There are many reasons why Kansas State has played less-than-impressive basketball lately, but it’s pretty obvious what the biggest of those reasons is this morning.
The Wildcats aren’t getting enough out of their frontcourt.
During an excruciating 57-44 loss to Florida at BankAtlantic Center on Saturday, starting forwards Freddy Asprilla and Curtis Kelly contributed a measly five points and five rebounds — combined. Jamar Samuels, outside of a few nice shots early and a decent defensive effort, could provide only five points and five rebounds off the bench.
As the game went on, K-State coach Frank Martin was desperate for a spark and sent Jordan Henriquez-Roberts, Wally Judge and Victor Ojeleye onto the court. None of them were effective against the Gators.
Much like their disappointing effort against Loyola Chicago, the Wildcats were outrebounded by Florida and unable to score second-chance points. Seriously, they ended the game with a whopping three. Though that stat does look better than the zero fast-break points they scored.
Martin brought in former banger Luis Colon to help the team and introduce a new level of physical contact to practices earlier in the week, and was at a loss trying to explain why that didn’t properly prepare his big men for Saturday’s game.
“I’ve got no idea,” Martin said. “As long as Rodney McGruder continues to rebound the basketball and our bigs don’t, I don’t know what to tell you. We have to do a better job rebounding. Florida was the most physical team we’ve played all year. They beat us at our game, which is being physical. That’s happened here for the last three games. That’s something that’s got to change for us to be a better team.”
He’s right. Earlier in the season, when McGruder was the team’s leading rebounder most treated his play as an unexpected bonus. But at some point you have to let your small forward play on the perimeter like he’s designed to, and knock down shots.
His eight rebounds against Florida could have been much more valuable had Kelly grabbed nine boards instead of one. It was the same story as last week, when Jacob Pullen led the team with nine rebounds and no one else grabbed more than five.
It’s on Kelly, Asprilla, Samuels and Judge to fix this situation. Kelly entered the year as a preseason All-Big 12 selection. Asprilla was compared to Colon with the ability to easily score. Samuels owns a Big 12 Sixth Man of the Year award. Judge is a former high school All-American.
They have the talent. They have played well in the past. But right now, they are struggling.
Can they use all this as a learning experience and quickly turn things around?
Martin only issued one statement on that topic before heading home, and he issued it to the entire team.
“It will get fixed,” Martin said, “or they won’t be wearing a K-State uniform anymore.”
EMPTYING THE NOTEBOOK
– Nino Williams recently suffered his second concussion of the early season in practice and was not available for Saturday’s game. Martin said he plans to issue a press release on the situation today, but a team spokesperson informed me the Wildcats will likely seek a redshirt for the freshman. If that is the plan, the NCAA will need to grant him a waiver. Williams has already played in three games this season.
– Martavious Irving is gaining Martin’s trust more and more each game. He played 25 minutes against Florida and scored eight points, his second straight strong game.
– The most amazing thing about K-State’s zero fast-break points is that Florida committed 18 turnovers. Scoring opportunities should have been there.
– Jacob Pullen has yet to find the shooting touch that helped him breakthrough as a highly-regarded scorer last year. While he did score 19 points against Florida, he needed 17 shots to score them. He went one for seven from three-point range.
– Florida is a NCAA Tournament team that will move into the Top 25 rankings after this win. K-State will likely fall out of the Top 10.
PLAY OF THE GAME: Still accepting nominations.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Kenny Boynton. The Florida guard scored 15 points and refused to let a poor start keep him down. He made big plays throughout the second half.
THAT WAS SWEET: On the final possession of the game, everyone on both teams was content to stand around and allow the clock to run out, except for Shane Southwell. The freshman guard continued pressuring the ball and was agitated when officials refused to award him a five-second call. It was nice to see the passion.
WHAT A DOWNER: It took Florida more than 7 minutes to score a point at the beginning of the game. Later, K-State went more than 13 minutes without making a field goal. This game was ugly.
NEXT UP: K-State will take on UNLV on Tuesday at the Sprint Center. The Wildcats will need to play much better in Kansas City than they did in south Florida if they hope to win. UNLV is one of the better opponents on their schedule.
SAY WHAT? “They decided to punch us in the mouth. We kind of ran back into our corner and got away from the things we were doing that were working,” – Pullen on how Florida overcame a 20-8 deficit to win 57-44.