Author : Alex Schmidt
On Tuesday night, a battle of the Wildcats took place inside of Fred Bramlage Coliseum. The Abilene Christian Wildcats traveled to Manhattan, Kansas, to take on the Kansas State Wildcats, in what was an intriguing matchup in terms of matchup style. Abilene Christian, led by head coach Brette Tanner, came into the game with a 5-4 record, with only two of those wins being against D1 level opponents. The surging Kansas State Wildcats entered the game with a 7-1 record, coming off of a thrilling defensive win against Wichita State. This game opened up very differently than many Kansas State fans likely hoped or expected, with Abilene Christian opening a 28-14 lead just 10 minutes into the game. However, Kansas State came back quickly and surged to an 81-64 victory. It was certainly an interesting game in Manhattan, with many things to both recap and takeaway for both Wildcats.
From the very start, Abilene Christian came out with fire. The Kansas State defense struggled to defend the shooting ability of ACU, and they opened up an 11-8 lead four minutes in. Consistently throughout the first half, Abilene used the 3 point ball to silence any response from Kansas State, going 6-13 from three-point range. Kansas State’s only bright spot throughout the first half was David N’Guessan, who clicked with 16 points throughout the first 20 minutes. However, David was not enough to slow Abilene down, as they led 28-19 at the Under 8 timeout, and the lead peaked at a massive 28-14 point after an impressive shot from Airion Simmons. After this point, however, Kansas State began to change the game plan, and closing the lead against the undersized members of the WAC was no longer difficult.
At this point of the game, while everything was looking toward an upset in Manhattan, both the Kansas State team and the Kansas State fans looked flabbergasted. One could tell the confusion, the anger at this moment, of what was happening against a Sub-150 KenPom team at home. Nevertheless, Kansas State kept fighting. They continued to attack the paint, an effective tactic as Abilene’s big man, Joe Pleasant, entered foul trouble. The Wildcats used this attack to overpower Abilene Christian, using a strong Markquis Nowell “drive and kick” attack to close the lead from 14 to 4 rather quickly. At this point, Abilene had taken a major punch that would be difficult to come back from, and it showed as they would never truly recover again in the game. Kansas State closed the half on a 21-6 run, led by David N’Guessans high of 16 points at half. From there, the Big 12 Wildcats would never look back.
Entering the second half, Kansas State had a one point lead. Throughout the first four minutes of the second half, the well rounded team from Abilene Christian would continue to answer every punch Kansas State would throw, but a quick 8-0 run from Kansas State would quickly put this game out of reach. Kansas State would simply outsize Abilene Christian throughout the remainder of the game, leading to a 17 point victory. This was certainly not an easy game for Kansas State against a very aggressive and motivated Abilene Christian game, as seen by the hot start that Abilene Christian had from the opening start of the game.
The statsheet certainly shows promise for both programs, but in particular, Kansas State. Abilene Christian had 9 total scorers, none of which put up double digits. However, this even of an attack certainly is impressive for a mid-major program. This is a team who will compete with any WAC team for the NCAA tournament. On the other hand, Kansas State had a very impressive showing from multiple players, in particular, David N’Guessan. N’Guessan hit his career high with 23 points, which was previously just 15 points while at Virginia Tech. He was followed by Markquis Nowell, who had a double double yet again this season. Nowell had a 15 and 12 performance, a very impressive total in the assists column, as the Wildcats only had 23 assists total. He was followed by Nae’Qwan Tomlin, who had 12 points and 8 rebounds in a dominant appearance in the paint for both scoring and boards. The Wildcats did all of this with only a 3-12 appearance from behind the arc, and a miserable 53% shooting from the free throw line. Kansas State used their size to simply out body Abilene Chrstian, scoring 52 of their 81 points from the paint.
There are quite a few takeaways for both teams, but I’ll start with the one to take for Abilene Christian. The mid-major program is very good, and will most certainly compete for a WAC championship. They’re a very well rounded team who is getting better everyday, and will continue to get better heading into WAC conference play. If you’re a Kansas State fan, you should be happy with a win from this game, because Abilene Christian played a very upset minded game that certainly could have happened with their ability to shoot from anywhere across the court.
For Kansas State, firstly, the Wildcats have to open games better than what they’ve done the last 3 games. Entering Big 12 play very soon, no one can get away with a significantly slow start as seen against ACU and beat a Big 12 program, an issue that needs to be solved fast. The shooting defense needs to be able to contain the league's best shooters, which has not been seen thus far in the season.
From a positive standpoint, Kansas State has proven time and time again that they can work back from any deficit. As seen through the one against LSU, Wichita State, and now Abilene Christian. The team has a fight in them that’s surprising considering recent years of basketball in Manhattan. It also helps the Wildcats that virtually anyone can lead this team, including a shocking performance from David N’Guessan. From every starter to every role player, scoring can come from anywhere.
Abilene Christian dropped to 5-5 on the year, and will continue their non-conference stretch against Texas A&M Commerce. Kansas State will continue their home stay against Incarnate Word on Sunday at 2:00 PM. Incarnate Word ranks 355/363 via KenPom rankings, among the worst in all of Division 1. This should be a simple victory for Kansas State, looking to keep their hot streak going into Kansas City against Nebraska. The Wildcats are now 8-1, and are competing for a possible spot among the top 25 teams in the nation.