The men’s basketball team came out of the gate red hot in Kansas City, Missouri, in their 53-49 victory over TCU on Wednesday night.
Early on, the Wildcats built a 13-2 lead thanks to a strong offensive showing. The defense was also engaged, blocking TCU’s chances by limiting their three-pointers.
Through the first nine minutes of the first half, Kansas State went two-three from three and TCU was zero-four.
An alley-oop dunk from senior forward Makol Mawien assisted by junior guard Mike McGuirl and a three-pointer from junior guard David Sloan gave the Wildcats a 25-8 lead.
With two minutes remaining in the half, the Horned Frogs finally got a three-pointer.
Going into halftime, K-State’s held a 28-18 lead over TCU.
“We were playing out of control and kinda trying to do too much early on, playing one-on-one,” TCU senior guard Desmond Bane said.
The Wildcats went into the second half with a pretty comfortable lead, but the grip on the game faltered as the Horned Frogs found their offensive rhythm. TCU knocked down back-to-back three-pointers, cutting the lead to 33-28 and forcing K-State to call a timeout.
It culminated in a tie at 33-33 as the Horned Frogs continued to knock down three-pointers in their comeback bid.
Sloan stepped up for the Wildcats, knocking down a layup and a jumper to take back the lead 39-35. It was back and forth from there on out.
With 4:38 on the clock, the Horned Frogs climbed back, taking their first lead of the game at 46-45.
On the court, it looked like K-State might fall into the same trap that’s plagued the team for much of the season as TCU extended their lead to 49-45 with 3:36 remaining.
“We got the ball moving in the second half and I think we only turned it over three times, but once we got settled in and stayed true to our stuff, we played pretty well,” Bane said.
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That wasn’t it for the Wildcats though. They went on an 8-0 run as the game came to an end.
Senior forward Xavier Sneed responded with a jumper, bringing the point deficit to just two. After the under-four media timeout, junior guard Mike McGuirl knocked down a jumper, bringing the game to a tie at 49-49.
Mawien recorded the go-ahead basket in the paint with just 1:18 remaining.
Following TCU’s failed attempt at a last-second three, McGuirl made two free throws, putting the game away for the Wildcats.
“They made some tough shots, jump shots. I thought we defended pretty well — we got better shots than they did and they made tougher shots than we made,” TCU head coach Jamie Dixon said. “That’s sometimes how the game goes.”
This was a big win for the Wildcats who have struggled to find victories this season.
“We learned and grew from all the experiences we had this season and kept growing like I said before,” Sneed said.
The Wildcats will take on the second seed Baylor Bears at 6 p.m. on Thursday.
“I’m just happy for [our players],” head coach Bruce Weber said. “We get to live another day and finally found a way to win a close game. Big plays, happy, team effort, get to play another day.”
Spectators will be barred from this game due to growing concerns about the spread of COVID-19.
“Regardless of who is in the stands — although we love to have our fans in the crowd — but regardless, we’re trying to win the game,” McGuirl said.
