Basketball <\/p>\n
Kansas State\u2019s men\u2019s basketball team was on track for its first Big 12 victory in the second half against host Arizona State on Saturday.<\/p>\n
The Wildcats led by 64-58, were playing well and seemed to have a measure of control of the proceedings.<\/p>\n
Until they didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
K-State went more than five minutes without a field goal and the Sun Devils took charge, winning 87-84 on Saturday afternoon. ASU scored 10 straight points as part of an 18-3 burst. The Sun Devils took a 76-67 lead with 4:21 to play.<\/p>\n
K-State had a frantic rally toward the end but couldn\u2019t overcome ASU.<\/p>\n
K-State fell to 9-7, 0-3 in the Big 12. It lost both ends of its Arizona doubleheader<\/a>, falling to No. 1 University of Arizona on Wednesday, 101-76.<\/p>\n What made the loss particularly painful for K-State is that in the difficult Big 12, this was considered a winnable game<\/a>.<\/p>\n Three-point shooting has been a problem the last two games for the Wildcats but they made 13-of-31 from distance (41.9 percent) against ASU. In its last two games, Kansas State shot poorly from distance \u2014 22.2 percent against Arizona, and 14.3 percent against BYU.<\/p>\n The difference in the improved shooting? \u201cJust my teammates finding me and moving around and them trusting me to make shots,\u201d K-State\u2019s Abdi Bashir Jr., said in a postgame news conference<\/a>.\u00a0 Bashir shot 6-of-12 from distance and scored 22 points.<\/p>\n Kansas State, which had trouble with Arizona\u2019s length on Wednesday, was equally vulnerable against ASU on Saturday. The Sun Devils outscored K-State in the paint, 50-28.<\/p>\n ASU (10-6, 1-2) dominated the boards, 48-34. The Sun Devils made many easy baskets with their inside prowess. ASU needed its inside power as it shot only 3-of-22 (14 percent) from distance. ASU\u2019s 7-foot-1 freshman Massamba Diop scored 21 points on 8-of-10 shooting and had nine rebounds. He was essentially unstoppable inside.<\/p>\n \u201cGoing into the Big 12, we always mentioned how physical it is,\u201d Wildcats forward Taj Manning<\/a> said in a postgame news conference<\/a>. \u201cI think we didn\u2019t emphasize, or I didn\u2019t tell my teammates enough about \u2026 not playing physical with your hands, but more with your body and chest.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd we have a lot of times where we\u2019re just reaching or slapping down and it\u2019s just sending teams to the free throw line and the fouls add up.\u201d<\/p>\n ASU took advantage of the freebies, hitting 24-of-31 from the line. K-State made 15-of-21 from the line.<\/p>\n P.J. Haggerty led the Wildcats with 25 points. He missed a half-court shot at the final buzzer that would have tied the score.<\/p>\n \u201cThe rebounding battle,\u201d Manning said about what he would take out of the 0-2 trip to Arizona. \u201cMe, personally, I have not been doing my best on the boards. I feel like that\u2019s one of the ways that we could have got better these last two games and given ourselves a better chance these last two games.\u201d<\/p>\n K-State is 7-0 when it scores 90 or more points, and 2-7 when it doesn\u2019t.\u00a0<\/p>\n Next for Kansas State is a home game Wednesday night against No. 25 UCF.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nTrouble in the paint<\/h2>\n