hanging over midcourt at Feritta Center, which means there is less room for sound to travel. The place is loud.

Allen Fieldhouse is loaded with history and Bramlage Coliseum puts a massive student section right next to the court. Houston’s arena is a different animal. It has a much newer feel and uses technology that you find in NBA venues. It gets the job done in other ways.

The results (Houston is 12-0 at home this season) speak for themselves.