LINCOLN, Neb. — Road woes continued for the K-State men’s basketball team, as the Wildcats lost to the Nebraska Cornhuskers 73-51, Saturday night in the Bob Devaney Sports Center. With the loss, K-State falls to 1-3 in true road games.
K-State (11-6, 0-3 Big 12 Conference) started the game off strong. Both teams traded baskets and then the Wildcats scored five consecutive points to take a 7-2 lead.
Nebraska (12-4, 2-1 Big 12) climbed back into the game by pressuring the Wildcats and forcing them into committing eight turnovers in the first nine minutes of the game. The Cornhuskers were able to take the lead by scoring 11 points off the Wildcat turnovers.
After that stretch, K-State never seemed to regain its composure. The Wildcats would end up committing 17 turnovers in the first half. Nebraska took advantage of the K-State miscues by scoring 21 points off turnovers and ended the first half on a 12-0 run to take a 32-21 lead.
“At the end of the half we got away from some of the idea of what we were trying to play with,” head coach Frank Martin said. “We didn’t put our guys in the right area on the floor where they could find success.”
The second half started the way the first half ended. Nebraska continued to pressure K-State and the Wildcats continued to commit turnovers. This allowed the Cornhuskers to start the second half with a 13-5 run that extended their lead to 45-26.
Nebraska never let up on pressuring K-State, continually forcing the Wildcats to make poor decisions, leading to more turnovers. The Cornhuskers made the most of these miscues and extended their lead to 30 with 4:51 left in the game.
By the end of the game, K-State had committed season-high 25 turnovers, which the Cornhuskers converted into 34 points.
“I think we are just rushing things right now,” senior forward Darren Kent said. “We need to get back to the basics of playing and get back into a rhythm like what we had at the beginning of the season.”
Senior guard Paul Velander lead the Huskers with 20 points on 6-10 shooting from behind the 3-point line. Cookie Miller also contributed 15 points for Nebraska.
Denis Clemente led the Wildcats with 14 points.
K-State returns to action against the Baylor Bears at 8 p.m. on Wednesday night in Bramlage Coliseum.