Second Half Surge Lifts K-State Past Chicago State, 62-55

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas State scored the first 8 points out of halftime as part of an 11-2 run to open the second half, as the Wildcats flipped the momentum en route to wrapping up non-conference play with a 62-55 win over Chicago State on Tuesday night before 9,123 fans at Bramlage Coliseum.

With the victory, K-State (10-3) tallied double-digit wins in non-conference play for the second consecutive season while dispatching a pesky Chicago State (7-13) team – the lone independent team in Division I – which already had a win over a Top 25 opponent (Northwestern) this season.

Junior Cam Carter had an all-around impressive night for the Wildcats, scoring a game-tying 19 points on 6-of-16 field goals and 6-of-6 free throws to go with 7 rebounds, 4 steals and 3 assists in 36 minutes. Fellow junior Arthur Kaluma collected his sixth career double-double, including his third as a Wildcat, with 14 points and a season-tying 13 rebounds, while senior David N’Guessan narrowly missed a double-double with 12 points and 9 rebounds to go with a pair of blocks.

K-State trailed by as many as 7 points in the first half to Chicago State before closing out the half with 6 of the final 8 points to get within 30-27 at the break. The Wildcats then scored the first 8 points out of halftime as part of an 11-2 run to open the second half to take a 38-32 lead at the first media timeout.

All told, the Wildcats outscored the Cougars, 17-4, between the last 3:58 of the first half and the first 4:03 of the second half to flip a 7-point deficit into a 6-point lead with just over 16 minutes left.

Although CSU closed to within a possession at 46-44 with just over 10 minutes remaining, K-State was able to answer with a 6-0 run, including a pair of electrifying dunks by Carter, to push ahead by 8 points with 7:24 to play. From there, the Cougars would get no closer than 5 points the rest of the way.

K-State scored 38 of its 62 points in the paint and held a 46-22 advantage on the glass, which included 16 offensive rebounds that led to 12 second-chance points. The Wildcats have now outrebounded 9 of their 12 opponents this season.

K-State connected on 52.2 percent (12-of-23) of its field goals in the second half to finish at 43.1 percent (22-of-51) for the game. Chicago State hit on 36.7 percent (18-of-49) of its field goals, but just 32 percent (8-of-25) after halftime, including 25 percent (2-of-8) from 3-point range.

In addition to the three double-digit scorers, the Wildcats got a boost from freshman wing Taj Manning, who played for the first time since the Central Arkansas game on Nov. 22, adding 4 points, 3 rebounds and an assist in just over 14 minutes of action.

Highly touted junior guard Wesley Cardet Jr., matched Carter with 19 points, including 13 in the second half, to lead the Cougars, who are in the midst of an 8-game road trip. He was joined in double figures by fellow junior Jahsean Corbett, who added 12 points.

K-State is now 3-0 all-time against Chicago State.

HOW IT HAPPENED

K-State had the early advantage, jumping out to a 6-2 lead behind buckets from senior Will McNair Jr., junior Cam Carter and freshman Dai Dai Ames. However, Chicago State struck back with 11 of the next 16 points to take its first lead at 13-11 with 11:21 remaining in the first half. The Wildcats briefly retook the lead at 14-13 on free throws by Carter and senior David N’Guessan, but the Cougars snatched the momentum back with 6 straight points for a 19-14 advantage at the 7:10 mark.

A 3-point play by junior Arthur Kaluma closed the deficit to 21-19, but CSU scored 7 of the next 9 points to extend its lead to 28-21 at the final media timeout of the half with just under 4 minutes remaining. The Wildcats were able to close to within 28-27 with a 6-0 run with just under 3 to play, but the Cougars were able to close out the half with a pair of free throws from Wesley Cardet to lead 30-27.

Carter paced all scorers with 11 points, while junior Jahsean Corbett led CSU with 10 points.

K-State seized the early momentum with an 11-2 run out of the halftime break, including 8 straight points, to take a 38-32 lead just before the first media timeout with 15:57 remaining. However, CSU slowly chipped away at the deficit, closing to within 46-44 on 3-of-4 shooting from the free throw line.

The Wildcats were able to push out ahead at 52-44 with 6 straight points, which included a pair of dunks by Carter, with 7:24 to play. The Cougars continued to stay within striking distance by scoring 6 of the next 9 points to close the gap to 55-50 just after the final media timeout with 3:40 remaining.

Redshirt freshman Taj Manning provided a lift with consecutive baskets, including a dunk that made it 59-50 with just over a minute to play. Although CSU got within 60-55 on a 3-pointer by Cardet with 23 seconds left, senior Tylor Perry closed it out from the line with a pair of free throws.

HEAD COACH JEROME TANG

On the game…

“You know, first of all just thankful for the crowd and to be back in Bram [Bramlage Coliseum]. Chicago State, very well coached, [by] Coach [Gerald] Gillion, just his whole family. I don’t know if y’all know, but they’re a big time basketball family in Florida. When I was a high school coach, his brothers brought our team in for an event in Tallahassee, they just have a great AAU program down there, and I knew they were going to be tough and successful. They actually have two guys who were ineligible, who didn’t get cleared, and if they were playing coach Marco [Borne] would have been fired for scheduling that game. But he’s [Coach Gillion’s] gonna do a great job there. So, we knew it was gonna be a rock fight. And you know, I’m proud of our non-conference [performance], to go 10-3 and not have two guys that you thought were gonna be contributors for you, and dudes just figuring out a way.”

On Taj Manning…

“So proud of Taj Manning, the young fella. Part of what we do, and most of what I hope we do, is just develop men and then teach them how to be great people first and love their teammates and care about the team more than they care about themselves. And this week coming back, Ques [Glover] was practicing most of the time, and so minutes in practice were cut down for some guys and Taj could have stood on the side and sulked, but instead he sent a text message to [assistant coach] Anthony Winchester, who had the scout, and asked him if he could be on scout team. So, you got a dude, a scholarship guy who volunteers to be on scout team to help my team in any way I can. And so, because of that, he was ready, right, he was ready for this. We needed energy and I knew he would bring energy and four minutes on the floor in the first half, it changed the energy. The stat sheet might have said one rebound, but just his four minutes out there changed it, and he was ready. He didn’t sulk, he didn’t pout, he just keeps working and I don’t know what it’s gonna look like moving forward for him, but I know that you can count on a guy like that.”

On why the team has not shot the ball well of late…

“I don’t know. I don’t know. We’re gonna go and look and figure it out. This is what I know, we have these drills that we run, and they have certain standards, and I’ve had to increase the standard level. We have a minute and 30 drill that we do, a minute 30 seconds, you’ve got to make 90. The numbers 90, full court, up and down, shooting threes. And we’ve consistently blown 90 up, so I raised it to 100, and we’re hitting 100, and in Bram, we’re shooting in Bram. So, it’s not like depth perception and stuff, and I mean it’s our guys who can shoot, I mean one for four, one for four, one for four. I wish Art [Arthur Kaluma] would’ve shot that catch and shoot three in the corner after he just made one instead of the shot fake one dribble, step back. Maybe some of it is that we’re taking tougher shots and making them harder than they need to be, not being shot ready. But we’re gonna go break it all down, look at it and figure out how to do it. I know we’re a better shooting team than we’ve shown. And we as a staff have to figure out how to help.”

TEAM NOTES

K-State (10-3) wrapped up non-conference play with a 62-55 win over Chicago State.
K-State earned double-digit wins in non-conference play for the second straight season and the 14^th time in the last 19 seasons (since 2006-07).
K-State is now 181-56 in non-conference play since 2006-07, including 127-13 at home.
K-State is now 3-0 all-time against Chicago State.
K-State scored its 62 points on 43.1 percent (22-of-51) shooting, including 21.4 percent (3-of-14) from 3-point range, while the Wildcats hit on 65.2 percent (15-of-23) from the free throw line.
K-State scored 38 of its 62 points in the paint.
K-State held a 46-22 advantage in rebounding, including 16 offensive rebounds that led 12 second-chance points… The Wildcats have now won the rebounding battle in 9 of 13 games.
K-State held the advantage in points off turnovers (6-4), points in the paint (38-16), second-chance points (12-6) and fast-break points (12-2).
K-State started a lineup of senior Tylor Perry, junior Cam Carter, junior Arthur Kaluma and senior David N’Guessan and senior Will McNair Jr. … It marked the ninth time using this lineup… Carter has now started all 49 games in his K-State career… Carter, N’Guessan and Perry have started all 13 games… Kaluma and McNair earned their 11th starts, respectively.

PLAYER NOTES

Three Wildcats scored in double figures led by junior Cam Carter’s game-tying 19 points.
Carter was joined in double figures by junior Arthur Kaluma (14 points) and senior David N’Guessan (12 points).
K-State is now 10-2 this season when three or more players score in double figures.
Carter scored his 19 points on 6-of-16 field goals, including 1-of-4 from 3-point range, and 6-of-6 free throws to go with 7 rebounds, 4 steals and 3 assists in 36 minutes… He has now scored in double figures in 21 career games, including 11 times this season.
Kaluma collected his sixth career double-double, including his third as a Wildcat with 14 points and a season-high 13 rebounds… He connected on 5-of-11 field goals, including 1-of-4 from 3-point range, and 3-of-5 free throws… He has now scored in double figures in 50 career games, including 10 this season.
Senior David N’Guessan missed a double-double with 12 points and 9 rebounds to go with 2 blocked shots… He finished 4-of-7 from the field and 4-of-9 from the free throw line… He has now scored in double figures in 17 career games, including 6 this season.
Redshirt freshman Taj Manning had 4 points and 3 rebounds off the bench… It was his first action of the season since the Central Arkansas game on Nov. 22.

UP NEXT

K-State opens Big 12 play on Saturday night as the Wildcats welcome league newcomer UCF (9-3) for a 5 p.m., CT tipoff at Bramlage Coliseum. Tickets are still available at kstatesports.com/tickets.