Published Nov 20, 2024
Grading the Cats: K-State pulls out win vs Mississippi Valley State
Grant Snowden  •  EMAWOnline
Staff Writer

Like the first game of the season, it took Kansas State a while to get going in this one against Mississippi Valley State, but they figured it out in the second half, despite a late push from the Delta Devils for a 74-56 win.

Here are the grades for each position group from this win

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Guards: B-

The guards did not do a whole lot in this game besides CJ Jones, who was back in the starting lineup after coming off the bench for Dug McDaniel against LSU, who did not play in the contest.

Jones stayed consistent throughout the game, and I thought he had the best performance of his early season. He did a great job getting to the rim, especially from the free throw line, where he finished 8-of-9.

Brendan Hausen didn't have a great shooting night in this one, as he finished 2-of-11 from beyond the arc, which was a struggle for him and the entire team. David Castillo didn't have much to show on the stat sheet, but I thought this was the first game in which he looked complete. He did not rush things, wasn't nervous, and played loose. The freshman didn't look like a freshman in this one, and if he kept up with it, he could start getting big minutes.

Max Jones had an alright game but did nothing that popped out; he finished with 7 points, 3 of which were at the line. Today's two big takeaways from the backcourt: they did a fantastic job protecting the ball in the second half, turning it over twice in the second half, and the group shot a combined 13-of-15 from the charity stripe. In tonight's contest, Kansas State also shot a season-low 13% (3-of-23) from beyond the arc.

Forwards: C

It was a really quiet night from the forwards tonight, especially from big-time transfer Coleman Hawkins. Hawkins didn't score in this one for the first 36 minutes of the contest. He finished shooting 1-11 from the field and just 2 points. While fans are starting to gain levels of concern, he did have a nice night in other areas of the game, including 13 rebounds and 4 assists.

David N’Guessan found himself in double figures again tonight, finishing with 10 points, but from the bleachers, it didn't feel like he played great. He had 10 points, 5 boards, and 1 assist. In my opinion, he's still having his best season to date, but he had an off-night.

Macaleb Rich has been playing some solid minutes to begin this season after being a bench role player for the most part in his first two seasons and scoring 8 points in this one tonight, adding 5 boards and 2 assists on the night. Achor Achor and Baye fall added 6 points combined, not playing much minutes in this one, Achor did play after the injury but kept an eye out on that.

Center: A

A career night for Ugonna Onyenso tonight as he had a new career high and led the team in scoring with 16 points, shooting 6-of-7 from the field, 4-of-4 from the line, and adding 3 boards as well.

He looked like a true center tonight in this one as he controlled the paint on the offensive side of the ball shooting smart shots near and around the bucket. However, I would like to see him add more help on the glass, he hasn't rebounded great to start the season, something the cats have struggled with in previous seasons.

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