Running Diary: K-State beats TCU, 53-49

KANSAS CITY - Welcome to a Big 12 Championship tradition at K-StateOnline, the Running Diary from inside of Sprint Center.

I'll chronicle K-State's game with TCU here throughout the night, as the Wildcats look to advance to the second day of the tournament against No. 2 seed Baylor.

If K-State does advance, the Wildcats will play in front of an extremely limited number of fans in attendance following Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby's announcement earlier this evening of limited access (only 125 fans per school, no bands or cheerleaders, etc.):

8:13 p.m.: K-State takes the floor wearing its black uniforms tonight in K.C.

I imagine the crowd will be much, much smaller this evening with Iowa State out, but I can say both Logan Mantz and @ksu_FAN will represent in the crowd this evening, if nothing else.

8:43 p.m.: BIG thanks to Grant Flanders for the following pregame photos:

Also, the Wildcats will be going with the same starting lineup we've seen the last three games:

8:55 p.m.: Very strong start for K-State, as just more than three minutes in the Cats hold a 6-0 lead with four turnovers from TCU.

K-State scored first on a basket from Mike McGuirl then forced a turnover on TCU's first possession, a sign of how things would go early on for the Horned Frogs. McGuirl then dished to Makol Mawien for a 4-0 lead prior to a pair of Xavier Sneed free throws, and TCU did not get on the board until the 16-minute mark.

K-State still leads, 6-2, with 15:19 left in the first half at the first media timeout.

9:02 p.m.: A couple of subs now, as David Sloan and Levi Stockard each hit the floor for the first time this evening.

Cartier Diarra, who was called for a charge before the media timeout, just knocked down a triple from the top of the key for a 9-2 K-State advantage.

Sloan hits his first shot, a long two from near the top of the key, and TCU has to call a timeout already facing an 11-2 hole with 13:33 left in the half. K-State is 4-of-10 from the floor, TCU just 1-of-6.

9:05 p.m.: Diarra scores, again, right out of the timeout, this on a drive to put K-State up 13-2 before TCU finally answers inside with a Kevin Samuel basket. Samuel may be getting TCU back in this one, as another finish inside now makes it just a seven-point lead for K-State.

Well, until Sloan answered with a 3-pointer, leaving K-State 2-of-3 from range so far and back ahead 16-6 going into another media timeout with 11:06 to play in the opening half.

9:10 p.m.: Samuel gets a tip-in for the Frogs, and the big man is providing the only offensive weapon so far for TCU.

He got exposed a bit, though, when McGuirl drove straight at him and opened up Mawien for a lob jam for the Cats.

Now DaJuan Gordon knocks in a three, and K-State is hammering TCU early on.

Dixon calls another timeout with K-State ahead 21-8.

9:13 p.m.: Diarra drives inside, again, and scores with Samuel now worried about leaving Mawien for the lob. It's another media timeout with K-State still in control, leading 23-8.

9:24 p.m.: Long scoring drought for both teams is ended when Stockard finishes a nifty pass from Diarra to put K-State up 25-8.

And, hey, it's another media timeout!

If K-State outscores TCU 2-0 over every four minute stretch the rest of the way, I like the Cats' chance to win.

K-State 25, TCU 8 with 3:45 left in the first half.

9:34 p.m.: Sneed forces a Desmond Bane turnover out of the timeout, but K-State does not take advantage of the turnover on the other end, and TCU does get back on the board with a drive to make it 25-10.

Stockard is called for a moving screen to give possession back to TCU, and it will be imperative for the Wildcats not to let the Horned Frogs back in the final two-and-a-half minutes of the half.

Mawien fouls RJ Nembhard, who hit TCU's last hoop, while attempting to block a shot, and Nembhard knocked in both freebies to make it a 13-point difference. Nembhard stays red hot, hitting a triple in transition to bring TCU within 10, but Diarra finds McGuirl inside for a lay-up and a 27-15 K-State edge.

Nembhard misses another open three, and Diarra is called for a TERRIBLE charge. Wow. K-State, to its credit, does immediately force a turnover to get Sneed a transition opportunity on the other end. He misses a dunk chance while getting fouled and gets just one of his two free throws to make it 28-15.

Bruce Weber calls a timeout, and I think it's wise. K-State looks a bit tired and, as noted earlier, it's vital to find a way to maintain this edge going into the break.

9:35 p.m.: Big shot for TCU there at the end of the first half buzzer, another 3-pointer from Nembhard, to make it 28-18 at halftime.

FIRST HALF THOUGHTS: Shooting has been the difference, so far, in this one.

The Horned Frogs were very good from 3-point range in the two regular-season games against K-State, but tonight TCU is just 2-of-10 (20%) from deep in the first half against 3-of-9 (33.3%) in the first half for the Wildcats.

IF K-State ends this game with more made 3-pointers and a better shooting percentage from deep that TCU, K-State will win.

I'm not convinced, yet, either of those things will happen, but I also want to make clear K-State does not NEED to do that to win, either.

As ksu_FAN taught us in the Preview & Prediction piece, turnovers will be key. The Wildcats only have seven points off TCU's 11 turnovers, but K-State has only allowed two points off turnovers, itself.

If K-State protects the basketball, shoots relatively well from the free-throw line and avoids a hot second half from the Horned Frogs, K-State should move on to day two here in Kansas City.

10:00 p.m.: Went more than two minutes without a basket from either team, and the first one comes on a very tough baseline fader from Diarra to put K-State up 30-18. TCU does answer right back, however, with its own baseline jumper to again make it a 10-point deficit.

Sneed (0-of-4) struggled shooting in the first half, but he does knock down his first three of this half for a brief 13-point edge right before another TCU answer, as the offense has picked up for both teams.

Mawien picked up two fouls (now has three) in a quick span and now leaves the game with K-State up 33-22. We're back under 10 for the lead, too, as Bane finally gets a three to fall. Then Nembhard makes another, and suddenly it's just a 33-28 lead for K-State.

If we're looking at halftime keys, TCU is closing in on K-State from the 3-point line and has only turned it over once this half, which is why the Frogs are back in it.

10:06 p.m.: Bane gets his own miss and has TCU back within three, but - fortunately for K-State - the Frogs missed a lob job opportunity that would have made it a one-point game.

We're at a break with 13:27 to play, and TCU trails just 33-30.

It's been about shot making, or missing, again this half, but flipped in the Horned Frogs favor. TCU is 5-of-11 overall and 2-of-3 from deep the first six-and-a-half minutes of the second half, while K-State is just 2-of-7 and 1-of-4 from deep.

10:11 p.m.: Bane is feeling it now, using a pump fake to get an open look at a two he knocks down to make it just a one-point game. TCU is significantly outplaying K-State on both ends of the floor right now.

An unlikely source, Stockard, uses a nice move inside to finish and put K-State back up three points. It's short lived, though, as a TCU knocks in a three on a scramble drill to tie the game back up.

The Horned Frogs have eliminated all of the 11-point margin that existed when Mawien went to the bench.

10:16 p.m.: Big basket for Sloan to stop the bleeding, at least temporarily, and put K-State back up a hoop.

Now Sloan does it again, calmly stepping back and swishing in another to put K-State back up 39-35 with 10:17 left to play.

10:23 p.m.: Really, really nice pass from the post from Samuel to Nembhard for a hoop to slice it back to just a deuce. Diarra nearly gets a three-point play on a very nice move inside, but he does get the pair of free throws to make it again a four-point game as a bit of a back-and-forth flow returns to this contest.

Bane blows by Sneed for a basket inside to make it 41-39 K-State. Another unlikely, but timely, shot from Stockard, who hits a long two to re-stretch that K-State edge, until Bane comes right back, again.

Maybe the toughest finish of the night comes from Diarra on a quasi-sky hook type looking shot in the lane. Now, K-State calls a timeout to get Mawien back in, wisely, leading 45-41 with 6:48 left.

10:31 p.m.: Bane is ON FIRE, drilling in a well-guarded three right in front of McGuirl. He's got 14 this half, alone, on 6-of-9 shooting and 2-of-2 from three.

Also worth nothing, K-State has not generated a single point off turnovers this half and is now even in total turnovers with the Horned Frogs. Another halftime key that, unfortunately, K-State has not been able to control.

McGuirl has a decent look at a three to give K-State back some breathing room, but he misses and Nembhard scores on the other end to give TCU it's first lead, 46-45, with less than five minutes left. A later Samuel free throw made it a two-point advantage for TCU, who trailed by as many as 17 in the first half.

Now K-State has more turnovers than TCU, and Samuel scores off that turnover to make it 49-45. Sneed takes, quite honestly, a pretty questionable shot fading away on the baseline, but he does knock it in at a much-needed juncture for the Cats.

TCU turns it over (we're even, again) and we go into the final media timeout with K-State trailing 49-47 and 2:43 left on the clock - and possibly the season - for the Wildcats.

10:40 p.m.: Clutch, clutch shot from McGuirl, draining a long two to tie this game again with just more than two minutes left.

K-State gets a stop, and McGuirl drops a dime to Mawien for a BEAUTIFUL finish and a two-point K-State lead. Wow.

Another stop for the Cats, and a questionable non-goal tend call on a Samuel block may be big. Sneed misses after that call, too, but you do have to wonder about it.

TCU has the ball, down two, with 17.1 seconds left after this timeout.

The Horned Frogs get a look at a triple and miss. Now McGuirl will go to the line with 1.2 seconds left. He knocks down the second. McGuirl was CLUTCH down the stretch in what is a K-State win.

K-State certainly didn’t look like a team at the beginning of the game that had only won three conference games.

The Wildcats were locked in defensively and made some plays on the offensive end. TCU primarily runs a four out offense with the perimeter players screening for each other and exchanging spots on the floor and the five-man coming out to set a ball screen. On the perimeter, K-State switched most of those guard-to-guard exchanges and down screens. This took away the quick, easy ball reversals for TCU and made the ball stick more than they would like.

When Kevin Samuel came out to set a ball screen, Makol Mawien, as he typically does when he is playing with energy, did a good job of supplying enough help on the screen while also being able to quickly recover to Samuel rolling to the basket. And K-State’s weak side defenders tagged Samuel on the roll and quickly recovered and closed out with high hands to the shooter.

While Mike McGuirl did get caught on a couple of screens on an in-bounds play - and helped too far off Desmond Bane giving him an open look from the top of the key - he was a key to K-State’s good start offensively. He got the game started with a hard drive to his right and then assisted on four more baskets. One of those was a beautiful lob to Mawien. The last of the four came on a play where he initially showed good patience by not forcing the action in transition, which gave DaJuan Gordon time to run the floor and spot up on the right wing.

K-State led 23-8 with over six minutes to play, but were unable to sustain or extend the lead due to poor offense.

On two different possessions during that stretch the Wildcats had three opportunities on the same possession and missed all six shots. Poor spacing led to Cartier Diarra’s second foul and another empty possession. Diarra, McGuirl, and Mawien were all in the same area on the left side of the floor. Diarra had his man beat, but because the spacing was poor a secondary defender was parked in the driving lane.

Poor offense continued to plague K-State to start the second half. The Wildcats turned it over three times in the first 4:30, and then two missed threes led to back to back threes for TCU to trim the lead to five. The first missed three from D. Gordon came off good ball movement, but when he tried to chase down his own miss it left poor defensive balance which led to an open Bane three in transition. The second missed three was a fairly quick shot from Xavier Sneed. At no point in TCU’s run did I think to myself that K-State had a really good offensive possession.

On the other end TCU hurt K-State in transition, mostly due to K-State’s bad offense, and were able to do more damage off the dribble. TCU also made a couple of subtle adjustments in their half-court offense. In the first half they primarily ran a high ball screen away from the side of the floor with one offensive player. In the second half, they more frequently ran it going away from the side of the floor with two players.

K-State did put together two solid possessions when they absolutely needed them coming out of a timeout with 2:43 left.

On the first, K-State first looked to run a screen the screener action where Diarra set a diagonal screen for Mawien and then received a down screen from Sneed. When Diarra was not open off the down screen, he did the right thing and kept moving instead of standing. That movement allowed Sneed to pop to the top of the key and reverse the ball to McGuirl. On the ball reversal, Mawien set a ball screen for McGuirl, who rose up and hit a big jump shot.

On the next possession, it again was a ball screen from Mawien for McGuirl, but this time McGuirl made a great pass to Mawien.

No doubt the Wildcats got fortunate when RJ Nembhard missed a good look from three, but there haven’t been many games this year where K-State has made winning plays down the stretch. They did that tonight with the two possessions I described above, and McGuirl’s two free throws.

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