From The Couch – Sunflower Mowdown

From The Couch – Sunflower Mowdown

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The K-State men’s basketball team extended their winning streak to five games with an 81-73 victory over the Kansas Jayhawks on Saturday afternoon in Bramlage Coliseum. The Wildcats led for over 37 of the 40 minutes of the game, never allowing Kansas to get back in it after going into halftime with an eight-point advantage.

David N’Guessan led K-State with 20 points, Dug McDaniel added 15 points and 11 assists, Coleman Hawkins had 12 points and eight assists, and Max Jones was also in double figures, adding 12 points. The win was a total team effort. After how poorly this team played most of the season, the turnaround during this winning streak has been impressive to watch. The Wildcats are 6-6 in the Big 12 conference, tied for seventh place, and went above .500 on the season (12-11) by winning this game. Does the NCAA tournament seem out of the question now? Not to me, assuming they keep playing like they are right now.

Here are some highlights from the game…

“Our guys have been so resilient, and they’re a lot of fun to coach right now. And it’s not really a lot of coaching right now, it’s just letting them play and they want to win.”…K-State head coach Jerome Tang, post-game

JM: As someone who has closely followed K-State sports for 35 years, I don’t recall an in-season 180-degree turnaround like this one. To explain it by saying “there isn’t really a lot of coaching right now” isn’t necessarily what I want to hear, but who can argue with the results? Tang is doing something right, even though he doesn’t want to take credit for it.

“Thank you to our students and our fans for showing up, it was a great environment. I’ve said that home-court advantage gives you a plus 10, and our crowd [just gave us] a plus 15, so they get credit for that.”…Jerome Tang, post-game

JM: The crowd was jazzed from start to finish. K-State great Michael Beasley returned for the game, along with Barry Brown and a few others. Also returning was Sandstorm….

“Confidence is a crazy thing, hard to get, easy to lose. What I like about Dug (McDaniel) is that he’s not letting negative plays impact his next play. That’s what leaders do and that’s what tough people do. I hope all of our guys have great confidence, but you still have to go out there and execute. So, I’m very proud of Dug and everyone else.”…Jerome Tang, post-game

JM: K-State’s turnaround may be explained simply by saying Dug McDaniel has been great as of late. Coleman Hawkins has been playing well, too, but he has to do much less on the court when McDaniel plays as efficiently as he has been.

“This program belongs to the Michael Beasley’s, Barry Brown’s, and Kamau Stokes’, and all of those guys. I hope they feel this place is home, and that they’re welcome here all the time. I didn’t like coaching against them, but I love the fact that they’re part of the family and that I’m a part of this family now.”…Jerome Tang, post-game

JM: Since Beasley was in town, I decided to break out my old school Michael Beasley jersey for the game…

JM: The jersey was good mojo. Beasley being in attendance was a big deal….

JM: He’s not the only one that feels old. I felt old trying to get that jersey on that fit pretty well when I was 20 pounds lighter!

JM: It is pretty neat watching him take in the moment as a fan like so many of us do.

JM: I gave up my court-side seats for Brown and Beasley! (Yeah, right)

JM: These guys still enjoy it when K-State beats KU!

“I feel like we kind of just simplified things– as you could tell every person’s been able to make plays, and we trust everyone out on the court. We just kind of kept it simple and it’s kind of more of a free structure. We kind of simplified it with just setting ball screens and picking on matchups, rather than what I feel like was kind of forcing guys to fit a mold. Everybody’s kind of playing to their strengths right now. So I feel like it’s been working for us.”…K-State forward Coleman Hawkins, post-game

JM: Whatever they’re doing, it’s working.

“Yeah, this was a great crowd. I definitely feel like the crowd was able to affect the way they played a little bit. In my humble opinion, I think they were great for us, they fueled us with energy. You know, that’s a crowd I would love to play for every night. Just them fueling us with energy, the ball feels different when you know there are 11,000 people against you. They were great tonight, and shout out to everybody who came out, we’re going to need that kind of support the rest of the way, especially the way we’re playing right now. We’re one of the hottest teams in the country, so we’re going to need that the rest of the way.”…Coleman Hawkins, post-game

JM: Hawkins was happy to win. He showed up at the post-game press conference wearing shades looking very relaxed and happy.

JM: Hawkins has a pretty good record going head-to-head with KU center Hunter Dickinson…

JM: I agree, it IS “kinda funny!”

JM: I woke up this morning, saw this news, and burst out laughing. Why doesn’t this surprise me? We may have to wait another 17 years for Michael Beasley to step foot back in Manhattan. Some things never change.

JM: Yep, some things never change. That includes Jerome Tang going up into the student section to do the Wabash Cannonball after a big victory. Good stuff.

You got to tuck this one away, and move on to the next, because we got another great team coming in, and another great opportunity ahead of us.”…Jerome Tang, post-game

JM: The schedule doesn’t get any easier. K-State hosts the first-place Arizona Wildcats on Tuesday in Bramlage Coliseum at 7:00 PM. I am excited to watch this one. Keep playing like they have been, and they have a shot to win. That’s all we can ask for.

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