4 days ago
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Kansas State dropped a 101-76 decision against Arizona Wednesday night in Tuczon. It was simultaneously more competitive than expected and not as close as the final score would indicate.
The lavender Wildcats (9-6, 0-2 Big 12) played the desert ‘Cats (15-0, 2-0) even at times and even outplayed them for a stretch immediately following halftime. But at times in each half, the game looked like a scrimmage between teams of entirely different levels. Arizona is bigger, yes. But what seemed more pronounced was just how much stronger they are than our guys.
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Rebounding margin has been a problem all season. Tonight, K-State lost that battle 55-32. It seems unlikely that any team has ever won a game in which it was -23 on the boards. Taj Manning led K-State with 7 caroms. Arizona had three players with double-digit boards, and another with 9.
K-State got plenty of shots, but converted only 26 of 77 tries (34%), including 8-36 (22%) from outside. The best shooter? Why, Doran Buca, of course. The 7-foot Italian made both of his attempts from deep and scored 12 points in 15 minutes. He also had three blocks, a steal, and soon enough, 5 fouls.
Arizona did not shoot well from outside, either. At one point, they were 1-14. The game was close(ish) while they needlessly hefted duds from deep. After they attacked the rim and later made a few outside shots, the K-State deficit ballooned beyond 30. Arizona won by 25 despite making only 3 of 16 three-point attempts.
K-State went 16-19 from the free throw stripe (84%) but still got outscored there by 14, as Arizona was 30-39 (77%).
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Brayden Burries scored 28, and the giant Motiejus Krivas bullied his way to 25 on 7-10 shooting from the floor and 11-12 efficiency from the stripe.
P.J. Haggerty led K-State with 19, and Nate Johnson recovered from his Saturday cipher to contribute 15, albeit on substandard 3-13 marksmanship.
We could say more, but we hate to gush too much about the opposition on our page.
Arizona is formidable, and their matchups with Iowa State, BYU and particularly Houston should be epic battles.
Next Up:
K-State will try again to notch its first Big 12 Conference win of the season Saturday when they tip at 2:00 at Arizona State. Dust off your Peacock subscription if you want to watch.
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