Other games in the tournament:

Clemson 83 SIU 75 in OT

Long Beach St. 64 Auburn 43

Xavier 82 Hawai'i 84 OT

K-State had a large lead at half time and UTEP answered with a 27-10 run to take the lead in the 2nd before K-State recovered to win the game by 8 points.

I'm not sure what to take away from this game as Tim Floyd is a good coach and throws things at other teams that are not seen that often. When is the last time you saw a triangle and 2 defense? Even saw a little bit of the triangle offense run by UTEP.

What does K-State need to do differently? I'm not sure at this point, even though I disliked the scoring drought early in the second. Probably the biggest thing to do differently is to recognize when the referees change up what they are calling for fouls. K-State plays aggressive D, as much as the refs allow then the refs call things a little tighter then the adjustment does not happen immediately for K-State and results in some points for the other team. Midway through the second K-State had twice the fouls of UTEP.

Only 3 players in double figures: Will, Jamar and Angel; no surprises in that list. 11 players saw the court for K-State and the only individual in foul trouble was Thomas Gipson, which isn't good but with Jamar, JO and Adrian available not a big concern.

Grades for the game depend on which part of the game you are watching. Everyone played great in the first half and would be a B+ or A, while the first 10 minutes of the second half would see the grades move down to D/C/B- level. At the end of the game it was more in the C+/B/A- area.

Championship Game: 8:30 p.m. CST on ESPN 2 Long Beach State vs K-State. LBS is athletic and this should be an interesting game.