Kansas State got trucked. In a game where consistency and effort were the needs of the hour, the Wildcats showed little of either and were downed 69-42 by No. 20 Baylor (Associated Press, via ESPN). Ineffective against Baylor's zone defense, Kansas State's offense scored a season-low 42 points off 18-of-47 shooting and just 1-of-16 from beyond the arc. (K-State SID) There were some brights spots, of course, including a rally that brought the Wildcats within six points of Baylor. But, as with the rest of this season, it was too little, too late and followed by the inevitable fade in what has become a troubling pattern for this team (Ken Corbitt, Topeka Capital-Journal). So where do we go from here? As you ponder that question, here's something to consider:
What is the remedy when the coaching strategy boils down to wishful thinking? Sadly, there are more questions than answers right now.My hope was maybe they wouldn’t play quite as well and shoot the ball as well, but they came out and really played at a high level.
The women had their own struggles. Looking for the 14th home win of the season, the team instead lost to Oklahoma 73-64 at Bramlage last night. Despite forcing 16 first half turnovers, the Wildcats could not stop the Sooners run, especially in the second half, when Oklahoma went on a 16-4 run in the first six minutes and effectively put the game out of reach. Despite the loss, three Wildcats ended the game in double figures: Ashia Woods (16), Kindred Wesemann (14) and Haley Texada (14). Oklahoma's Peyton Little was the star of the night though, with a career-high 30 points, including eight 3-pointers, the most ever by an opponent at Bramlage.
The baseball team fared no better than their basketball brethren. For the second straight game, the BatCats lost on a walk-off hit, dropping the game to Washington 6-5. Despite forcing extra innings off a Carter Yagi RBI hit at the top of the ninth to tie the score 5-5, throwing errors in the 10th inning cost the Wildcats. Coach Brad Hill praised the effort of the players, however, noting that they just need to focus on doing the little things right.
Not all is doom and gloom though. The Kansas State fanbase had a few things to be proud of this weekend, including Tyler Lockett's performance at the NFL combine. Lockett did nothing to hurt his draft stock, and if anything, he managed to wow scouts and pundit alike. The consensus is that Lockett is fast. But we knew that!
After two days of play at the Desert Intercollegiate event, Kansas State is currently in third place. Shooting a 6-over-par 294 as a team yesterday, the Wildcats are now in a tie with Denver. Texas Tech and TCU are in first and second place at the event. Also, in the individual player standings, Wildcats Seth Smith (T4) and Matt Green (T11) are both within striking distance of a top-three finish. Meanwhile, the women will start spring play today, with 36 holes at the Westbrook Invitational, followed by 18 holes on Monday.
The tennis team put their recent losses behind them and ran off a series of impressive matches to beat Colorado State 7-0 yesterday. The Wildcats won all their singles matches, and Palma Juhasz is now on five-match winning streak and 13-8 for the season.