No. 12 Kansas State men’s basketball suffered its fifth consecutive road loss — falling 78-67 to the Oklahoma Sooners.
The Sooners got off to a fast start, forcing K-State to call a timeout after falling behind seven points two minutes into the game. The timeout paid dividends as the Wildcats put up 11 unanswered points.
Following the runs, the first half was a close contest. K-State found success running their offense in the paint. Forward Nae’Qwan Tomlin produced 13 points in the first half and center Abayomi Iyiola recorded nine. Despite their scoring, Oklahoma kept pace en route to a 36-36 halftime score.
The Sooners opened the second half with another hot start led by a 12-2 run. K-State was forced to use a timeout again and regroup but not much changed out of it. Oklahoma’s offense continued to score at a high clip and its defense kept the Wildcats stagnant.
Momentum stayed with the Sooners throughout the second half. K-State scored 24 paint points in the first half, but Oklahoma adjusted and held the Wildcats to 12 in the second half.
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Another glaring problem for the Wildcats in this game was 3-point percentage. Oklahoma shot 47.8% from beyond the arc, dwarfing K-State’s mark of 20%.
Tomlin finished as the leading scorer and netted a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds.
K-State will return home against No. 19 Iowa State at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 18 at Bramlage Coliseum.
