0-2 in Conference Play… Ugghh.

Are the wheels really falling off for the Kansas State men’s basketball team? There is no doubt that the Wildcats are no longer the favorites to win the Big 12 and if things continue the way they are moving, the tourney bubble may be the next stop. Next week K-State will drop out of the rankings after starting the season at #4 and to pour acid on the wound, KU has a shot at becoming ranked #1. Continue reading for the good, bad, and ugly of the CU game.

The Good

Pullen taking charge. In the second half when things seemed to be getting out of reach, Pullen stepped up huge and played like Mr. Fear the Beard. We haven’t really seen that out of him at all this season so maybe he is started to get mad enough to become the leader that the team so desperately needs.

Points in the paint. Asprilla and Judge did some serious work in the first half down in the lane. They controlled what took place there and had some great scores.

Stopping Burks. Holding Burks to 4 points in the first half, and just 12 points in the game was great. Remember he was coming of a career high 38 points against Missouri.

The Bad

Pullen losing his handles. Is it just me or does it seem like Pullen has skillets for hands this season? Get him some stick ‘em, some receivers gloves, gorilla glue, or whatever it takes. How many times are we going to have to watch him lose the ball without being touched? I can think of at least 3 specific times in this game and it’s something that is becoming a pattern.

Points in the Paint. The first half saw good work by the big guys. The second half saw a bunch of cold outside shooting and mid range jumpers. K-State was playing from behind but that’s no excuse to completely abandon what was working so well earlier. That was a clear area of advantage for the Cats and it needed to be exploited.

Leaving Knudsen open. That guy absolutely killed us. He had 6 daggers in his pocket and hit the Wildcats with every single one. Sometimes guys just have a hot night which was the case for Knudsen but it doesn’t help that when K-State switched to zone to help stop it, the one guy they lost in that zone was him.

Rebounding. The final stats showed a tie at 40 rebounds per team but that’s not something that goes in the win column for K-State. Our bigs are fully expected to have a huge gap built by the end of each game but that isn’t the case this year. It’s only more clear that rebounding is an issue when McGruder is currently leading the team in that category.

The Ugly

Free Throws. It’s been in the ugly all year long and it isn’t going to change. The loss was by 8 points and there were 8 missed free throws. Kansas State went 13-21 from the line which is actually leaps and bounds better than the season norm but it still was an ugly spectacle. Particularly the misses in the final few minutes that would have pulled the game within 1 or even a tie.

Turnovers. The final total was 15 for K-State which isn’t all that bad of a number but I’m more concerned with how those turnovers are coming. The amount of unforced errors in the passing game and even ball handling is ridiculous. Its one thing to play a team with a great defense that keeps stepping into passing lanes. It’s something completely different to watch a group of guys throw the ball to nobody and simply lose their grip while dribbling.

Talking about KU. Just stop already. If the game that you are announcing doesn’t have KU as one of the participants, no one gives a flying flip about who KU is or how a player (Mario Little) got to come back weeks after beating some girls. Especially the in state rival and especially when said player only had to sit out the same amount of games that Kelly sits out for getting some heavily discounted clothes.