K-State of the Union: Basketball Season Recap

At the mid-point of this basketball season there were a lot of questions that needed to be answered. No one was entirely sure what postseason tournament Kansas State would be playing in or where they would finish in the Big12 standing. Between the losses, drama off the court, and players leaving the program, the outlook was pretty bleak. Those dark and gloomy times were covered in the K-State of the Union: Basketball Where We’ve Been and the K-State of the Union: Basketball Where We’re Going. Thankfully, it all got turned around. February was an incredible month and the Wildcats made it clear they deserved to be in the big dance. Continue reading to revisit some mid-season predictions and remember how the turnaround took place.

At the time of the K-State of the Union: Where we’re Going post, Kansas State was sitting at 1-3 in conference play and 13-6 overall. I made some predictions about how the rest of the schedule would go and figured K-State still had a great shot at finishing 8-8 in conference and 20-11 overall. My argument was that if they could get to .500 in conference which would include a couple big wins, they would still make the NCAA Tournament.  Let’s look at each guess game by game

@ Texas A&M   Prediction: Loss                Actual: Loss 64-56

This was the type of game that Kansas State would be in regularly for the rest of the season; neither team took charge of the action and the score stayed close all night long. In the end, Kansas State just couldn’t pull it out in part because of their atrocious 11-19 shooting from the free throw line.

Vs. Baylor            Prediction: Win                 Actual: Win 69-61

It was slow, it was ugly, but it was a big win at a pivotal moment. Pullen put up his normal numbers but the big surprise of the night was Freshman Will Spradling. #55 went 9-9 on free throws on his way to 17 points and continued to open eyes all around the league.

@ Kansas             Prediction: Hide yo kids, hide yo wife     Actual: Hide yo kids, hide yo wife 90-66

This game was so ugly that for the first time in my long history of watching Kansas State athletics, I turned off the TV and left before the half so I wouldn’t see anymore. (I did DVR in case some miracle come back took place) KU romped starting the game with a nice 15-2 lead and made it look like K-State might never win another game against a legitimate team.

Vs. Nebraska     Prediction: Win                 Actual: Win 69-53

Curtis Kelly woke up for a night and added 16 points to Pullen’s 18. That along with 21 free throws made was more than enough to put away the Huskers in a game that was never really close.

@ Iowa State     Prediction: Win                                 Actual: Win 86-85

There were about 50 lead changes and 40 full minutes of chewing fingernails in this game. Pullen scored 17 of his 21 points in the second half of play but none were bigger than the two that came from his layup with 2.6 seconds remaining. Pullen split the defense at the top of the key, lost the ball but was able to pick it up after watching it roll untouched to a foot in front of the rim, and put it in off the board to secure the win.

@ Colorado        Prediction: Win                                 Actual: Loss 58-56

Days after Pullen’s miracle, Rodney McGruder decided to try for one of his own. If the game would have been 1/10 of a second longer, it would have worked. McGruder put up a 3 point shot as time expired that went in but after an official review, it was waived off. Instead of getting back to .500 in conference, K-State dropped to 4-6 with another game against KU looming.

Vs. Kansas           Prediction: Loss                                Actual: Win 84-68

After the earlier game in Lawrence, I was fully expecting a night of nothing good. Instead, K-State went ballistic and handed it to those liberal hippie freaks! The game was never closer than 5 points after one quarter of the game had been played thanks to the career night of Jacob Pullen. JPullz scored 38 points by the end of the beat down and hit shot after shot after shot. No one could stop him and Kansas’ #1 ranking melted away in the Octagon of Doom.

Check back Friday for the rest of the regular season and post season recap and season summary.