Let's recap Kansas State's Tuesday night match-up with Arkansas-Pine Bluff in The Final at K-StateOnline.

It was another slow start, as well as another non-conference win, for Kansas State Tuesday night inside of Bramlage Coliseum. The Wildcats once again struggled to find an offensive rhythm until late in the contest, but another dominating defensive effort moved K-State to 4-0 with a 62-51 win over Arkansas Pine-Bluff.

K-State trailed 6-2 early on, but a 12-0 run over a four-plus minute stretch just before the 11-minute mark of the first half gave the Wildcats a 14-6 edge and quick control of the contest.

Unfortunately for K-State, however, that first-half control was short lived.

The Wildcats didn't make a field goal after Xavier Sneed's 3-pointer with 13:22 left in the first half until there was just 5:59 left in the first half. By that point K-State had allowed a 12-0 run to UAPB and trailed 18-14 until a Cartier Diarra inside basket sliced the deficit back down to just two points.

Another Sneed triple, at that point his third of the half on five attempts, put K-State back in front 19-18. The Cats would build that lead back up to four on an Antonio Gordon 3-pointer, but UAPB ended the half on a 7-0 spurt that wasn't ended until a Makol Mawien hoop at the first-half buzzer tied it at 27-27 heading into halftime.

K-State would get comfortable, again, in the second half.

Back-to-back baskets from Sneed, a fourth 3-pointer and a 15-foot jumper - both assisted by Diarra - had K-State up 34-29 just more than three minutes in to the second half.

It wasn't until two more triples, back-to-back makes from Diarra and Sneed with roughly nine minutes left to play, that K-State really created any breathing room at 46-37. A Mawien free throw, and then a hoop inside, put the Wildcats up double digits at 49-37.

The Wildcats weren't sharp down the stretch, but they were also never truly challenged on their way to their fourth win in as many appearances.

In some personnel news, Freshman Montavious Murphy, a starter in the early part of the season, missed Tuesday's contest due to injury. He was replaced in the starting lineup by Levi Stockard, who did have a plus-15 plus/minus number in the first half to lead all Wildcats over the opening 20 minutes. Weber called Murphy, "day to day," after the contest.

Sophomore guard Shaun Williams also participated in warm-ups and dressed out for the first time this season after serving a suspension up until Tuesday night. Williams entered the game for the first time with 2:20 left to play and K-State leading 60-45. He promptly launched a pair of 3-pointers, missing each, upon entering the contest.

The Wildcats won't return to the floor until Monday, in a neutral-site, early season tournament battle with Pitt.

Fan's Thoughts: The defense was fine against a terrible offensive team without its best two players, but the offense is a legit concern. There is no reason to be this inefficient (0.89 points per possession) against a pretty bad defense. The Cats were fine from deep, but a 41.4 percent mark on twos against a team that was allowing nearly 60 percent on twos coming in is pretty alarming, whether APB ran a bunch of zone or not. Then you add in a TO rate of 23 percent against a team that doesn't apply much pressure and you have a combination that simply isn't good. I don't get too concerned about free throw percentage, because that evens out and this is likely a 67-68 percentage team. The good thing was a FT rate of nearly 50 percent against a team that is prone to fouling. At some point not being able to score efficiently will catch up with this K-State team if they don't get the offensive end figured out.

Fan's Thoughts: This is the Xavier Sneed K-State fans expected from the returning senior with a really impressive efficiency game. A 1.34 orating combined with a PER over 30 is a really good night. Unfortunately, K-State didn't get much from others. Mawien did some nice things and Diarra had a nice assist night, but overall both were fairly inefficient. Antonio Gordon helped out with his best offensive game as a Cat, and DaJaun Gordon played with energy and had a nice night, as well. Otherwise it was a pretty lackluster night for K-State players individually, and K-State must be better next week against Pitt.

Most probably hoped this would be the game K-State finally played a good first half of basketball, but once again, it was a struggle.

Defensively, Xavier Sneed went for a steal on the wing leading to an open shot, and Makol Mawien went for a shot fake in the mid post leading to an easy basket at the rim. Those weren’t the only defensive breakdowns, but ones that came from guys who are supposed to be two of K-State’s better defenders. To me, it appeared there was a lack of intensity and passion on the defensive end of the floor for a majority of the night.

At the under-eight timeout, K-State only had two fast break points and was being out-rebounded 13 to eight. The Wildcats finished the half with only three second chance points and 10 turnovers. Ten turnovers against that opponent and that zone defense should never happen.

The Wildcats did play one good stretch of basketball in the first half. During that stretch, K-State both attacked the zone well in the half court and did a nice job of pushing the ball. Sneed had a nice hit ahead pass to DaJuan Gordon for a dunk. On the next possession, K-State passed the ball across half court again, and even though they did not get anything on the initial break, the fact they pushed the ball did not allow the zone to get settled in, which led to an open three for Sneed. Later, David Sloan passed the ball ahead to Sneed, who got fouled driving to the basket.

In the half court, the Wildcats most successful set was a ball screen on the wing forcing the bottom wing defender to come out and help, leaving Sneed open for a corner three. K-State ran this set again in the second half, and Arkansas Pine Bluff made the adjustment to take away the corner three. However, that left the post open, and Cartier Diarra made the right read by hitting Levi Stockard on the block.

Both freshmen Gordons were not without their mistakes, which can be expected from freshmen, but both again played with energy and at times showed an understanding of how to attack the zone. D. Gordon made two nice baseline cuts. On one Sloan made a good pass from the top of the key, and on the other Sloan found him on the weak side after driving into the lane. D. Gordon also showed a willingness to go to the offensive glass. The plus/minus for individual players is certainly not a perfect stat, but he did lead K-State with a plus 21.

Antonio Gordon looks like he can develop into a guy you can put at the high post against a zone, because he has the ability to find the openings and then make the appropriate play when getting the ball, whether it be a bounce pass to the baseline post cutting to the basket - like he did tonight when he found Stockard - or knocking down a mid-range jumper.

Kansas State's first-half shooting struggles have been well documented. They certainly weren't solved Tuesday night, as the Wildcats did score just 27 first-half points, but Xavier Sneed's shooting certainly kept K-State out of a first-half hole.

The senior forward hit 3-of-6 shots from deep in the first half, triple the single 3-point make this Wildcats had in all first halves, combined, up to until this contest.

Sneed finished strong, as well, with a team-high 21 points to go along with six rebounds in 35 minutes of action.

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