Kansas State Basketball: 3 takeaways from program-defining OT win over Kansas

2. Kansas State wins a game despite Markquis Nowell struggling

The 5th-year senior guard has been playing at a historically good level this season, averaging 17.1 ppg and 8.5 rpg overall. Heading into the Kansas matchup, Nowell was putting up 25.4 ppg and 8.8 apg at 40 mpg through five games in Big 12 play.

How he was going to do against Kansas and its quality perimeter defenders was a major storyline in the game. And the result was the worst offensive game of the season for Nowell, scoring just four points on 2/8 shooting from the field in 42 minutes. He did find other ways to impact the game, dishing out seven assists and having four rebounds and four steals.

For Kansas State to score 83 points in 45 minutes on a good defensive unit is impressive enough. Doing it with 14 points fewer from your leading scorer is even better. To fill in for Nowell in the scoring department was Arkansas State transfer Desi Sills. He went for a season-high 24 points off the bench on 7/11 shooting.

There are some slight concerns that Johnson and Nowell may have to do too much for Kansas State Basketball to keep winning but to win without much from the star point guard is a positive sign going forward. It was said that this roster didn’t have much talent entering the season but to this point, that’s been proven wrong.