Kansas State was very stagnant offensively in the two games in Kansas City and only totaled 16 assists combined after tallying 18 assists in the Omaha game, alone, before the CBE Hall of Fame Classic.

Markquis Nowell called the offense just that and pointed out the lack of execution at a high level, currently. Though, he made sure to mention it is only a couple games in a long season. They can't be too upset, have to remain confident and push forward.

The point guards must be better at distributing the ball, said Bruce Weber. Nijel Pack and Nowell only combined to have two assists on Tuesday night.

One area where the Wildcats improved substantially from the Arkansas game to the Illinois game was in the turnover department. After having 15 turnovers against the Razorbacks, they only coughed it up four times against Brad Underwood's group.

Weber credited the Arkansas ball pressure for forcing the turnovers in the previous game and went as far to call their on-ball pressure, elite. Though he also made sure to identify the lack of recognition and reads from his players that contributed to it.

They were more patient and smart when facing Illinois.

K-State was also more disruptive on the defensive end of the floor, to Weber's liking. After forcing 12 Arkansas turnovers, they caused enough havoc to where the Fighting Illini gave it away 18 times.

Despite that turnover discrepancy, they still lost by eight points because they lost the shooting battle, rebounding battle and free throw battle.

For the second straight game, the Wildcats did not shoot well from three-point land. They were better from distance than they were on Monday night, though that wasn't difficult to accomplish. They missed all 10 three-pointers they attempted in the first half against the Razorbacks.

But they still only finished 6 of 21 from beyond the arc on Tuesday. Conversely, Illinois was 10 of 20 from the three-point line, which included Alfonso Plummer going off and connecting on 7 of 8.

Allowing Plummer to convert on seven hurt Kansas State, not only on the scoreboard but with their psyche because of how much pride they take in that department. It was disappointing for Weber to see.

They didn't close out well at all. The Wildcats didn't push Plummer out and they were from a standstill position. Weber pointed out how they didn't make life difficult enough for him on the perimeter.

After a winless tournament, it would be pretty easy to be discouraged. But it did not seem that K-State was going to allow the two games in Kansas City to trap them into sulking and stunt their development.

They know the improvement and the steps forward they have to make in order to compete and begin to win those kinds of games, but they were insistent that they can't enable it to define their season or who they are going to be for the rest of the year.

It is time to go back to the lab and put in the work to reach what they need to reach so that they can achieve what they want to achieve. That sentiment was shared often in the postgame sessions.

Kansas State head coach Bruce Weber is still of the belief that he has a good team for the 2021-2022 season and he is ready to keep pushing them to reach the heights that they are capable of achieving.

He stressed that they must work on the little things more and more. For example, they struggled with free throw box-outs on Monday and it happened again against Illinois on Tuesday.

Ismael Massoud emphasized that they must keep listening to the coaches, absorbing their message and continue to grow and connect in terms of communication. It's up to them whether or not to learn and grow from their experience in the T-Mobile Center. It's a choice.