It was an ugly game. Kansas State and Texas shot a combined 38% from the field, 17% from 3PT range and just 54% from the charity stripe, and committed a total of 36 turnovers. But the Wildcats prevailed, 71-62, behind some gritty defense, specifically on the Longhorns’ leading scorer, Damion James, who shot just 3 of 12 from the field and scored just nine points.
KSU’s coach, Frank Martin, is a Bob Huggins disciple and it shows. Brent Musburger made a big deal about how “animated” and “intense” Martin was on the sideline, but really, when he wasn’t stomping around like a petulant toddler when things weren’t going his way, he was staring down or bitching out his players for one reason or another. I’ll never understand why some coaches lean on public humiliation as a motivational technique. They were players once upon a time…right?
Anyway, Martin did have his kids playing defense, which led to a big home win. (But they looked wound tight as a knot at times offensively, which might explain the 8% shooting from long range and struggles at the free throw line.) With Bobby Knight doing the commentary, it was fitting that it was a defensive battle, but that didn’t stop Knight from belaboring the lack of movement in KSU’s offense or muttering under his breath every time a poor shot was taken. (“Oh, my…”) Knight is 69 years-old now, and while he has a ton of basketball knowledge to share, it’s like watching a game with grandpa — if you’re grandpa is Bobby Freaking Knight.
Photo from fOTOGLIF
