How K-State came from behind to beat Iowa State in ‘must win’ situation for Wildcats

The mood inside Bramlage Coliseum was bordering on apocalyptic as Kansas State trailed Iowa State at halftime of an important Big 12 basketball game on Saturday.

Even the most optimistic of fans were expecting the Wildcats to lose at that point. Not only were they staring at an eight-point deficit, they had recently watched their team lose five of its past seven games and fall out of contention in the conference championship race.

Many had been wondering whether K-State’s hot start to the season was a fluke: Was this really the same team that scored 116 points in a game at Texas, once owned an 18-3 record and climbed all the way up to No. 3 in the national polls?

But those concerns began to fade away in the second half when K-State players regained their swagger and came from behind and beat the Cyclones 61-55. Iowa State led by double digits in the first half and held a 31-23 advantage at halftime. The No. 12 Wildcats (20-7, 8-6 Big 12) looked doomed. And yet, they found a way to raise their level of play and remind everyone what they were capable of during an impressive second half that suddenly makes their outlook seem rosy.

“It was a must-win for us coming off two losses on the road,” K-State point guard Markquis Nowell said after he scored a game-high 20 points. “We didn’t want to lose at home in front of our amazing fans. We played with a sense of urgency and energy, too. We didn’t get too high when things went well, and we didn’t get too low when things went bad. We just played steady through it all and came out victorious.”

Question is: How did K-State flip the switch at exactly the right moment?

It started with some fiery halftime speeches from Nowell, a few of his teammates and head coach Jerome Tang. Picture any sports movie with inspirational moments inside a locker room with players returning to action more fired up than ever before. That’s what happened at halftime of Saturday’s game.

“It’s never good to be down at halftime, especially at home,” K-State forward Ismael Massoud said. “... In that first half, we had to take what we could and learn from it. We felt like we were playing good defense, but they were having too many points in the paint and they were getting second-chance opportunities.

“Credit to Markquis. He challenged us, some of the big guys and stuff like that. He just said we got to do a better job of rebounding and do our job. Everyone has got to do their job and not be worried about doing other people’s job. If everyone locks in on this team, I feel like the sky is the limit. So that is just what we tried to do.”

The difference was obvious.

After scoring a feeble 23 points and making 7 of 23 shots in the first half, the Wildcats scored 38 points and made 11 of 25 shots in the second half. Nowell had the biggest transformation, scoring 18 of his points after halftime.

K-State also made life miserable for the No. 19 Cyclones (17-9, 8-6 Big 12) every time the Cyclones were on offense. Iowa State only made 7 of 32 shots in the second half and seemed hapless trying to score against the Wildcats.

You could see the change immediately, as the Wildcats started the second half on a 22-9 run and Nowell drained four three-pointers.

“It was very important, because the first five minutes are important,” Nowell said. “I told my guys, ‘We can’t come out lackadaisical. We have got to come out with energy.’ And that’s what we did.”

Tang said he tried to keep his halftime speech simple.

“It was just we have got to rebound the ball,” Tang said. “They had more paint points than we did by like 10. Then we need to make some shots. If we turn them over, we can get out and run and we’ll get some good looks. We knew it was a 40-minute game. Nobody in the Big 12 really throws a knockout punch unless you’re just not ready to play. We knew it was going be a 40-minute game and a grinder. Our guys showed their maturity and their toughness.”

They also showed they are still capable of playing at the high level they played at earlier this season. That was a welcome, and unexpected, change from the way things looked at halftime.