The game was there for the taking, but K-State failed to grab it.
K-State squandered a golden opportunity to add another road win in Salt Lake City, falling to the University of Utah “Runnin’” Utes by a 74-69 score Monday night.
It’s late, and we’re equal parts disappointed and grumpy, so we’ll be brief.
The Wildcats (13-13, 7-8 Big 12) were only in position to steal a win because they made 11 of 25 three-point attempts (44%), while Utah hit 3 of 19 (16%). That 24-point disparity would be enough to win most games.
Tonight, it was not. One large statistical disparity and one enormous one explain the outcome.
First, Utah (a heretofore awful free-throw shooting team) received 30 charity attempts, and knocked down 23. Ute big man Lawson Lovering had missed 13 of his previous 14 free throw tries entering the game. So what did he do tonight? Make 7 of 12. Not stellar, but a giant improvement. K-State, meanwhile, was 6-10 at the stripe.
The other K-State deficiency is more glaring because it was within the Cats’ own ability to control, and they just did not expend consistent effort to do it. K-State got out-rebounded 51-28. That is not a typo. K-State gave up fifty-one rebounds, including twenty-one offensive boards. Somewhat miraculously, the 2nd-chance point differential was only 14-7. But in a 5-point loss…that’s more than enough.
NCAA Tournament hopes must be all but dashed for the Wildcats now, even with 4 Quad-1 wins. The hots and colds for this team remain extreme.
Brendan Hausen hit three ridiculously difficult deep shots among his 5-11 showing from beyond the arc and led the team with 17 points. Max Jones and Dug McDaniel scored 13 each, on 5-14 and 5-13 shooting, respectively.
Utah’s Ezra Ausar (a 59% free throw shooter for the season) made 7-7 charity attempts and led all scorers with 21.
NEXT GAME
K-State’s win/loss column looks like a string of Christmas lights, after 6 wins followed 6 straight losses. The Cats will try to avoid adding another red light to the tree Sunday at 3:00 against Arizona State, a team they defeated 71-70 on the road February 4.