Driscoll and the Wildcats had another game on Saturday night, but the result was the same: a moral win but a loss on the floor. In a game that could have gone either way, K-State lost to TCU 77-68 at Bramlege Coliseum on Saturday.
With just over two minutes remaining, the Horned Frogs increased their lead to 76-65 after outscoring K-State 9-0.
With six straight victories, TCU (19-10, 9-7 Big Ten) is in the thick of things. According to ESPN Bracketologist Joe Lunardi’s most recent predictions, which were released Friday morning, TCU is one of the “last four in” for the NCAA Tournament.
The Wildcats (11-18, 2-14) are clearly not on a run, as K-State supporters are aware, having dropped nine of ten games. K-State is 1-3 under Driscoll, who took Jerome Tang’s position after he was sacked. There are two games left, including the home finale against West Virginia on Tuesday at 7 p.m. CT on ESPN+. The Mountaineers are 8-8 in the Big 12 and 17-12 overall. The Sunflower Showdown against 14th-ranked Kansas on Saturday at 1 p.m. CT on CBS will mark the conclusion of K-State’s season. Lunardi projects the Jayhawks, who are 21-8 and 11-5, as the third seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Following the Wildcats’ valiant but unsuccessful game against Colorado, Driscoll declared, “I’m not a moral victory guy.” “I haven’t been.”
On Saturday, TCU only had eight turnovers while the Wildcats had eighteen, hurting K-State. The Horned Frogs used turnovers to score an incredible 28 points.
K-State made good use of their shooting, going 8 of 23 from outside the arc (34.8) and 28 of 56 (50 percent) from the field. However, K-State only made four of nine (44.4 percent) foul line attempts. TCU was 69.6 percent, 16 out of 23 from the line.
Driscoll, on the record
Do you own a record player, then? Driscoll said in a postgame news conference. Do you have any experience with the 33-inch vinyls? Correct? Have you ever owned one that was severely scratched? That’s what we have.
“When we put it on the record player, it keeps playing until it hits the scratch, at which point it just [circles]. We arrive, but for some reason we are unable to overcome the obstacle.
“And Baylor’s 90-74 victory over K-State was complete, and we were able to bring it back to 18 when Baylor advanced to eight or nine, correct? However, we were attempting to retaliate in this instance.
They hit five straight after we cut it to two, then after we called a timeout, we cut it to one. [TCU] had 12 thefts and 28 points from our turnovers. For example, you cannot protect a live ball. It isn’t feasible.
The fact that we have such excellent guards but either over-dribble or get too deep is the most disheartening aspect.
It’s quite difficult to score in the red zone in football since the angles are so much tighter. That’s the same in basketball, though. Between the second hash and the women’s hash, there is a red zone. It’s a red zone. Additionally, everything is more compact and tighter in that red zone.
“And so t
And I believed that we lost at least five of them there by ourselves. And if my memory serves me well, there were two instances in the second half where we grabbed the rebound and they snatched it away from us. And they scored them, I believe.
“So, those are the things that we need to support.”
With TCU in town, K-State has a chance to make the most of this season by defeating a team that might make the NCAA Tournament.
Driscoll remarked, “I felt great going into the game, I felt very, very confident.” We performed well at home versus Baylor, so it was a two-edged sword. We now have the opportunity to stack it, and after that, we have the opportunity to eliminate [TCU] from the NCAA Tournament and damage their record.
That was something we discussed, and it served as a sort of inspiration or encouragement to go out and play because it’s more than just a game.
Here are a few things we can get started on. And I thought, “Dude, we’re going to turn this corner,” when it was a one-point game. We will turn this corner. Breaking past the wall is what separates being comfortable from being uncomfortable. And we seem to be getting closer and closer, yet we are unable to get over that barrier.
Numbers for the Wildcats
This season, the Wildcats haven’t played good home court defense. They are 2-6 in the Big 12 and 9-8 at Bramlage Coliseum. For the Wildcats, 80 points appears to be a lucky number. When K-State scores less than 80, they are 0-14.
P.J. Haggerty and Nate Johnson, two K-State guards, started their 29th straight game. Johnson scored 16 points, while Haggerty led the Wildcats with 18. For K-State, they were the only players to score in double figures. In Driscoll’s debut, the Wildcats defeated Baylor 90-74 thanks to 34 points from Haggerty and 33 from Johnson.
Numbers
‘They haven’t quit’
According to Driscoll, there is merit to the Wildcats’ refusal to give up on the season.
“One of the best things you can ever witness as a father of two boys is that your kids never give up,” Driscoll remarked. It’s really hard to find happiness when your kids give up on anything.
“These people haven’t given up. They are still enrolled in school. They are still competing. We simply haven’t closed the deal; they haven’t given up. The two are not the same.
“We remained the same. We are simply little different. There is a distinction between the two, and that is the happiness I observe in them—that they haven’t given up, that they still wish to compete, and that they still hope to succeed. That, in my opinion, is really significant and demonstrates their resilience.
