Three takeaways from Kansas State’s last game before Big 12 play, a victory vs. Radford

It wasn’t easy, but the Kansas State men’s basketball team defeated Radford 73-65 in a rare weekday-afternoon game on Wednesday at Bramlage Coliseum.

The Wildcats got off to a slow start and trailed for a few minutes early on the second half, but they played well enough to pull away and head into Christmas break and Big 12 play with momentum.

K-State (11-1) will next play in its conference opener at 6 p.m. on Dec. 31 against West Virginia back inside Bramlage.

Until then, here are some thoughts on the Wildcats’ win over Radford.

Nae’Qwan Tomlin dunks his way to another big game

With Markquis Nowell and Keyontae Johnson having quiet games (by their standards) someone else had to step up and carry the scoring load for the Wildcats.

Enter Nae’Qwan Tomlin.

The junior forward played his finest game yet in a K-State uniform and terrorized Radford with 26 points and nine rebounds. Most impressive of all, he hit the Highlanders with five high-flying dunks. And when I say high-flying, I mean that literally. Tomlin rattled the rim every time he was around the basket.

You could have a long debate over which highlight was most deserving of SportsCenter Top 10 treatment. It was either the one where he drove from the left wing and then threw down a monstrous tomahawk slam with his right hand or the one where he skied high into the air for an alley-oop dunk and finished the play with just his right hand.

The pass on that play was at least two feet above the rim when Tomlin caught it.

It’s not hyperbole to suggest Tomlin might be one of the best dunkers in K-State history. At 6-foot-10 he makes all of his jams look easy with his mixture of length and athleticism.

Welcome back to the paint

One of the best developments to occur for K-State during this game was the return of Abayomi Iyiola.

The senior forward hadn’t played a single minute for the Wildcats since Nov. 23 while he dealt with a foot injury. But he was healthy to play a few minutes against Radford.

He was called upon in the first half and recorded two points, three rebounds and one impressive block in 11 minutes of action. Tang seems content to play with no more than seven players in big games, but that isn’t a practical strategy every night. The Wildcats need capable reserves when their starters are dealing with injuries or foul trouble.

This was a nice baby step for Iyiola. Perhaps he will be ready to help K-State every once and a while during Big 12 play.

No more afternoon games this close to Christmas

Scheduling a basketball game at 1:30 p.m. four days before Christmas was not a wise idea.

That much was obvious by the small crowd that turned out at Bramlage Coliseum for Wednesday’s contest and by how little urgency the Wildcats played with against an overmatched opponent. Radford took an early lead and also pulled ahead in the opening moments of the first half. Give K-State credit for pulling away from there, but this game was much closer than some expected it to be.

K-State coaches played this game at an unusual time to give their players a head start on Christmas break. It was like the final game of a baseball series that is played on a weekday afternoon so the visiting team can get the heck out of town when it’s over.

There’s nothing wrong with giving players extra time off around the holidays, but only if it doesn’t distract from the game at hand. K-State players likely would have been more locked in for opening tip had this matchup been played at night.