Rapid Recap: Turnovers hurt Kansas State in Kansas City
KANSAS STATE TAKES RESPONSIBILITY
Kansas State head coach Jerome Tang is taking responsibility for the loss to the Horned Frogs. He said, that while they didn’t play well, it was on him for not having them prepared for the increased physicality of the Big 12 Tournament.
There was a large contingent of K-State fans in Kansas City and the Wildcat crowd made their presence known at the beginning of the game. The loudest the T-Mobile Center had been all day was when Kansas State was playing well.
The K-State head coach was most disappointed for letting those fans down and that he couldn’t reward them for arriving in droves to support the Wildcats.
WHAT WENT WRONG FOR THE WILDCATS
TCU won just about every statistical category in the contest versus Kansas State. The Horned Frogs who are the worst three-point shooting team in the Big 12 and shot 44 percent on the night. Chuck O’Bannon had made 11 shots from distance all of conference play and made four in the quarterfinal matchup.
However, Tang was most displeased in the work on the defensive glass. TCU had 14 offensive rebounds in the contest. Those 14 offensive rebounds led to 25 Horned Frog second chance points. It was similar to the game in Fort Worth where TCU had 14 offensive rebounds and scored 20 second-chance points.
MOVING FORWARD
K-State is still headed to the NCAA Tournament, despite falling to the Horned Frogs. The Wildcats will still have three or four good days of practice before playing another game that will either take place on Thursday or Friday.
Every game could be your last and Tang hopes that the players received a taste of that when falling on Thursday evening. The players now understand what being knocked out feels like and that it can be an end to the season.
That can change mind-sets and the sense of urgency.
Another plus is that Kansas State will not be playing a Big 12 team in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Wildcats ended the non-conference schedule 12-1 this season. Tang seemed relieved to play someone that knows less about them.
K-STATE TURNOVERS
Turnovers reared their ugly head again in the loss to TCU. K-State ended with 20 turnovers for the game and all but three Kansas State players had a turnover in the game. The Wildcats are now 1-5 in games where they have 19 or more turnovers in the contest.
Markquis Nowell had five, himself. He knows that K-State, and him specifically, need to take care of the ball better. Tang thinks a lot of the turnovers against the Horned Frogs were players trying too hard and pressing too much.
