K-State Comes Up Clutch in Overtime over North Alabama, 75-74

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas State scored 13 straight points, including the last 5 in regulation to force overtime, as the Wildcats seized the momentum to overtake North Alabama, 75-74, in the extra period on Saturday afternoon before 9,528 fans at Bramlage Coliseum.

K-State (6-2) won its third overtime game of the season, including its second in a row, as the Wildcats moved to 8-0 in overtime games under head coach Jerome Tang. He is the first head coach in school history to win his first eight overtime games, breaking a tie with Dana Altman, who was a perfect 7-0 in overtime games in his tenure from 1991-94. Only Hall of Fame head coaches Tex Winter (15) and Jack Hartman (14) have won overtime games than Tang in school history.

Senior Tylor Perry, who led five Wildcats in double figures with 16 points, helped rally the Wildcats from a 65-60 deficit with 27 seconds left, as he had a hand in the last 5 points, including the game-tying 3-pointer with 8 seconds left that sent the game to overtime at 65-all.

It marked the sixth time in his Division I career that Perry has made a shot to either win a game or send the game into overtime, as he led the country with 5 as a junior at North Texas in 2021-22.

In the overtime period, Perry had two assists on layups by senior David N’Guessan along with a jumper and a pair of free throws by junior Arthur Kaluma, as the Wildcats scored the first 8 points in overtime to take a 73-65 lead with 2:43 to play. However, North Alabama (4-4) got a 4-point play from junior Detalian Brown and two free throws from junior Will Soucie to close to within 73-71 with 9 seconds.

K-State was able to execute a perfect inbounds play with a long pass and dunk by junior Cam Carter with 7 seconds to take 75-71 lead before a 3-pointer by freshman Canin Jefferson closed it to 75-74 with 0.9 seconds left. Carter missed both free throws on the ensuing possession, but the Lions couldn’t get a shot off before the clock expired.

Perry was joined in double figures by Carter (14 points), Kaluma (12 points), N’Guessan (12 points) and redshirt sophomore Jerrell Colbert, who set career-highs in both points (10) and rebounds (8). Kaluma tied Colbert for the team lead in rebounds, while Perry dished out a team-best 6 assists for the fourth consecutive game and the fifth time overall.

K-State connected on just 35.2 percent (19-of-54) from the field, including 16.7 percent (3-of-18) from 3-point range, while the Wildcats scored nearly half their points from the free throw line, where they made 34 of 48 attempts. The 34 makes were the most in a game since 2015, while the 48 attempts tied for the most since 2016.

North Alabama connected on just 35 percent (21-of-60) from the field but did make 10 3-pointers on 28 attempts and were stellar from the free throw line, making 22 of 28 attempts. Three players scored in double figures led by 19 points each from Brown and sophomore Jacari Lane. Lane dished out a game-high 11 assists, while senior Damian Forrest grabbed a game-best 10 rebounds.

HOW IT HAPPENED

North Alabama got off to a fast start, knocking down 3 of its first 4 shots, including a pair of 3-pointers, to jump out to a 10-3 barely 3 minutes into the game. Despite a poor offensive start to the game, K-State was able to slowly chip away at the deficit, tying it at 13-all on a pair of free throws by junior Arthur Kaluma, then take a lead on two more free throw by freshman Dai Dai Ames.

However, UNA was able grab the momentum back with a 9-3 run to take a 25-21 lead just after the final media timeout of the half at the 3:42 mark. The Lions were able to continue to push their advantage the rest of the half to take a 31-23 lead into the halftime break.

UNA connected on 40 percent (10-of-25) from the field in the first half with six players posting at least one made field goal, while K-State was held to a season-low 23.1 percent (6-of-26) shooting, including 14.3 percent (1-of-7) from the 3-point range.

The Lions extended their lead to double figures with 5 straight points to start the second half, including a 3-pointer from junior Detalian Brown. The Wildcats were able to chip away at the deficit, using a 13-1 run to tie the game at 37-all and force a timeout by UNA head coach Tony Pujol at the 13:52 mark.

The Lions got a 3-pointer from Brown out of the timeout to jump back ahead at 40-37 and push ahead at 44-40 on a pair of free throws by sophomore Jacari Lane with 11:40 to play. The Wildcats scored 6 in a row to briefly take the lead at 46-44 on free throws by senior Tylor Perry. However, UNA responded by scoring 12 of the next 13 points to take a 56-47 lead with 6:30 remaining.

Freshman R.J. Jones scored 6 straight points off a 3-pointer and 3 made free throws then Perry added a pair of free throws to close the gap to 56-55. The Lions got a 3-pointer from the corner from graduate Tim Smith Jr. on the next possession to start a run of 7 of the next 10 points to build the lead back up to 63-56 with 2:39 to play. The Wildcats were able to end the game with 9 of the last 11 points, capped by the 3-pointer by Perry, to tie it up 65-all.

K-State scored the first 8 points in the overtime period, including 4 from senior David N’Guessan, 2 from Kaluma and Perry, for a 73-65 lead with 2:43 left. However, UNA didn’t back down, getting a 4-point play from Brown and 2 free throws from junior Will Soucie to close it to 73-71 with 9 seconds. Junior Cam Carter finished off the scoring with a dunk on inbounds play.

HEAD COACH JEROME TANG

On the game…

“Well, you know, hats off to (head coach) Anthony Pujol and his team. I thought [that] for 39 minutes they were better than we were, they played harder, and we didn’t deserve to win that game. But guys figured out a way in the last minute of regulation and then in overtime, and you know just that’s a credit to our guy’s grit and toughness and togetherness. And you know, just thankful that we figured out a way and now we can wash it onto the next.”

On what could be improved moving forward…

“That’s a really good question. It’s not a basketball thing. It’s a character thing. And it’s not a major character thing. It’s little things that cause things to go wrong. We didn’t have our full allotment of guys today because guys made poor decisions leading up in preparation and all those things. There’s a lot of little things that each guy has to decide that being a part of this team and this program and winning basketball games is more important than themselves. And so that’s one thing, but particularly tonight, we just didn’t shoot the ball well, right. And, I mean, they obviously had a game plan that they were going to let us take certain shots and try and contest them and they did a good job of executing that. But there are issues. Some of it is basketball, but a lot of it is just the process of bringing a bunch of individuals together and trying to get them to be a team and care more about the next person than themselves. ”

On how stressful the last two games have been…

“The games are not stressful. That’s the fun part. That’s the part where I don’t have to worry about all the other things, the games are fun. [We’ve had] close overtime [games], and I never want to be in that situation. And you think ‘well man, we should be better than this team, right?’ We should play better, but being in these moments allows you to see under fire how guys perform. And then hopefully we can take that and then use it not just under fire but use it throughout the whole game and then we’re not in these situations. But this is what I know, if we’re in a close game down the stretch, I’m not going to panic, and I know the guys aren’t because they’ve seen themselves be successful in those situations.”

On if he’s excited for the big game against Villanova next week…

“I know what I’m supposed to say and what y’all expect me to say. But I want to get to the point where every time the ‘Cats play it’s a big game, and it doesn’t matter who the opponent is, and that the people are lined up to get in here. I mean, that’s what everybody says that we want to run here, right? We want to have a big time basketball program. We want to win championships, and all this kind of stuff, but it starts with us believing that we’re the best and we’re not coming to see who we’re playing against, but the fact that we’re playing. So that’s what I want.”

TEAM NOTES

K-State (6-2) moved to 5-0 at home with a 75-74 overtime win over North Alabama.
K-State has won 14 straight at home at non-conference play since 2021-22.
K-State is now 177-55 in non-conference play since 2006-07.
K-State is now 124-12 at home in non-conference play since 2006-07.
K-State moves to 8-0 in overtime games under Jerome Tang, including 3-0 in 2023-24… He

is the first head coach in school history to win his first eight overtime games, breaking a tie with Dana Altman, who was a perfect 7-0 in overtime games in his tenure from 1991-94. Only Tex Winter (15) and Jack Hartman (14) have won overtime games than Tang.

K-State scored its 75 points on 35.2 percent (19-of-54) shooting, including 16.7 percent (3-of-18) from 3-point range, and 70.8 percent (34-of-48) from the free throw line.
The Wildcats have now scored at least 75 points in 7 consecutive games.
The 34 made free throws are the most in a game since hitting 36 vs. South Dakota on Nov. 20, 2015, while the 48 attempts were the most since also attempting 48 vs. Southern Utah on Nov. 14, 2014… Both were just outside the school’s all-time top-10.
K-State held advantages in points off turnovers (16-10), points in the paint (30-16), fast-break points (19-3) and bench points (19-6).
K-State started a lineup of senior Tylor Perry, freshman Dai Dai Ames, junior Cam Carter, junior Arthur Kaluma and senior David N’Guessan… It marked the first time using this lineup… Carter has now started all 44 games in his K-State career… Carter, N’Guessan and Perry have started all 8 games… Kaluma and Ames earned their sixth and third starts, respectively.

PLAYER NOTES

Five Wildcats scored in double figures led by 16 points by senior Tylor Perry, who went 3-of-9 from the field and 9-of-11 from the free throw line… Junior Cam Carter scored 14 points on 5-of-17 shooting while junior Arthur Kaluma and senior David N’Guessan each added 12 points… Redshirt sophomore Jerrell Colbert scored a career-high 10 points to go with a career-best 8 rebounds off the bench.
K-State is now 7-0 under Jerome Tang when five or more players score in double figures.
Perry led the way with 16 points on 3-of-9 field goals and 9-of-11 free throws to go with 6 assists in nearly 40 minutes of action… He has now scored in double figures in 64 career games, including 7 at K-State… His 6 assists matched a season-high for the fifth time.
Carter scored 14 points on 5-of-17 field goals and 3-of-6 free throws to go with 4 rebounds and a team-high 2 steals in 43 minutes… He has now scored in double figures in 16 career games, including 6 times in 2023-24.
Kaluma scored 12 points on 1-of-10 field goals and 10-of-12 free throws to go with a game-tying 8 rebounds and 2 assists in 38 minutes… He now has scored in double figures in 46 career games, including 6 times at K-State.
N’Guessan hit double figures for the fourth time this season with 12 points on 5-of-6 field goals and 2-of-4 free throws to go with 7 rebounds, an assist and a steal in 28 minutes… It was his 15 career double-digit scoring game.
Colbert registered career-highs in both points (10) and rebounds (8), as he made 3-of-5 field goals and 4-of-7 free throws with a pair of blocked shots in 16 minutes.

UP NEXT

K-State concludes its 4-game homestand on Tuesday, Dec. 5 when the Wildcats play host to No. 18/15 Villanova (6-3) for a White Out at 6 p.m., CT on ESPN2. The game is sold out.