MANHATTAN — If the Kansas State basketball team’s performance against Houston showed nothing else, it accentuated the gap that exists between the two programs.
K-State coach Jerome Tang said as much after watching No. 11-ranked Houston dismantle his Wildcats, 87-57, Saturday at Bramlage Coliseum.
“We could play our best game against these guys in a packed arena, and it’s going to be hard to beat them,” said Tang, who was much more critical of his team following Tuesday’s 14-point road loss at Oklahoma State. “So, when you don’t bring your best game, it’s just tip your hat to them.”
The loss was the sixth in seven games for the Wildcats, who fell below .500 for the first time at 7-8 with a 1-3 Big 12 record. Houston improved to 12-3 overall and 4-0 in the conference.
“This wasn’t an effort issue. They’re just better than we are at maybe every position,” said Tang, whose Wildcats trailed 46-24 at halftime, trimmed the deficit to 14 midway through the second half, and then saw Houston go on a 19-3 tear to blow it open. “They’re not just more talented, (but) they have an experience to them.
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“They’ve got two guys that are six-year guys, and one of them is six years in the program, and three guys that have three-plus years in addition to that in the program. So, hats off to coach (Kelvin) Sampson to be able to build that kind of program.”
Sampson, now in his 11th year at Houston, agreed that continuity has played a pivotal role in his team’s sustained success.
“I would say that the most impressive thing about our program is that in the last 10 years, we’ve had three kids transfer out that have played in our top 10 players,” Sampson said. “Our kids have developed great culture here, and that’s allowed them to be consistent in just about everything we do.”
To wit, Houston came into the game leading the nation in scoring defense at 54 points a game. K-State’s 57 points were the most the Cougars had allowed during their current eight-game winning streak, or in any victory this season for that matter.
Not only that, but Houston outrebounded the Wildcats, 44-20, leading to a 20-1 advantage in second-chance points, and did not turn the ball over until nearly seven minutes into the second half for a 21-7 cap in points off turnovers.
“They’re a really good team; really well coached,” said K-State guard Brendan Hausen, who led the Wildcats with 15 points on five 3-pointers. “They’re very good at what they do.
“Coming in, we had a plan. We attacked it. But they’re really aggressive, and it can overwhelm teams for sure.”
K-State shot 50% in the second half, including 4 of 9 from 3-point range, but also turned the ball over 10 times after the break to finish with 15 for the game. They also were outscored in the paint, 52-18, which was further evidence of Houston’s dominance on the interior.
“Every time we made a mistake, they made us pay. And sometimes when we didn’t make a mistake they made us pay. They have different-level athletes,” Tang said.
If anything good came from the beatdown, Tang added, it offered a blueprint for what K-State must do to level the playing field against the best teams in the Big 12.
“Our goal is to get there,” said Tang, who in his third season only has just one player on the roster, forward David N’Guessan, who has been a contributor all three years. “Our goal is to get there where we have multiple David N’Guessans in the program that are on the floor at the same time.
“That’s where we’ve got to get to, and we have to figure out how to get there in a day and age where kids are allowed to leave whenever they want to. And so, me and my staff, we have a challenge, but it’s a challenge that we’re embracing, we’re accepting, and we’re going full speed ahead.”
Arne Green is based in Salina and covers Kansas State University sports for the Gannett network. He can be reached at agreen@gannett.com or on Twitter at @arnegreen.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Houston exposes Kansas State basketball in dominating 87-57 win
