Head coach Bruce Weber and the K-State men’s basketball team didn’t envision a 12-11, 5-5 start to their season way back in November. Nonetheless, the shaky season so far hasn’t been without highlights.
Good, bad, ugly, K-State has provided some incredible moments worth sharing. So, without further ado, here are the top-10 moments from the men’s basketball season to date:
10. K-State nearly stuns No. 3 Arizona in Maui
This was an extremely important game early on for the Wildcats. K-State had rebounded with a win against Purdue in the first round of the Maui Invitational after a lackluster road loss to Long Beach State. Arizona entered a preseason favorite to win the Pac-12 title and be a force in the NCAA Tournament.
While there are no moral victories in sports — though that’s something I would argue — K-State competed for 40 minutes against Arizona. The 72-68 loss was just that, a loss, but it was an early indicator that K-State could compete with anyone in the country.
9. Rohleder pumps up crowd with boost of energy off the bench
Leave it to K-State’s walk-on, mechanical engineer major to come off the bench and pump some energy into a game.
Brian Rohleder accounted for three-consecutive offensive charges against Savannah State, a game in which K-State started off sluggish and apathetic at best. After the third charge was called, Rohleder jumped up from off the ground, looked to the crowd and threw his hands up motioning for some life in Bramlage Coliseum.
K-State won that game 73-53. To date, Rohleder’s celebration is still among the loudest moments the “Octagon of Doom” has provided this season.
8. K-State’s wheels nearly fall off wagon in loss to Oklahoma State
The Wildcats season could’ve ended on Jan. 3. In the eyes of many at the time, it had. K-State had dropped its third-straight loss in dismal fashion. Sophomore guard Marcus Foster was benched for attitude problems.
By all means, it’s impressive the wheels didn’t fall off on the season at that point.
7. Wildcats face yet another three-game losing streak after loss to Texas Tech
Falling to Texas Tech in Lubbock, Texas isn’t the worst thing in the world. Nationally-ranked Iowa State was stunned by the Red Raiders there just a few weeks back. Texas Tech may be down, but you can also count on Tubby Smith to have his team competing.
It wasn’t the loss to the Red Raiders that hurt. Rather, the manner in which it happened proved most frustrating. Prior to Wednesday’s game, K-State announced that Marcus Foster and Malek Harris were suspended for violating team rules. A game in which K-State needed their leading scorer and he was absent. Frustrating.
6. Weber’s clipboard faces its demise against Jayhawks
Early on in K-State’s loss to Kansas last Saturday, Weber was caught slamming his clipboard down in anger after a slow start from his team.
The poor clipboard never saw it coming!
5. Williams starts off 8-8 from the field versus Oklahoma State
Sometimes when you’re feeling it, you’re feeling it. Essentially, that’s how Nino Williams described his perfect 8-8 start against Oklahoma State. The senior forward was unstoppable from 10- to 15-feet, draining shot after shot as the Wildcats earned another victory and Williams a Big 12 Player of the Week honor.
4. Hurt doesn’t care about the spread
Kids, let Stephen Hurt remind you that you should never bet on sports.
K-State was picked lose by 11.5 points against Kansas. Those who took Kansas needed the Jayhawks to win by 12 points.
A lot of people took Kansas.
The Jayhawks were well on their way to covering the spread before the most unsuspecting force decided to turn on his 3-point shooting abilities: Hurt.
Hurt drained back-to-back shots from behind the arc late in the game and K-State lost by just 11 points. Sorry, Vegas.
3. Iwundu’s rim-rocking dunk energizes the Sprint Center
Wesley Iwundu thought the overwhelming pro-K-State Sprint Center crowd needed to wake up.
He grabbed a rebound, went to coast to coast and threw down a vicious one-handed dunk. Mission accomplished. The crowd jumped to its feet and cranked up the noise as K-State topped Texas A&M; right before conference play.
2. Foster’s daggers stun ranked Oklahoma
Marcus Foster has hit clutch baskets several times in his K-State career. Against Oklahoma, he needed to make two for the Wildcats to secure a statement win.
He hit both.
With the time running out in regulation, Foster nailed a pull-up jumper to send the game into overtime. Five minutes later, from nearly the same spot, Foster drained a 3-pointer with a hand in his face, as K-State ran away from Norman, Oklahoma with a win.
1. Bolden says ‘NO!’ to Southern Utah guard
By now, you’ve seen the play. A determined Southern Utah guard thought he could steal a K-State inbounds pass and sneak by 6-foot-11-inch Brandon Bolden.
Bolden had other ideas in the form of swatting the layup out of the gym. The play was good enough to garner millions of hits on Vine and elsewhere on social media.
Tate Steinlage is a junior in mass communications.
