K-State determined to turn up aggression vs. Central Arkansas

Field Level Media|published: Tue 21st November, 14:28 2023

Mar 23, 2023; New York, NY, USA; Kansas State Wildcats guard Cam Carter (5) reacts during the second half against the Michigan State Spartans at Madison Square Garden. credits: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Kansas State will try to bounce back from a 91-83 loss to then-No. 12 Miami when it hosts Central Arkansas on Wednesday night in Manhattan, Kan.

The final score against the Hurricanes was not indicative of the degree in which the Wildcats (3-2) lost.

They were thoroughly outplayed by Miami in the title game of the Baha Mar Hoops Championship on Sunday. They trailed 47-28 at halftime and by as many as 24 points in the second half before closing the gap.

Cam Carter scored 24 of his career-best 28 points in the second half. Arthur Kaluma registered his fourth career double-double, and first as a Wildcat, with 18 points and 12 rebounds. But the game was decided early.

"I did a terrible job in the first half of putting the game plan together and it didn't give us a chance to win," said coach Jerome Tang. "I'm thankful for the staff, because we were able to make adjustments at halftime.

"In the second half, we saw 'the Cats.' We were more aggressive getting to the paint. We owned the glass, which gave us a chance to win the game."

Central Arkansas (1-4) will be licking its wounds as well after the Bears let a 12-point lead with 12 minutes left slip away in a 70-68 loss at Southeast Missouri State Monday night.

Tied at halftime, UCA opened up a 46-34 lead. But the Redhawks chipped away, thanks to a pair of 3-pointers and a traditional three-point play to cut the deficit to one point with 6:30 remaining.

After falling behind 68-66, the Bears tied it. SEMO retook the lead inside of 10 seconds left and Central Arkansas' final attempt to tie it came after the buzzer sounded.

"We had a great opportunity tonight," Bears coach Anthony Boone said. "There was a stretch in the second half where our defense let up and Southeast Missouri scored on quite a few possessions. Outside of those, we stopped them quite a bit. That really was the difference in the game."

The Bears are playing their third game in six days after losing at Vanderbilt on Friday and at SEMO on Monday.

—Field Level Media