MANHATTAN — Kansas State may want to reconsider scheduling afternoon games during the holidays, but no harm done.
After sleepwalking through much of the first half and the first few minutes of the second, the Wildcats finally took care of business Wednesday, heading home for Christmas with a 73-65 victory over Radford at Bramlage Coliseum.
Even so, they had to survive a late surge that cut a 17-point lead to six in the final minute before finishing the job. K-State’s 11-1 start is its best since the 2016-17 season.
K-State had four players score in double figures, led by Nae’Qwan Tomlin with 26 points and nine rebounds, and Keyontae Johnson with 14 points. Markquis Nowell had 10 points and 11 assists, with Desi Sills adding 10 points.
Kenyon Giles scored 20 points to lead Radford.
Here are three takeaways from the Wildcats’ final nonconference game before opening Big 12 play at 6 p.m. on Dec. 31 against West Virginia.
One foot out the door
K-State coach Jerome Tang expressed concern after Saturday night’s decisive victory over Nebraska in Kansas City, that the Wildcats might be too eager Wednesday to get home for Christmas.
It showed in the first half against Radford, as the Highlanders led by five points early, and then closed the period with five straight to close within three at intermission.
Radford (6-7) led as late as two minutes into the second half before an 11-0 run finally created some separation for the Wildcats. Even so, the Wildcats had to hold off a late run by the Highlanders.
A weekday afternoon tip didn’t help the atmosphere, but the matinee doubleheader — K-State’s women played the opener at 11 a.m. and beat Morgan State, 77-46 — was scheduled in order to let the players maximize their holiday break.
Nae’Qwan Tomlin flexes his muscles
On a day when leading scorer Keyontae Johnson clearly was out of sync offensively, Nae’Qwan Tomlin took it upon himself to put K-State on his back.
Not only did Tomlin score a career-high 26 points. He also matched a career best with nine rebounds.
Tomlin, the junior transfer from Chipola College came in averaging 10.4 points with a season high of 15. He had eclipsed that total five minutes into the second half.
The Wildcats struggled mightily in the first half, including a 2-for-7 shooting performance by Johnson, but Tomlin made up for it by knocking down five shots for 11 points and pulling down five offensive rebounds.
By the time Johnson picked up the pace in the last 10 minutes — he finished with 14 points and seven rebounds — Tomlin already had 20 points. Tomlin had three straight dunks in one second-half stretch, including a baseline drive across the lane for an emphatic one-handed slam
Desi Sills provides instant offense
Desi Sills might be putting up starter-type numbers, but Jerome Tang likes what the graduate transfer guard gives K-State off the bench, both as a scorer and facilitator.
Against Radford, with the Wildcats treading water and going nowhere, Sills came in and scored eight points in just over three minutes, helping erase an early deficit and putting K-state up 25-20 with his second 3-pointer.
Sills came in averaging 8.9 points and 3.0 assists and finished with 10 points and four rebounds.
Arne Green is based in Salina and covers Kansas State University sports for the Gannett network. He can be reached at agreen@gannett.com or on Twitter at @arnegreen.
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