After falling short in the championship game of the Hall of Fame Classic in Kansas City, Mo., on Friday, Kansas State will look to regroup Tuesday night in its first true road game of the season.
Kansas State (5-1) will face No. 25 Indiana (5-0) in Bloomington, Ind., feeling nearly as encouraged after Friday’s 86-85 loss to Nebraska as they might have with the result reversed.
“It came down to one play,” said P.J. Haggerty, the Wildcats’ leading scorer at 28.0 points a game this season. “We have just got to go back to the drawing board and bounce back.”
Sam Hoiberg’s free throw with 0.6 seconds remaining lifted Nebraska to the victory. Kansas State trailed by 15 points in the first half before improving its discipline with the ball to limit turnovers.
A perimeter-oriented team, the Wildcats shot 34.3% from long range for the game. Monmouth transfer Abdi Bashir drained seven 3-pointers on his way to 26 points, one behind Haggerty’s game high.
While Kansas State — which gets a team-high average of 6.2 rebounds a game from Nate Johnson — will aim to improve its inside game after getting outscored 48-24 in the paint, Indiana must work to limit Haggerty, a Memphis transfer who is shooting 56% from the field, including 40.9% from deep.
“Haggerty is a problem,” Nebraska coach Fred Hoiberg said. “I thought we did a heck of a job on him, and he had 27. He’s tough.”
While Indiana is off to its first 5-0 start in three seasons — moving into the AP Top 25 on Monday for the first time under new head coach Darian DeVries — the Hoosiers realize they aren’t as flawless as their record indicates.
Tucker DeVries, who scored 17 of his 25 points after halftime to key Thursday’s 73-53 home win against Lindenwood, said “it’s pretty obvious we were a little flat.”
Despite shooting 37.7% from the field, the Hoosiers limited the Lions to 25.4% shooting. To DeVries, whose average of 19.2 points a game leads a balanced attack that includes Lamar Wilkerson (17.0), Sam Alexis (11.4) and Tayton Conerway (11.0), that defensive intensity must remain constant.
“On nights that we’re not shooting it very well, it’s on us to win the games on the defensive end,” DeVries said. “When we get into Big Ten play, there will be games we don’t shoot it well … and we still got to find ways to win the game whether or not shots are falling.
“We got to rely on our defense and togetherness and toughness and make strides there going forward.”
Indiana will play its conference opener Dec. 3 at Minnesota. The Hoosiers are led by Alexis in rebounding average at 7.0 a game and in blocked shots at 1.6. Conerway averages a team-high 6.0 assists per game.
Tuesday will mark the first meeting between the Wildcats and Hoosiers since 1998. Indiana has won nine straight games to take a 19-12 series lead, including 11-4 at home.
–Field Level Media
