Kansas State Wildcats blown out by Houston Cougars 74-52
The Kansas State Wildcats suffered their second-consecutive loss and their most lopsided defeat of the year this weekend when they fell to the fourth-ranked Houston Cougars 74-52.
What’s more, this was the biggest margin of defeat for K-State in the Jerome Tang era. The Wildcats’ last loss by more was on Jan. 25, 2022 under Bruce Weber (74-49 versus the Baylor Bears).
Saturday’s game was a struggle from the very start for K-State. The Cougars got off to an 11-0 run to open the game, forcing the Wildcats to play from behind immediately. The deficit reached 20 points going into halftime and was as large as 29 points in the second half.
Junior Cam Carter led K-State in scoring in this weekend’s loss with 16 points on 6-of-15 shooting. Junior forward Arthur Kaluma and freshman guard Dai Dai Ames were the Wildcats’ two other double-digit scorers with 11 points apiece. Senior guard Tylor Perry, who is averaging 14 points per game this season, tied his career low with just three points in the losing effort.
Jamal Shead was Houston’s leading scorer with 17 points. K-State actually shot marginally better from the floor than Houston did in the game; the Wildcats shot 40.4% while the Cougars made exactly 40% of their shots.
K-State only made it to the free throw line 12 times in the loss, while Houston attempted 34 foul shots on Saturday.
With the loss, K-State sits in sixth place in the Big 12 standings with a 4-3 conference record. The Wildcats will face both Oklahoma schools coming up over the next week. First K-State will welcome the 11th-ranked Oklahoma Sooners to Bramlage Coliseum on Tuesday night. Then, next weekend, Kansas State will go back on the road to face the Oklahoma State Cowboys, who are currently in last place in the Big 12 standings.
For more on the Kansas State Wildcats’ 74-52 loss to the Houston Cougars, check out 580 Sports Talk Monday from 2-6 on 580 WIBW.
