Kansas State basketball loses board battle at Utah, further hurting NCAA Tournament chances

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It wasn’t rocket science.

Kansas State basketball’s 74-69 loss to Utah on Monday night at Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City came down to two simple factors, one resulting from the other.

“They pounded us on the glass,” K-State coach Jerome Tang said, pointing to Utah’s 51-28 rebounding advantage. “So, 21-6 offensive rebounds, and that allowed them to get the ball in the paint, which caused us to have to foul. And then they stepped to the line and made free throws.”

And therein lay the consequence of the Wildcats’ rebounding woes. Utah stepped to the line 30 times to 10 for K-State, resulting in a 23-6 point differential.

With a second straight loss on their road trip, the Wildcats (13-13, 7-8 Big 12) lost the momentum of a six-game winning streak, further hurting their chances of claiming an NCAA Tournament at-large bid.

The rebounding and free throw deficiencies overshadowed what was a much-improved effort by the Wildcats after they were blown out at Brigham Young on Saturday night. Despite the shortcomings, they had a shot to tie the game in the closing seconds, but Brendan Hausen’s long 3-pointer was off the mark.

Related: ‘They kicked our butts’: Kansas State basketball coach Jerome Tang doesn’t sugarcoat loss

Related: Kansas State basketball vs BYU recap: Wildcats’ winning streak comes to an end

Utah center Lawson Lovering (34) shoots over Kansas State’s David N’Guessan (1) during the second half of their game Monday night at Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.

“They are hurt in the locker room right now, and you just love when guys care so much,” Tang said. “And we’ve been through a lot, but we’ve turned a corner and we’re close.

“We’re close to being really, really good. And this road trip was great for us because we learned some things, and now we get to go back and work on it.”

That didn’t change the fact that the Wildcats now face an uphill battle over the final five regular-season games. It starts at 3 p.m. Sunday when they play host to Arizona State at Bramlage…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/kansas-state-basketball-loses-board-150007208.html

Author : The Topeka Capital-Journal

Publish date : 2025-02-18 15:00:00

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