Looking at scouting reports and running through situations at practice are things every team does in preparation for a matchup. But when that last scenario at practice becomes the same circumstance during the game, there’s almost more on the line since it’s already been rehearsed.
“We do a drill almost every day in practice called championship points,” Kansas State head coach Jerome Tang said. “You get a stop, a score and a stop, that’s how you win a championship. We ended the game on two championship points, so I’m really proud of the guys for that.”
With eight lead changes and six ties in the second half, K-State was able to triumph over the Tulsa Golden Hurricane in an 84-83 battle.
The largest gap K-State had in the second half was when they led 70-62 after PJ Haggerty sank a pair of free throws with 7:25 remaining in the game. It was a dogfight after that, going point for point with Tulsa.
The Golden Hurricane were on a roll, tying the game at 74-74 with 3:35 remaining, when they made a pair of free throws along with a layup. The Wildcats responded in the possession after with a layup by Haggerty to tie the game again at 76-76.
As momentum and energy flowed throughout Bramlage Coliseum, fans, coaches and players could feel the extreme highs and lows as both teams were aggressively making shots along with effective defense.
Under the two-minute mark, Khamari McGriff would find himself at the free-throw line, sinking both shots and trailing by one point. The Golden Hurricane would make another basket down low, pushing the lead back to three points.
On K-State’s next possession, David Castillo had the chance to tie up the game with a three-point shot from the right corner, but it would bounce off the far side of the rim.
Getting caught up on the rebound, K-State committed a foul, sending Tulsa to the free-throw line, where they sank both shots, extending their lead back to five points.
Even through the back-and-forth, the Wildcats weren’t ready to give up and persevered.
Going full steam ahead, Haggerty drew a foul as he drove to the basket, sending himself to the free-throw line. There he would sink both shots, getting the score within three, 83-80.
The Wildcats’ defense came out intense, forcing a turnover with 37 seconds remaining.
Once again, Haggerty pushed his way down the court, making contact with a Hurricane, but finishing the play with a teardrop shot at the block. K-State found itself down by one, needing possession of the ball. Tulsa panicked as the ‘Cats came out in a full-court press, tossing the ball up and into McGriff’s hands, where he would find Castillo to handle it from there.
When Castillo saw an open lane, he cut to the right, took a long stride, made contact and ricocheted the ball off the backboard and through the net, forcing Tulsa into a timeout as the Wildcats were up by one, 84-83.
Coming out of the timeout, the Golden Hurricane attempted a three-pointer, but missed. K-State made its last attempt to grab the rebound, allowing Tulsa a final opportunity to make a basket on the inbound, but was unsuccessful.
The crowd erupted in enthusiasm and cheering as they watched their Wildcats play with determination until the very last seconds of the clock ran out.
“We’ve got to embrace this competitive fight,” Tang said. “We’ve got to love this. We have to love these kinds of games, because these games really tell you who you are. They show who you are and [I’m] so proud of the guys.”
Despite only shooting 44.1% (30-of-68) from the field goal range, points were made up at the free throw line, where the Wildcats shot 90.5% (19-of-21).
“I think we could have been more aggressive,” Castillo said. “[We could’ve] been more aggressive downhill and not let our shooting affect other sides of the ball, like on defense and rebounding. I think we could be better than that.”
Nevertheless, four Wildcats were able to hit double figures one way or another. Haggerty had an outstanding performance, scoring 31 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. It was his fourth career double-double along with his fourth career 30-point game.
With Haggerty’s execution, he became the first Wildcat to post a 31-point, 10-rebound game since Michael Beasley had 33 points and 14 rebounds against Colorado on March 4, 2008.
“It’s a blessing,” Haggerty said. “I think the offense and my teammates set me up for allowing me to be myself. You can see [assistant] coach [Matthew] Driscoll back there. He has a great offensive scheme just for everybody to eat. And I think tonight was just one of them nights where they allowed me [to] just get to my spots and just be myself.”
McGriff was a big man down at the block, neared a double-double with 13 points and nine rebounds.
“I love playing with him; he plays hard every game,” Haggerty said. “You know what you get from Khamari [McGriff]? Layups, easy layups, lot of rebounds, great screens. We got a lot of great bigs that help us, but he’s been doing very well.”
Despite going 1-for-5 at the three-point line, Castillo put up 12 points on the board and earned his third straight double-digit scoring game.
“David Castillo is a really good basketball player,” Tang said. “What I loved was that when he missed the open three that could have tied the game, you saw him beating himself, but he didn’t let it linger. Then we get to steal, and he’s coming down and he’s like, ‘I’m gonna go make this bucket’. He didn’t hesitate to want to pass it to somebody; he had the advantage. He went and got it and made the finish. It was awesome.”
Rounding out the scoreboard stats, Abdi Bashir Jr. collected 10 points. This was Bashir Jr.’s third time in four games to achieve double figures.
Going forward, K-State needs to address key components of its defense to secure wins against higher-level teams.
“We’ve got to do better when we’re in certain coverages,” Tang said. “We had times where four guys were in it and one guy wasn’t, and then they [Tulsa] were able to get a slip. There’s no way in the world somebody should have been able to get an open shot. We just weren’t on the same page there. We’ve got to all have all five on the same page, be able to communicate, especially on that end of the court where we’re [coaches] not there to talk to them.”
Even though the Wildcats defeated Tulsa, Tang was more impressed by his team’s ability to remain composed in the face of a five-point deficit with 43 seconds left because they had practiced similar strategies previously.
During the Hall of Fame Classic on Nov. 20, K-State will play Mississippi State in the second game of a doubleheader at the T-Mobile Center. Tipoff will be at 8:30 p.m. on Peacock and NBC Sports Now.
