AMES - We recap Kansas State's Saturday night Big 12 battle at Iowa State in The Final at K-StateOnline.

Kansas State hoped Saturday night's road game at Iowa State would represent the start of a bit of a Big 12 Conference turnaround over the second half of the season.

Ultimately, however, it ended up feeling a lot like many league games for the Wildcats.

K-State dug a huge hole early (21 points) and got back close in the second half (four) but ultimately couldn't do enough to win, falling 73-63 to an equally flawed ISU bunch inside of Hilton Coliseum.

ISU got off to a hot start at home, jumping up 9-2 on a traditional three-point play with 16:30 left in the first half. It would go to 11-2 after a pair of Mike McGuirl missed free throws turned into an ISU run out and lay-up, which forced Bruce Weber to burn a time out just four minutes into the contest and with his Wildcats reeling on the road.

Cyclone post Solomon Young got another three-point play shortly after that timeout, already giving him 11 points not even five minutes into the game for ISU, and the Clones held a quick, commanding 14-2 edge.

Things would just go from bad to worse for K-State when a Tyrese Haliburton triple made it 19-2 with 13:18 still left before halftime, prodding Weber into another timeout.

K-State didn't make its first field goal until there were 12 minutes left to play in the first half on a Cartier Diarra 3-pointer, which made the score 21-5 in ISU's favor. Diarra, at that time, had all five of K-State's points. Diarra would make K-State's next shot, too, another triple.

The problem for K-State, however, was ISU still led 25-8 after that make and would go back up 20 with a three of its own the ensuing possession.

K-State got fortunate, somehow, when a wide open ISU dunk popped out while the Cyclone players essentially stood and celebrated the (expected) score. Another Diarra three on the other end, and later a single free throw, got K-State back to within 37-24.

DaJuan Gordon would knock in two more to make it an 11-point game with 1:25 still left in the first half, then he'd score on a put back seconds later to make it a 37-28 game. That would be the score at halftime, with K-State trailing by nine after being down as many as 21 in the first half.

Xavier Sneed missed an open look at a three that would have cut it to six on the first possession of the second half, then the Wildcats turned it over on their second trip. ISU would take advantage with some nice post-to-post passing and a finish inside to go back up 11.

Sneed would exit with an injury - and head to the locker room - with just more than 17 minutes left in the contest. K-State would continue to chip away with a Diarra jumper to make it 43-35, ISU. Young answered right back, though, for the Clones to keep K-State down 10 and at arm's length. Sneed did return to the bench at the under-16 media timeout and soon re-entered the game.

The Cats had a possession with a chance to get it back under 10 but failed to do so, and the Clones responded with back-to-back baskets to regain a 14-point advantage.

K-State, undaunted, came right back with five points from Diarra and Makol Mawien to again make it a nine-point game, 49-40, with 12:22 to play. Antonio Gordon would then get K-State as close (49-42) as the Cats had been since they were down 9-2 early with an inside basket in transition. David Sloan then got himself to the line, and made one of two, to get it to six.

Sneed would get it to just four points with a steal and smooth reverse jam in transition, but ISU came right back with a bomb from range to go back up 52-45 after being faced with its smallest lead of the game since the opening seconds.

By the under eight timeout, though, a Sloan lay-up once again made it a four-point contest.

ISU got five quick points out of that timeout, though, to create a buzz inside of Hilton Coliseum and regain a 57-48 advantage. A Sneed triple, off a driving assist from Diarra, cut it back to six. K-State had a possession with a chance to cut it even further, but Sneed missed a triple that would have made it a three-point game and Mawien turned it over following an offensive board.

It would be a four - or five - point swing, as ISU went back the other way with a lay-up to go up 59-51 with 3:45 left to play.

K-State would continue its fight, but the Wildcats wouldn't have another opportunity to cut it to a single possession the rest of the way.

Let's cover the details of how K-State fell in the rest of The Final.

Another bad start and another loss. Iowa State even played most of the second half without its best player, and despite cutting the deficit to four on a couple occasions the Cats simply couldn't get over the hump and go home with another disappointing loss.

K-State's offensive struggles continue, this time against the worst defense in the league. ISU was allowing 1.08 points per possession and 53.7% on twos coming into this game while only blocking 8.6% of opponent's 2-point attempts. K-State only managed 0.89 efficiency, 48% shooting on twos, and ISU blocked 33% of K-State's twos in this game. A terrible start and disappointing offensive effort for the Cats.

FT rate is usually what matters in college basketball and while ISU ended up with a higher rate than the Cats, much of that came because K-State fouled late. However, this was also a game where makes made a difference, as ISU finished an impressive 19-of-20 (95%) compared to only 10-of-18 for K-State (55.6%). In a game that became close for a while in the second half, those missed FTs start to add up.

TO rate is always major for K-State and while the Cats ended up winning TO rate differential by 1.4%, the game was decided in the first half when K-State really struggled early and Iowa State built a lead that the Cats simply could not overcome.

Carti Diarra responded to some criticism from announcers and fans alike with one of his best games of the season. He kept K-State in the game in the first half and made multiple plays in the second to lead the Cats, but it wasn't enough. His efficiency of 1.16 and 24 points was really nice, but no one else finished with an offensive rating over 1.00.

Sneed had another rough shooting game and finished with eight points on 11 shots and an efficiency of 0.62. Mawien was slightly better at 0.92, but limited minutes with fouls and only one rebound. DaJuan Gordon was the only other double digit scorer, but his 10 points came on 10 shots and an efficiency of only 0.92.

David Sloan rebounded from a rough game last time out with five assists to only one turnover and the 2nd best efficiency of the night at 0.99. Murphy, Antonio Gordon, Levi, and McGuirl played limited roles. Antonio, Levi, and McGuirl all finished with rough efficiency ratings under 0.60.

Traditional statistics provided by Iowa State University

Antonio Gordon (Reserve)

A. Gordon entered the contest with K-State already trailing by nine less than five minutes into the game. Gordon's first field goal, shown below, got K-State within seven points with 11:10 to play.

A. Gordon found little other impact, however, in this contest, scoring two points on four shots in 19 minutes.

DaJuan Gordon (Started)

D. Gordon got his first hoop with just under eight minutes left in the first half thanks to a nice assist inside from Sneed. The guard's next points would come from the foul line, where he knocked in a pair to get K-State within 11 with 90 seconds left in the first half, then he immediately scored again on a follow to make it a single digit game.

Gordon would score first in the second half for K-State, knocking in a 17-footer off a screen to again slice the deficit to nine. The Chicago product would ultimately play 27 minutes and finish with 10 points and six rebounds.

Montavious Murphy (Started)

Murphy became the first Wildcat without the last name of Diarra to make a shot in this one, swishing through an open corner triple with 8:08 to play in the first half and the Wildcats down 20. Outside of those plays it was a quiet night for Murphy, who played just 18 minutes on his way to four rebounds and three points on three field goal attempts.

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