As it turned out, a meeting with newly named head football coach Collin Klein was the highlight of the day in Bramlagh as K-State (5-4) lost its fourth straight – second straight in the Octagon of Gloom – to the Seton Hall Pirates (9-1), 78-67. K-State entered the game as a 2.5-point favorite but spoiled the waters again.
I'm sorry we had to come down from this high and get kicked in the balls by reality.
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K-State came out of the gate with a little more fire than last game (let's not trip over that crossbar), connecting in the backdoor with Nate Johnson to fire up the crowd and get on the board first with a 2-0 lead. K-State would never lead the rest of the way again. Poor perimeter defense allowed Seton Hall to connect on several early threes to take the lead. K-State's Doreen Booka, who did not take the field against Bowling Green despite averaging 10 minutes per game, provided a heroic spark off the bench in the half, posting 4 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists in the half, keeping the Pirates at the rim several times. The Cats were able to tie the game even at 26-all before Seton Hall went on an 8-0 run (without Buka) to retake the lead at the half, 35-29.
Only one team came out after the break – and it wasn't the team in purple and white. Seton Hall had a six-point lead with a 13-point lead, 44-31, before coach Jerome Tan called a quick timeout to try to stop the bleeding. Lots of frustration as Seton Hall continued to hold the Cats back, leading to Tan eventually boiling over and getting a three for no call where PJ Haggerty looked like he got tripped on the way to the bucket (to be fair, the contact wasn't a foul; Haggerty tripped over his own feet). Haggerty then caught two fast individuals making absolutely crap calls right in front of Tan in a Seton Hall sideline game, and how Tan managed to avoid getting ejected is incredible. Technical free throws extended the Pirates' lead to 16 before K-State made a run to push it back to 9 and 51-42. It didn't take long for the 'Cats to turn the score around a couple times and allow Seton Hall to push the lead back to 16 at 60-44. Another nice little run and K-State cuts the lead to 8, but Seton Hall pushes it back to 17 just before the 4-under media timeout. After the timeout, it became abundantly clear that the only question would be the final spread, which ended 78-67 after a late attack by the Cats.
All five K-State starters finished in double figures, with Khamari McGriff leading the way with 12 points, 8 boards and 3 blocks. Haggerty finished with 11 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists and somehow only 6 turns. Buka had a solid game; only 5 points, but 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 blocks and, as mentioned earlier, his presence at center prevented a number of Seton Hall breakthroughs.
The Pirates were led by AJ Staton-McCray with 16 points (albeit on 3-15 shooting), 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals.
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THREE IN THE KEY
1) Defense? Optional.
Open views from 3? Check. Overplaying the passing lane, giving up an easy bucket? Check. Allow a coast-to-coast stopover when your “defenses” are more or less restored and ready? Check.
This team will be torched in conference play if this is the best they can come up with defensively. At the same time, the protection was likely good enough to win this game.
2) Resentment? Offensive.
Revolutions? Check. Bricks? Check. No real offensive flow? Check. The Best Shooters In America™ managed to go 6-30 from deep (3-26 in the first 38 minutes), 23-62 overall (a great 37% from the field) and a really good start in the new on-campus facility with all the bricks out of the streak (15-35, 43% from the field). It all comes down to offensive execution.
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This team now looks lost on offense – much like the offensively bogged down and inept teams of the late Bruce Weber era. They don't move well, or more accurately, they don't move enough to get the defense out of position. The result is a lack of open shots. When we Maybe Finding open shots is very difficult for us to do. The result is a death spiral of confidence that spills over into free throw shooting.
Even if the defense improves, mediocre Big 12 teams will easily beat us if we can't shoot the basketball more efficiently.
3) Haggerty? Clearly average.
3-12 today from the field, 11 points. 5-12 from the line. His usually pedestrian defense was undoubtedly terrible today. All this on the heels of going 6-19 from the floor and 4-9 from the line against Bowling Green. The top scorer of the first division is experiencing serious difficulties.
He looks depressed on the floor. He looks depressed on the bench. He's been finding it increasingly difficult to get to the basket the last few games, and when he does, his shot attempts go from difficult to requiring divine intervention. And almost every time he gets up from his seat, begging to call.
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I don't know if it was injury or what, but if our leading scorer deals with adversity and adversity like that, it's going to be a very long season for him. And for us.
OLD MAN SHOUTS AT THE CLOUDS:
It was only a matter of time before college basketball was officiated fairly. So. bad.
There are so many simple missed calls in our game. Violations. Goalkeepers. Trips. So much. And while I'm sitting here watching the CU/CSU game, there's a late call about the ball going out of bounds for CU on the bounce. The referees get together and change the decision to cut the CSU player. CSU's problems – video review shows the ball leaving a CSU player's fingers – yet the refs overturn the call that the player is out of bounds for CU. All this timewhat's not up for review is the fact that a CU player fucking fouled a CSU player in the process – and this is exactly what the call should have been like from the very beginning.
We all – fans, players, coaches, programs – are hostage to the incompetence of the zebras, especially in close games. And I sit here and wonder why I care about the outcome of a competition that is so often influenced by mediocrity.
CSU ultimately won. Screw CU.
NEXT
Mississippi Valley State will enter the octagon of darkness on Monday, December 8th. Will the Cats be able to come up with something? I'm not holding my breath right now.
