K-State Falls to No. 2/2 Baylor

By K-State Athletics Release January 28, 2021

WACO, Texas – No. 2/2 Baylor once again demonstrated why they are one of the most complete teams in the country, as the Bears led from start to finish in posting a 107-59 win over Kansas State on Wednesday night in front of a limited capacity crowd of 2,350 fans at Ferrell Center.

Baylor (15-0, 8-0 Big 12), which is off to its second-best start in school history, connected on 57.7 percent (41-of-71) from the field, including 60.7 percent (17-of-28) from 3-point range, while it held K-State to just 34.6 percent (18-of-52) shooting, including 23.8 percent (5-of-21) from long range. The Bears forced 21 turnovers, including 14 steals, scoring 34 points off those miscues.

The Bears were lethal from long range, connecting on 17 3-pointers, which tied for the third-most in school history, as the backcourt trio of senior MaCio Teague and juniors Jared Butler and Davion Mitchell combined for a dozen triples. The 17 treys were the most allowed an opponent in K-State history.

Mitchell, Teague and Butler continued to pad their All-American resumes’, combining for 62 of the Bears’ 107 points. Mitchell led the way with a career-high 31 points on 12-of-16 field goals, including 7-of-9 from 3-point range, while Teague posted 18 points on 6-of-11 shooting, including 4-of-6 from beyond the arc. Butler added 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting to go with a game-high 7 rebounds.

Each player dished out a team-high 5 assists, while Butler and Teague each had 3 steals.

For K-State (5-12, 1-8 Big 12), the loss was its seventh in a row and eighth straight in Big 12 play.

The 107 points are the most allowed by a Bruce Weber-coached team and the most by a Wildcat team since giving up a school-record 125 to Arizona on December 30, 1997. The 48-point loss is the largest in school history, surpassing the 47-point setback at Oklahoma on February 19, 1934.

Freshman Nijel Pack was the lone Wildcat to score in double figures, as he made his return to the court after missing the past 4 games due to COVID-19 protocols. He finished with 11 points on 3-of-10 shooting and a 4-of-4 effort from the free throw line to go with a game-tying 5 assists and 5 rebounds in 32 minutes. Freshman Seryee Lewis had a season-high 9 points on 4-of-5 shooting, while three others – freshmen Luke Kasubke and Selton Miguel and sophomore Antonio Gordon – each added 8 points.

With the return of Pack, K-State played with a fully healthy roster for the first time since November.

KEY STRETCH(ES)

Baylor was terrific from the start, jumping out to a 20-2 lead after just 6 minutes of play, which included the first of three 18-0 runs in the game. After a dunk by Antonio Gordon tied the game at 2-all, the Bears rattled off 18 straight points, including 3-pointers by MaCio Teague, Davion Mitchell and Adam Flagler.

After Gordon broke the scoring drought with a 3-pointer at the 13:21 mark, the Bears once again scored 18 straight points to take a 38-5 advantage with 8:27 to play before halftime.

Just moments into the second half, Baylor ripped off its third 18-0 run to extend its lead to 74-32 with just under 13 minutes remaining. Mitchell and senior Mark Vital combined to score 16 of the 18 points during the stretch.

PLAYER(S) OF THE GAME

Freshman Nijel Pack led all Wildcat scorers for the fifth time this season with 11 points on 3-of-10 field goals and a 4-of-4 effort from the free throw line. It marked his seventh double-digit scoring game, including his third in a row in Big 12 play. He also dished out a game-tying 5 assists to go with 5 rebounds in 32 minutes.

STAT OF THE GAME

17 – Baylor knocked down 17 3-pointers on the night, which is the most allowed by a K-State team in school history. Seven different players had at least one trey, while Davion Mitchell connected on seven.

IN THEIR WORDS

K-State Head Coach Bruce Weber

On the game…

“There’s not much I can say. They kicked our butt again, obviously. They made 3’s. They make 3’s against everybody, but against us it seems like a lot more than that. 17 3’s. They share the ball. They had 23 assists. Transition points, points off turnovers were a killer for us. We started two bigs, thought we’d try something different. We talked about getting it inside. We got it inside the first two times. Both of those guys didn’t come up with baskets. I just think we get a little impatient. We haven’t made 3’s, and then we go back to the 3’s and then obviously the turnovers plague us. They’re really good. They have a special group. They’re undefeated for a reason. We tried a little something different on defense. They’re just so good, read it and they make the right plays and right passes.”

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE

  • K-State is now 5-12 on the season, including 1-8 in Big 12 play… The Wildcats are off to a 1-8 start to league play for the first time since 1999-2000, including 7 straight defeats.
  • K-State is now 119-267 all-time against Top 25 opponents, including a 7-18 mark vs. the AP’s No. 2 ranked team… The Wildcats are 0-5 vs. Top 25 foes this season.
  • K-State is now 23-22 against Baylor, including 18-21 in the Big 12 era… The Bears swept the season series for the second consecutive season and have now 4 in a row in the series.
  • The Wildcats’ starting lineup consisted of senior Mike McGuirl, sophomore DaJuan Gordon, freshman Nijel Pack, sophomore Kaosi Ezeagu and freshman Davion Bradford… This is the first time using this lineup and the seventh different lineup employed this season… McGuirl has now started all 17 games this season and has the longest current active start streak at 22 games.
  • Pack returned to the lineup after missing 4 games to due COVID-19 protocols… It was his first game since the Texas Tech game on Jan. 5… He has now started all 13 games in his K-State career.
  • K-State had its full complement of 13 players for tonight’s game for the first time since November.

Team Notes

  • K-State scored its 59 points on a season-low 34.6 percent (18-of-52) shooting, including 23.8 percent (5-of-21) from 3-point range, while connecting on 75 percent (18-of-24) from the free throw line.
  • Baylor scored its 107 points on 57.7 percent (41-of-71) shooting, including 60.7 percent (17-of-28) from 3-point range, while hitting on 72.7 percent (8-of-11) from the free throw line.
  • The 107 points by Baylor were the sixth-most surrendered to an opponent and the most since Arizona scored a school-record 125 points on December 30, 1997… It was the third-most allowed in a conference game and the most-ever allowed in the Big 12 game.
  • The 41 made field goals by Baylor tied for the fifth-most and the most since Oklahoma made 50 on January 18, 1992… The 16 made 3-pointers were the most-ever allowed, surpassing 15 against Missouri in 1998, Saint Louis in 2004, TCU in 2020 and Baylor in the last matchup on December 19, 2020.
  • Baylor scored 34 points off turnovers, which ties for the second-most allowed since the stat began being kept in 2000-01… It the most points off turnovers since Nebraska had 34 in 2009.
  • Baylor scored 44 points in the paint, which was a season-high by an opponent.
  • Baylor scored 23 second-chance points, which was a season-high by an opponent.
  • Baylor’s 14 steals were the most by an opponent since Kansas had 15 in 2008.
  • Baylor had a 41-23 advantage on the board, including 13 offensive rebounds.
  • Baylor held a 54-26 lead at halftime on the strength of 55.6 percent (20-of-36) shooting, including 50 percent (7-of-14) from 3-point range… The 28-point halftime deficit is the second-largest in school history only surpassed by the 29-point deficit to Baylor in its last meeting on December 19.
  • K-State is now 0-11 on the season when trailing at the half. 

Player Notes

  • Freshman Nijel Pack led the Wildcats with 11 points on 3-of-10 field goals, including 1-of-6 from 3-point range, to go with a 4-of-4 effort from the free throw line… He has now scored in double figures in 7 games, including 3 in Big 12 play… It marked the fifth time leading the team in scoring… He also added 5 assists and 5 rebounds in 32 minutes… It marked his seventh game of at least 5 assists.
  • Freshman Seryee Lewis scored a season-high 9 points on 4-of-5 field goals in 13 minutes of action.
  • Freshman Luke Kasubke scored a season-high 8 points on 1-of-3 field goals and 5-of-6 free throws to go with 4 rebounds and 2 steals in a season-best 23 minutes.
  • Freshman Selton Miguel scored 8 points on 2-of-5 field goals and 4-of-4 free throws to go with a team-tying 5 rebounds.

WHAT’S NEXT

K-State wraps up the month of January on Saturday, as the Wildcats play host to former Big 12 foe Texas A&M (7-7, 2-6 SEC) in the eighth annual SEC/Big 12 Challenge at 11 a.m., CT on ESPNU. K-State is 3-4 all-time in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge, which includes a 65-53 loss at Texas A&M in 2019. This will be the first home game in the Challenge series since 2018, as the Wildcats are 3-0 as the home team (2013, 2016, 2018).