Expert Analysis: How Kansas State prevailed versus WVU
KANSAS STATE ON-COURT OBSERVATIONS
As Kansas State head coach Jerome Tang said, it was a tale of two halves. The Wildcats were special in the game’s first 20 minutes and not so much in the next 20. Fortunately, they were still able to prevail in overtime.
The 25-point lead was created by exceptional shooting and getting to the free throw line. That is the same recipe that was mentioned by Tang last week that they needed to hit on if they wanted to change the course of the season.
K-State executed that perfectly up until about 13 minutes left in the game. Then the turnovers returned for the Wildcats, and West Virginia was able to close the gap both on the rebounding front and at the three-point line.
The two best players for Kansas State the past few weeks have been Tylor Perry and David N’Guessan. That was no different Monday night in Bramlage Coliseum. Perry was sensational, though he played a part in Kerr Kriisa hurting the Wildcats in the second half.
N’Guessan is impacting winning in a lot of ways. He’s shown a newfound toughness on the glass, been the team’s best and most consistent defender, showed a bit of scoring punch and has done it all on a very bad wheel.
Though Jerrell Colbert struggled a bit and was in foul trouble, just like Arthur Kaluma, it was a game where the Wildcats were better when it was Will McNair on the court instead of him. He notched a few important buckets.
Another difference-maker in the two wins for K-State has been the improvement from Dai Dai Ames. It is showing up on the stat sheet against BYU and West Virginia, but I pointed out that I saw a bit of growth in him before that. It’s just now manifesting in positive results.
That can be a key to the season because it gives the Wildcats another creator on the offensive end if he’s not too much of a defensive liability and forces the defensive opposition to worry about another threat not named Perry, Kaluma or Cam Carter.
Speaking of Carter, he had more good moments in the win over West Virginia than what we’ve seen in the past few weeks. Him breaking out of his funk would be a welcome sight for Kansas State. His problem is often trying to do too much on the offensive end or getting sped up.
The collapse in the second half can be attributed to shots not falling that were in the first half, allowing the Mountaineers to close the gap on the boards and too many giveaways. Defensively, West Virginia got the switches and matchups they wanted to create good looks but also made some ridiculous shots.
Once K-State had problems keeping the penetration to the minimum, they couldn’t help because West Virginia was shooting it so well. They also couldn’t switch to a zone because they were shooting it so well.
RaeQuan Battle was the one knocking down shots but Kriisa’s influence and the inability to keep him in check was the difference-maker.
FAN’S VIEW
Kansas State finished with their second best offensive efficiency this season in Big 12 play at 1.221 points per possession, just behind 1.223 versus BYU on Saturday and they needed all of them.
K-State looked to be cruising after using a 29-9 run in the first half to build a 20-point lead. The Wildcats led by 22 at the half and built that lead to 25 with 13:04 left and still led by 22 at the 10:32 mark of the second half.
But West Virginia wasn’t done.
They hit six straight from beyond the arc down the stretch in putting together a 26-7 run down and led by four with a minute left before a Will McNair putback and pair of Tylor Perry free throws tied the game and sent it to an extra session.
Kansas State built a six-point lead in overtime and then overcame a pair of RaeQuan Battle threes to win by four. It wasn’t pretty, but K-State will take the win regardless as they move to 7-8 in the Big 12 and moving into a big weekend road trip to Cincinnati.
1. Command the paint: The Wildcats dominated in the paint in Morgantown, but the presence of Jesse Edwards inside evened things up as Kansas State had their second worst game in Big 12 play from inside the three-point line (42.9 percent) and finished even in points in the paint 24-24. K-State made 57 percent at the rim but finished 0 of 7 on long twos. Fortunately, the Kansas State interior defense was good and West Virginia made only 38.6 percent from two-point range. Though they did finish 17 of 44 compared to 12 of 28 for K-State.
2. Get to the free throw line more: Kansas State finished 25 of 35 (71.4 percent) from the free throw line compared to 17 of 26 (65.4 percent) for the Mountaineers. The Wildcats had a commanding free throw rate advantage of 59.3 percent to 33.8 percent. K-State is 8-3 against the KenPom top 180 when they have a better free throw rate than their opponent.
3. Watch the arc: Tang’s guys had another great night shooting the ball, making 15 of 31 from deep (48.4 percent), but it almost wasn’t enough. West Virginia converted on 11 of 21 (52.4 percent) in the second half and overtime but a poor first half put them at 13 of 33 (39.4 percent) for the game. Kansas State is now 11-3 when finishing better from the three-point line than their opponents.
Others: K-State finished with 16 turnovers and a turnover rate gap of 20.8 percent to only 7.8 percent for West Virginia as the Mountaineers out-scored Kansas State 20-11 off of turnovers. K-State out-rebounded West Virginia 48-41 on the boards and won offensive rebounding rate 39.5 percent to 35.3 percent, but the Mountaineers won second chance points 17-11.
Perry had an incredible game for Kansas State with 29 points, an offensive rating of 1.56 and a scoring rate of 41.3 points per 100 possessions. He made 6 of 11 (54.5 percent) from the perimeter, 9 of 10 from the charity stripe and a huge layup in crunch time to go with six assists and four rebounds.
Carter had 19 points and his best offensive rating in four games at 1.17. He made 9 of 10 from the free throw line, 2 of 5 from deep and finished with eight rebounds. McNair scored 13 points with seven rebounds, including four on the offensive end. He made 6 of 8 from the floor for an offensive rating of 1.19.
Kaluma scored 13 points with five rebounds and four assists. He was 2 of 5 from beyond the arc but only 20 percent from two-point range and finished with an efficiency of 1.07.
N’Guessan had eight points and 10 rebounds and made 3 of 5 from the floor, including delivering a three-pointer. Ames had one of his best shooting nights this season, hitting 3 of 5 from the three-point line for nine points and three rebounds.
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