-K-State Athletics Communications

A key 8-2 run by Texas Tech midway through the second half provided the necessary cushion, as the Red Raiders earned a 69-62 win on Wednesday night before 14,695 fans at United Supermarkets Arena.

Texas Tech (17-9, 8-5 Big 12), which has lost its 2 home games by a combined 7 points to top-ranked Baylor and Top 10 Kentucky, connected on 50 percent (23-of-46) from the field, including in each half, while its five starters accounted for 67 of its 69 points led by junior Davide Moretti’s game-high 18 points.

Despite the impressive offensive effort by the Red Raiders, K-State (9-17, 2-11 Big 12) still had ample of opportunities in yet another close loss, as the team fell to 3-12 in games decided by 10 points or less. The Wildcats have lost 11 games by single digits, including 6 in Big 12 play.

After falling behind 37-29 less than 2 minutes into the second half after a 7-2 run by Texas Tech, K-State followed with its own run to rally to within 44-42 after a layup by junior Cartier Diarra with 10:10 to play. Diarra stole the ball on the next possession and had a breakaway dunk that would have tied it at 44-all, but the ball hit the rim on the attempted dunk and was rebounded by sophomore Kyler Edwards who then dished it to Moretti for a wide open 3-pointer for a 47-42 lead with 9:46 to play.

The 3-pointer by Moretti ignited the pivotal 8-2 run that flipped a narrow 44-42 lead into a 52-44 advantage, as head coach Bruce Weber called his final timeout with 6:44 remaining. The lead grew to as many as 13 points (64-51) after a personal 5-0 run by Moretti at the 1:37 mark, but the Wildcats continued to fight, using an 8-0 run, to close to within 64-59 with 38 seconds left. However, they could get no closer the rest of the way, as freshman Jahmi’us Ramsey scored the Red Raiders’ last 5 points on a dunk and 3 free throws.

The loss was K-State’s sixth straight, which is the longest such streak in the Bruce Weber era and the longest by a Wildcat team since also dropping 6 in a row from Feb. 2-19, 2005.

Senior Xavier Sneed paced three Wildcats in double figures with 15 points on 5-of-12 field goals, including 2-of-5 from 3-point range, and a 3-of-4 effort from the free throw line to go with a game-high 4 steals, 2 rebounds and 2 assists in 37 minutes. Freshman Antonio Gordon tallied a near double-double with a season-high 14 points on 6-of-7 field goals, including 2-of-2 from beyond the arc, to go with a game-high 8 rebounds.

For the game, K-State connected on 47.9 percent (23-of-48) from the field, including 61.3 percent (19-of-31) from inside the 3-point line. It was the highest field goal percentage since hitting on 59.2 percent in a win over West Virginia at home on Jan. 18 and the highest this season in a road game.

Moretti was joined in double figures by Ramsey (17) and Edwards (14).

With the win, the Red Raiders swept the season series from the Wildcats for the second time in 3 seasons.

-K-State Athletics Communications

At the 10-minute mark K-State had an opportunity to tie the game, missed a break away dunk, and Tech answered with a three. K-State cut it back to three a couple possessions later, but that was the closest they would get, as Tech pulled away and held K-State at bay to finish the game.

As expected, the 3-point line was a difference maker, as Tech's 8-of-21 - compared to K-State's 4-of-17 - was a difference maker. K-State did manage to win turnovers, OR%, and FT rate against the Red Raiders, but the difference in shooting was too much to overcome.

Antonio Gordon had his best game as a Cat, with an impressive 1.70 efficiency built on 14 points on only seven shots to go with eight rebounds. Xavier Sneed finished with 15 and a solid 1.06 efficiency. Montavious Murphy finished with a nice offensive rating of 1.36 and nine points on four shots. The point guard duo of Diarra and Sloan struggled to 16 points on 16 shots along with six turnovers and 0.89 and 0.55 efficiencies respectively. Mawien and DaJuan Gordon also struggled with low efficiency games, while McGuirl had one of his worst efficiency game of the season.

Three Takeaways:

1. It's been mentioned plenty, but bad teams find ways to lose. Tech is the best 3-point shooting team in the league, and making four more threes for 12 more points was a major difference in this game.

2. Making Twos. K-State managed only its fourth game at 60% or better on twos, but it wasn't enough. The Wildcats also allowed Tech to shoot over 60%.

3. Freshmen playing better. It was nice to see really good games from both Antonio Gordon and Montavious Murphy. They have both struggled a bit lately, and K-State got nice efficient scoring games from both.

K-State had a ton of energy defensively to start the game, but unfortunately the Wildcats awareness and decision making on that end of the floor didn’t match their intensity. There were multiple over closeouts, which gave Texas Tech open driving lanes. When quick help was forced to come, Tech’s ball movement made the Wildcats pay. Twice K-State provided help along the baseline when it wasn’t necessary. The first led to an easy lay in for Tech, and the second an open corner three.

On two later occasions K-State’s off the ball defenders had poor awareness of who had the basketball for Texas Tech and where there men were. Chris Clarke assisted on back-to-back threes for Tech after K-State had tied the game at 10. Clarke has the ability to score, but his first instinct is to facilitate, especially when he has the basketball on the perimeter. On the first three Mike McGuirl drifted too far off Davide Moretti and lost track of where he was. On the second, with the ball in Clarke’s hands on the perimeter, Tech set a flare screen to the other side of the floor. David Sloan and DaJuan Gordon did not communicate on the screen and both had their eyes on Clarke, which led to another open three.

K-State wasn’t any better offensively during that stretch after tying it at 10, as the Cats turned it over on four of their next five possessions. McGuirl tried to force a pass inside that had no chance of being completed. Sloan was called for a charge driving to the basket. And, Cartier Diarra turned it over on back-to-back possessions. The Wildcat’s lone field goal attempt during the stretch was a short baseline jumper from D. Gordon that hit the side of the backboard.

As K-State has done many times this year, the Wildcats clawed their way back into the game by halftime. At one point near the end of first half I made a note that offensively, the Wildcats needed to be ready to make the next play. On the very next possession after I made that note, Diarra drove to the goal, drew a second defender, and left a pass for Antonio Gordon for a dunk. And, on the next possession, K-State ran a pick and pop for Xavier Sneed. After Tech took away the three, Sneed put the ball on the floor, and like Diarra, shoveled a pass to A. Gordon in the lane after the help defender came.

Rarely is Tech going to let you beat them with straight line drives to the goal. You must be aware of that and be ready to make the next play when the help defender comes. When K-State did that, it found some success offensively. When they tried to make the individual play, they did not.

K-State did a better job of being under control defensively in the second half and played more to the scout. The Wildcats were more aware of who there were closing out to, particularly TJ Holyfield and Clarke. Tech got far fewer easy baskets in the lane as a result.

Schematically, when Diarra was in the game, the Wildcats started a lot of their offense with Sneed popping to the top of the key. This allowed Diarra and Sloan to get the ball on the move coming off down screens or dribble hand offs. When guys made the correct play, this gave the K-State guards some opportunities to get into the lane.

There have been very few times this season when Martavious Murphy has gotten touches in the post on a traditional post up. K-State went to him twice there in the first half tonight. He got fouled on the first and was unable to finish the second. While neither move was a polished post move, it was good to see the willingness. K-State will need more scoring from him in the post starting next season. The other freshman post, Antonio Gordon, competed hard on the glass and continues to show his knack for getting his hands on rebounds on both ends of the court.

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