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Here is all you need to know about this game. Following an approximately five minute review Texas Southern won the game on a less than a second shot. With the exception of about 10 total game minutes Kansas State played with zero energy and passion as they clearly expected to cake walk through this game.
Early on Kansas State seemed destined to run away with this game, but that only lasted until the under 15 time out. After that the Kansas State team we have seen throughout this season showed up, as lazy passes turned into turnover, and a lack of energy allowed Texas Southern to close to within two at the half. The second half began much the same way the first half ended as the Tigers built a 6 point lead with about eight minutes left. Jevon Thomas', Johnny Maziel like three point heave sparked an 11-0 Kansas State run which allowed them to take the lead, but horrendous free throw shooting (40.0%) allowed the Texas Southern to hang around, and then finally break through.
Jevon Thomas fouled Tonnie Collier on his three point attempt, and after making the first two he intentionally missed the third. Chris Thomas then out rebounded (we'll get to this) two Wildcat players to hit the lay-up with .9 seconds left. Jevon Thomas then proceeded to pull a Baylor and throw the inbound's pass out of bounds giving the Tigers a shot at victory. An easy throw in to Jason Carter gave him a great look at the basket and he hit the two point jumper with no time left. This is easily the worst loss all season for Kansas State. At this point an NIT bid may be hard to come by, and let's not even kid ourselves and think that the NCAA Tournament is in play.
Stats, STAT:
32-23
Kansas State was out rebounded by nine, as Texas Southern had almost as many defensive rebounds (21) as Kansas State had total rebounds. This is all about energy and effort as the 'Cats didn't have a single offensive rebound in the first half. They also gave up 11 offensive rebounds to the Tigers which is almost half of Kansas State's total. I don't even know what to say about this other than it was a pathetic effort on the glass by the Wildcats today.
Three One Big Thought
Effort
This team lacks effort. In all the games I've watched this season the only game where Kansas State played the majority of the game with effort was the loss to Arizona. Other than that game the 'Cats have played like they should be able to just out talent the other team by simply walking onto the court. This starts at the top with Bruce Weber, and here's why. Weber is either not able to get his players to buy in and give consistent effort, which is a problem. Or, he's recruiting players who don't want to buy in and give effort which is also a problem. Frank Martin's team weren't always pretty and boy could they be frustrating at times but you could usually bet on them playing with effort and energy. I have yet to see that type of effort from this team. Bruce Weber needs to figure out how to get better effort from this team and his players. As of right now, this is turning out to be the exact scenario envisioned by those who criticized the Bruce Weber hire from the start.