The Kansas State men’s basketball team continues to find new ways to lose.
On Tuesday, the Wildcats wasted a tremendous defensive effort (and a late lead) on their way to a 59-54 defeat against West Virginia at Hope Coliseum in Morgantown.
K-State usually tries to win high-scoring shootouts, but it put itself in position to win a low-scoring pitchers’ duel against West Virginia by holding the Mountaineers to lengthy scoring droughts in both halves. And that allowed the Wildcats to pull ahead 49-45 with 4 minutes, 30 seconds remaining on a layup from PJ Haggerty.
Seeing as how West Virginia hadn’t scored since the 10:19 mark of the second half, it looked like K-State might get its first road conference victory of the season. But it wasn’t to be. There is a reason the Wildcats (10-11, 1-7 Big 12) are having a disappointing campaign. They aren’t finding ways to win. They are doing the opposite.
“We have to look ourselves in the mirror and say, ‘Man, what can I do better in that situation?’” Tang said on his postgame radio show. “They (West Virginia) made all the big plays down the stretch.”
Indeed, the Mountaineers seized control with a game-clinching 14-5 run that featured big 3-pointers from both Honor Huff and Treysen Eaglestaff.
K-State responded by failing to get many stops, rebounds or buckets in the clutch.
“I’m going to look at it and see if there’s something I can do better,” Tang said. “Obviously, there are always things I can do better. So start with me. What I can do better? But we have got to improve the final 3 minutes and 38 seconds to get a win.”
Haggerty led K-State with 16 points, all of them coming in the second half. But he missed several shots down the stretch when his team needed him most. David Castillo had 15 points and Nate Johnson pitched in 13 for the Wildcats.
Huff led West Virginia (14-7, 5-3 Big 12) with 17 points in the low-scoring game.
K-State is now 0-7 on the season when it fails to score at least 81 points. It was in position to change that on Tuesday, but it didn’t happen.
The Wildcats are next in action on Sunday against Iowa State at Bramlage Coliseum.
