K-State loses to Liberty 67-65 in Paradise Jam semifinals

The Kansas State Wildcats suffered a surprise defeat on Sunday night, losing in the semifinals of the Paradise Jam to the Liberty Flames 67-65.

K-State led off and on in the first half before an 11-0 run by Liberty crossing over halftime forced the Wildcats to play catch-up for the rest of the night.

The final moments of the game returned to back-and-forth competition, however, with two lead changes in the final three minutes and a late tie mixed in, as well. The Wildcats got three chances to tie or take the lead on the final possession of the game, junior guard Dug McDaniel missed a pair of three-point attempts and senior wing David N’Guessan missed another jumper to seal their unfortunate fate.

K-State shot 45% from the floor for the game but just 29.2% from three, and it only attempted five free throws for the whole game, making four. Liberty, which entered the game with a higher KenPom ranking than Kansas State, shot 45.3% overall and 45% from beyond the arc.

Junior guard Brendan Hausen led Kansas State in scoring with 14 points in the loss, also hitting four of the team’s seven three-point makes. Three other Wildcats scored in double figures, including 11 points from senior forward Coleman Hawkins, and 10 apiece from N’Guessan and senior guard Achor Achor.

Colin Porter was the Flames’ top scorer with 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting in the victory.

Turnovers were once again a major bugaboo for coach Jerome Tang and his team. While both squads turned it over 13 times on Sunday, Liberty turned those into 24 points. Kansas State tallied just 11 points off Liberty’s turnovers.

With the loss, K-State is now 4-2 overall this season and will play in the third-place game of the Paradise Jam on Monday afternoon, taking on the Longwood Lancers with tipoff scheduled for 4:30 p.m. central time.

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