Five Thoughts on Kansas State’s 89-73 Win Over Oklahoma State

BOX SCORE

It’s not as much “how did we lose like that to Kansas State?” as it is “how in the world did we beat Kansas like we did?” Oklahoma State got thumped by the fighting Bruce Webers on Saturday evening in Manhattan by the score of 89-73. And for most of the night, it didn’t even feel like it was that close.

The Wildcats referees took Jawun Evans out of the game early and if Jawun Evans is out of the game early, this OSU team has no shot on the road. Here are five thoughts on a disappointing encore to Wednesday night’s superb show.

1. Travis Ford in road Big 12 games

Ford is now 15-49 in road Big 12 games. That’s really, really bad. Really bad. Bramlage isn’t the easiest place to play but these are not Michael Beasley and Bill Walker’s Wildcats either. The announcers also mentioned that Oklahoma State is now 0-4 on the road this season and the only Big 12 team without a true road win. When the eulogy on the Ford era is uttered, this will be point No. 1.

OSU shot 29 percent from three on Saturday, turned it over 13 times and committed 25 fouls. My two-year-old could tell you why the Pokes got stomped by the Cats.

2. The end of the first half was the end of the game

With 3:10 left in the first half, the score was 38-28 Kansas State. I thought to myself, “if you can hit a few threes and cut it to five with Evans coming back in the second half …………” I looked up give minutes later and it was 49-30 and the halftime horn was blowing. And that was pretty much that.

3. Jawun Evans was nonexistent but Tyree Griffin was really good

Ford’s star freshman was mostly ineffective because he mostly didn’t play. Evans sat half the first half with two fouls then came out early in the second half as he picked up Nos. 3 and 4. Two of those fouls came in the backcourt while OSU was pressuring. It gets worse too!

Two of Jawun Evans' three fouls tonight have come on inbounds plays before the ball is passed into play.

— Mark Cooper (@mark_cooperjr) January 24, 2016

The problem with Jawun Evans being nonexistent is pretty clear: OSU is going to struggle to beat Langston, much less a Big 12 team on the road (see thought No. 1).

I would be remiss to not mention Tyree Griffin’s impressive performance as a sub for Evans. He was terrific with a 18-2-5-3 line. But he just wasn’t good enough to blow the game open like Evans is (he also didn’t get much help from his colleagues).

4. All the fouls

I don’t really get into refs being on one side or the other, but it doesn’t benefit a short OSU side when games are called close like this one was. There were 45 fouls called overall but that’s with the last 10 minutes of the game being played like a glorified Colvin Center pickup game. Evans sat a lot and OSU’s big men were terrified to even touch KSU’s guys down low. Not a great combination!

5. Defensive effort was poor

When did defense become the problem for this OSU team? Kansas State shot 58 percent from the field and most of that was wide open layups and jumpers in the lane. It’s only the fifth time the Cats have shot 58 percent or better from the field since 2010. They also shot 53 percent (!) from three. You aren’t going to win many road games like that.

All of a sudden, OSU seems able to score with a lot more ease than before but not capable of stopping anyone (including a KSU team that came into the game shooting 43 percent overall). There are many issues, but this one at least seems like the most fixable.

Next game: Wednesday against Baylor in GIA