K-State basketball suffers first defeat, losing to LSU at home 76-65
The Kansas State Wildcats struggled all game long in their first matchup against a high-major team this season, suffering their first loss in the process with a 76-65 defeat at the hands of the LSU Tigers.
Offensive execution was a challenge for K-State throughout Wednesday’s game, but the Wildcats went back and forth with the Tigers for most of the first half. Neither team led by more than five points for nearly the first 12 minutes of the contest.
That’s when LSU took over, however, going on a 21-5 run late in the first half to put K-State away for good.
“I want to apologize that we didn’t give an effort that was worthy of wearing a K-State uniform, and that falls squarely on my shoulders,” Wildcats coach Jerome Tang said, adding: “This was a good, old-fashioned butt whooping.”
Kansas State shot 37.7% from the floor and 23.8% from three-point range in the loss. LSU made 50% of its shots and a third of its three pointers.
Senior wing David N’Guessan and junior guard Dug McDaniel tied for K-State’s game high with 16 points apiece, and they were the only two Wildcats to score in double figures. In fact, outside of those two, K-State made just 10-of-36 field goal attempts.
Senior forward Coleman Hawkins is off to a slow start this season, a trend that continued Monday when he scored just eight points on 3-of-10 shooting and 0-of-4 from three, tacking on just four rebounds and two assists.
A former Wildcat had led all players in scoring on Monday. That was Cam Carter, who transferred to LSU after spending the previous two seasons at Kansas State. He scored 20 points in the victory, one year after scoring 21 against LSU while playing for K-State.
K-State will return to the Bramlage Coliseum on Tuesday, Nov. 19 when it looks to bounce back against the Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils, who are currently the last-ranked team in the country according to KenPom. That game is scheduled for a 7:00 start.
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