No one on the Kansas State men’s basketball team bothered to claim “moral victory” following a 67-60 loss against Oklahoma State on Saturday at Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater, Okla.
Unlike some of their previous games, when the struggling Wildcats played with admirable levels of energy and pushed heavily favored opponents to the brink, this defeat didn’t feel like a step forward.
They got beat convincingly by a better team. They also made some painful history in the process. K-State (5-17, 1-12 Big 12) has lost 12 straight games, which now stands as the longest single-season losing streak in program history. It will need to win one of its next three games to avoid breaking the overall record of 14 straight losses, which happened in 1923.
K-State coach Bruce Weber was asked if he had a message for fans who have grown frustrated by the team’s lack of progress.
“Our guys have made improvement,” Weber said. “They keep battling. They don’t quit. Even today when you get down 20 they don’t quit. They gave us a chance. Obviously, we’re frustrated. They want to do well. All I can do is worry about our guys. That is all I can do, try to help them and hope they keep making some progress and find a way to get some wins here down the stretch.”
The Wildcats will need to shoot much better than they did on Saturday to end their losing streak.
No. 23 Oklahoma State (13-6, 6-6 Big 12) surged ahead by 16 in the first half and stretched its lead to 20 early in the second half, as K-State put up brick after brick.
The Cowboys put the game out of reach behind 15 points from freshman guard Cade Cunningham and 10 points each from Bryce Williams and Rondel Walker.
K-State was overmatched, and a cold offensive performance didn’t help. The Wildcats made 25% of their shots in the first half, but that only told part of the story. They missed all eight of their attempts from 3-point range and only made four of 16 layup attempts.
And you thought it was cold outside.
Give credit to Oklahoma State for playing strong defense, but K-State players misfired even when they were open.
Weber called it a “listless” start.
Sophomore forward Antonio Gordon, who posted an impressive double-double of 15 points and 14 rebounds, attributed the team’s dreadful first half to a week of bad practices and a sluggish warm-up on Saturday.
“We didn’t have two good practices,” Gordon said. “The next practice, we will do a lot better. But we had a rough two practices. We weren’t cut in. We weren’t focused.”
Weber didn’t see that coming. Best he can figure, the Wildcats were emotionally drained after a pair of close losses against Texas Tech and Tech.
“It’s been a long season,” Weber said. “They’ve been great at practice ... It was the first time in a long time (they were bad), and it wasn’t that they didn’t try. They just had no energy, no emotion. Maybe just those hard-fought games finally took a toll on our guys.”
Still, the Wildcats did fight back in the second half and managed to cover the 15-point spread thanks in large part to a 16-0 run that briefly put pressure on the Cowboys. K-State looked terrific during that stretch. Mike McGuirl and Nijel Pack made 3-pointers, Gordon nailed a jumper and Kaosi Ezeagu threw down a dunk. All the while, the Wildcats played strong on defense.
That hot stretch made the score 41-37 with 14 minutes, 27 seconds remaining. It was anybody’s game.
“We’re still trying,” freshman forward Davion Bradford said. “It’s not like we’re trying to lose. We’re trying to win. We’re doing good things right now. We just need to be consistent and keep doing better.”
The Cowboys woke up quickly.
They fought back immediately with a Cunningham 3-pointer that sparked seven straight points for Oklahoma State. After a frantic start to the second half, the Cowboys stabilized and led by double digits. K-State pulled within 10 as the game went on, but never truly threatened again.
Pack needed 16 shots to score 14 points. McGuirl was also off, as he missed several open looks that could have kept the game close in the first half.
The Wildcats will need a better effort if they hope to bounce back in their next game against Kansas on Wednesday at Bramlage Coliseum.
“I would like our guys to be rewarded and find a way to get some wins here down the stretch,” Weber said. “But we’re going to have to earn it.”
