By: D. Scott Fritchen
Nijel Pack scored 17 points and sank 5 3-pointers, and Mark Smith and Selton Miguel both had a double-double, as Kansas State coasted to a 71-43 victory over UAlbany on Wednesday in a tune-up ahead of the Wildcats' showdown against Wichita State at INTRUST Bank Arena on Sunday afternoon.
K-State, which improved to 4-2, has finished in the top 60 nationally in scoring defense 6 times in the last 9 seasons, and for a second time in four nights used stellar defense to handle a non-conference opponent at Bramlage Coliseum. After holding North Dakota to 29.3% (17 of 58) shooting from the floor, K-State held UAlbany to just 31.5% (17 of 54) from the floor. That included one of the poorest 3-point shooting performances by a foe in K-State history.
The Wildcats held UAlbany to 1 of 18 (5.6%) shooting from beyond the arc, which ranks as the second-best defensive effort on 3-pointers in school history behind holding Oklahoma to 4.8% (1 of 21) shooting from long range on February 23, 1993.
"We've been locked-in in practice on being a better defensive team each game," Pack said. "We've been talking about improving. We just need to keep getting better. Our coaches do a great job getting us prepared and we go out and execute."
The Wildcats entered the game ranked 59th nationally in allowing 61.4 points per contest. Their efforts in scoring defense reached a two-year best during an 84-42 win over North Dakota on Sunday, which marked the fewest point surrendered in a game since allowing just 41 points to Alabama State on December 11, 2019.
K-State has ranked among the top 40 in opponent 3-point field-goal percentage defense three times under Weber. They have now held opponents to under 40% shooting from the floor 104 games under Weber, including under 35% shooting 50 times.
Coupled with Wednesday night's performance, K-State has held back-to-back opponents below 50 points for the first time since against North Dakota (49) and Saint Louis (47) in 2015. The 86 combined points allowed by the Wildcats are their fewest in a two-game stretch since 2012.
The Wildcats continue to build after suffering a pair of losses to No. 13 Arkansas (72-64) and No. 14 Illinois (72-64) in the Hall of Fame Classic at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri.
"We got better (defensively) last year and from February 8th or 9th through the end of the season in analytics, and we were the sixth-best defensive team in the country," K-State head coach Bruce Weber said. "The first month of that season we might've been the sixth-worst defensive team in the country. Our preparation is good. We've learned that if we don't play good defense and do things right, we're not going to beat the best teams. We have to stay connected."
K-State improved defensively down the stretch last year in keeping 5 of their final 7 opponents under 60 points. Opponents averaged just 59.3 points and 40.6% shooting, including 26.1% on 3-pointers, over that stretch.
That late-season improvement last season has spilled over as defense has become a valuable weapon for the Wildcats.
K-State is now 95-10 when holding opponents to fewer than 60 points under Weber.
"The way we help each other on defense, teams aren't getting wide open shots," Miguel said. "That's how K-State plays defense."
Smith had 14 points and 10 rebounds, and Miguel had 12 points and 10 rebounds. It marked the first time since 2014 that two players recorded a double-double in the same game.
"We know we have a lot of talent on this team, and we just need to share the 'juices' as the coaches' say," said Pack, who shot 6 of 11 from the floor and 5 of 8 on 3-pointers in 26 minutes against the Great Danes. "We have a lot of guys who can score the ball. We all trust and believe in each other. We just have to share it with each other, and we can be really successful."
The Wildcats certainly had success on the defensive end of the floor against UAlbany.
UAlbany, which dropped to 1-6, made its first 3-pointer less than 1 minute into the game and then missed its final 18 3-point attempts. The Great Danes shot just 7 of 28 from the floor in the first half, including 1 of 10 on 3-pointers. It made 2 of its final 10 shot attempts in the first half.
"We're just trying to learn how to play smart but aggressive at the same time," Pack said. "We don't want to pick up dumb fouls, but we also want to pressure the ball. That's something Coach definitely emphasized from last year. Every possession we're jamming the ball."
Just as K-State referred to its back-to-back games against the Razorbacks and Illini as a "mini-tournament," the Wildcats are eying Sunday's meeting against Wichita State and the ensuing meeting at home against Marquette in the Big East/Big 12 Battle as another mini-tournament of sorts.
Although K-State fell short against Arkansas and Illinois, the Wildcats believe that they have since grown.
They plan to remember to pack their stellar defense when they head to Wichita on Sunday.
"That's the emphasis in practice," Pack said. "We saw in Kansas City we can't just match offenses with anybody. Coaches have been emphasizing defense since we got back from KC. We've turned it up on a few teams and now when we go to Wichita it's going to show if we really can turn it up against a really good team."
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December 02, 2021 at 07:05PM
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