19 March 2023
GREENSBORO, N.C. (KSNT)- K-State men’s basketball is headed to the Sweet Sixteen. K-State beat Kentucky in the Round of 32.
The battle of Wildcats ended with a 75-69 win in favor of K-State.
Neither team scored in the first minute of the game. K-State struck first to go up 2-0 1:03 into the game. A 6-1 UK run put the Wildcats in white and blue up 6-3 at the first media timeout.
K-State struggled to hit shots early, starting 1-for-8 from the field. Kentucky big man Oscar Tshiebwe tallied seven points in the first seven minutes of the game.
K-State appeared to be in trouble at the second media timeout. Kentucky held a 14-7 lead and went to the line after the timeout for an and-one free-throw which extended the UK lead to eight. Tang’s team started 0-for-7 from three-point land.
K-State trailed 17-11 with 7:58 left in the first half. Kentucky’s lead shrunk in the next four minutes of game play. K-State trailed 22-19 at the under-four-minute media timeout.
The Wildcats in purple took the lead with just under three minutes left in the first half, going up 23-22.
K-State held a 29-26 lead at halftime, despite shooting 0-for-12 from three-point land in the first 20 minutes.
Kentucky regained the lead 1:45 into the second half, jumping ahead 33-31. UK scored again to extend the lead to 35-31. Jerome Tang called timeout.
K-State picked up five fouls in the first 4.5 minutes of the second half. Kentucky gained a 39-33 lead.
Desi Sills put together an old-fashioned three-point play, then Markquis Nowell hit the team’s first three-pointer of the day with 14:32 left in the game and K-State tied the game at 39.
K-State led 47-43 with 10:15 to go. Kentucky took the lead back after a 7-2 run, going ahead 50-49.
Both teams traded buckets, and Kentucky continued to get to the line often for the next several minutes. K-State trailed 56-54 with 5:40 to play. Keyontae Johnson tied it at 56 with 5:30 left.
After KSU fell behind by four again, Markquis Nowell drilled a deep three to pull it within one.
K-State went on a 11-2 run, highlighted by three-pointers from Ismael Massoud and Keyontae Johnson to take a 67-62 lead.
Free throws down the stretch kept the game out of reach, giving K-State a 75-69 victory.
Nowell led the team in scoring with 27 points and nine assists. Johnson added 13 points, Tomlin and Sills with 12.
K-State will play the winner of two seed Marquette and seven seed Michigan State in the Sweet Sixteen in New York City.