As expected, defending Big 12 Champion Kansas State cruised by Emporia State in Friday night's exhibition contest. Bruce Weber's team was led in scoring by Antonio Gordon on its way to a 86-49 victory.

The Wildcats led 42-19 at halftime thanks in part to getting off more than twice as many shots (41 to 20) as the visitors from Emporia. It also helped that K-State shot nearly 44 percent on those 41 attempts opposed to just 30 percent for Emporia.

Xavier Sneed did exit due to injury with 14:54 remaining in the contest, and the Wildcats comfortably ahead 51-26, after colliding with Levi Stockard. He was looked at on the bench, briefly, but appeared fine. Sneed would return with just more than nine minutes left in the contest, and the Wildcats would cruise to a 25th straight exhibition victory.

Out of K-State's three incoming freshman Antonio Gordon has received the least amount of hype. While it would be a mistake to let one exhibition game change the outlook on a team or player, it's also hard to ignore how well the Tulsa product played in his K-State debut.

By halftime the 6-foot-9, 217-pound Gordon already had 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting to go along with six rebounds and an assist without a single turnover. His plus-17 at halftime was also highest on the team.

Gordon would finish with 16 points, seven rebounds, one assist, one steal and no turnovers in his first action wearing a Wildcat uniform.

While K-State’s only true fast break points early on came off a Xavier Sneed steal and dunk, the Wildcats did a nice job of pushing the basketball and getting points early in possessions off of their secondary break. On K-State’s second and third possessions of the game, the Wildcats were able to get the ball into the post by quickly swinging the ball back to the weak side after coming off a ball screen. This is an effective way to get the ball into the post, because the post defender is forced to sit in the middle of the lane to help on the ball screen, which makes it an easy seal when the ball is swung back to the weak side.

Once the ball got into the post, both Levi Stockard and Makol Mawien made nice plays out of double teams, something they both struggled with last year. On the first, Stockard made a great skip pass to Sneed for an open corner three, and on the second, Mawien found a diving Stockard at the rim.

The K-State staff had to be pleased with what they got out of both Montavious Murphy and Antonio Gordon, particularly in the first half. Yes, Gordon showed his ability to shoot the basketball, but even taking that away he gave the Wildcats quality minutes. For the most part, both were in the right spots and were active defensively. Murphy got his hands on a ton of offensive rebounds. And twice, once on a high/low pass and once on an offensive rebound, Gordon kept the ball high above his head. That’s a very simple thing, but it does show his understanding of the game.

K-State was not perfect tonight. There were times the Wildcats were too loose with ball or tried to force a pass into too tight of a space. They were also not as crisp on their high pick and roll defense, and their weak side defenders got caught ball watching a couple of times when the ball went into the post, allowing a cutter to cross their face to the basket. But one would expect to see some of both of those things in a game one, and a game one where the Wildcats played with four newcomers on the court at the same time for stretches.

There was plenty to be excited about, both individually and collectively. Sneed showed a nice pull up jumper off two hard dribbles to his left. While he struggled to shoot the ball, DaJuan Gordon showed a willingness to make the extra pass. David Sloan looked fast with the ball in his hands and displayed an ability to see guys coming open before they actually were. The staff has a lot of parts to play with, and it will be fascinating to watch them mold them together as the season progresses.

K-State has another exhibition remaining to tune up before the regular season begins, as the Wildcats will take on Washburn on Oct. 30 at 7 p.m. in Bramlage Coliseum. It's likely key to find more improvement in that contest, as the regular season opens up with back-to-back challenges in North Dakota State on Nov. 5 and a trip to UNLV on Nov. 9.

"I just trusted my ability. The coaches trusted me to put me in the game, and I just went out there confident and played with energy." -Antonio Gordon

"It felt good. It was definitely a confidence booster. It felt really good." -Antonio Gordon

"It wasn't a serious injury, Levi is okay, too, and it was good to get back in the game and help settle the team down." -Xavier Sneed

"I feel like (the freshmen) did a good job. There is a lot of adjusting to do, we have to go back and watch film, but those guys are doing a good job right now. I can't wait to see what they do Wednesday again." -Xavier Sneed

"I had no idea how we were going to play, what we were going to do. I thought we had some good stretches, some other stretches... I thought the energy first half was big time whether the first group was in or the young guys come in... The thing I'm probably the most pleased about was 27 assists and 11 turnovers." -Bruce Weber

"The two freshman forwards, what a great start for them. They played so hard. If Monte makes any of those layups in the first half... he had six offensive rebounds. He had a double double with 10 and 11. Antonio made shots and was active. DaJuan, who had been as consistent as anybody in practice, was probably a little tight and a little nervous. His uncle surprised him and came in. He cares so much, maybe a little too much tonight." -Bruce Weber

"David Sloan had seven assists and two turnovers, and his plus-minus was plus-28. Mike McGuirl led the play hard chart, and we were plus-27 when he was in there." -Bruce Weber

"He's a very confident young man. Very loose. If he's going to continue to make strides he has to be a little more disciplined. But he's confident. He can score. He can do a lot of things. It was very positive. He spreads the court. Monte plays a little more phsyical and did great things. Both of them were very active on the boards and did a good job." -Bruce Weber

"Right now (Shaun) is suspended. We'll see how things go and when I think he deserves to get back in there. He's got to have a great attitude. It's a challenge to him to stay focused and do what he needs to do to get better. We can still use him. He's talented. It's a shame, but hopefully he can grow and learn from that." -Bruce Weber

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