Houston's defense never let Kansas State basketball off the mat in 74-52 blowout loss
HOUSTON — Kansas State basketball coach Jerome Tang knew Houston's defense would be a handful.
He also knew that no amount of practice would prepare the Wildcats for what they were about to face. They had to experience it for themselves.
"They may be the best defensive team I've ever seen, and it was just hard to find shots," Tang said after No. 4-ranked Houston held his Wildcats scoreless for nearly six minutes Saturday on the way to a dominating 74-52 Big 12 victory at Fertitta Center. "They do a great job (and) they're connected on that end.
"It's hard to simulate in practice. You know what they're going to do, it's just you can't duplicate it for your guys to adjust to the speed of which they do it. On film, we as coaches, we can pause the film and say, 'Well this path is going to be open,' but in real life there's no pausing out there, and so it is tough to replicate and so therefore tough to adjust initially."
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It was the second straight loss — both on the road — for K-State, which also fell to Iowa State last Wednesday, 78-67, and now is 14-6 overall, 4-3 in the Big 12, heading into a 7 p.m. home game Tuesday against No. 13-ranked Oklahoma at Bramlage Coliseum.
But while the Wildcats rallied from a double-digit halftime deficit to tie Iowa State before stumbling down the stretch, they never made a serious dent in Houston's initial 11-0 lead.
"Yeah, their defense wouldn't let us," Tang said. "Runs were one bucket out there."
K-State wasn't the first team to fall victim to Houston's relentless defense. The Cougars came in leading the nation in scoring defense, allowing 51.9 points per game, and in field goal percentage defense at 34.8.
K-State actually beat that average by shooting 40.4% to an even 40 for Houston, but the Wildcats also turned the ball over 18 times and were outrebounded, 38-28.
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"Houston is a really good team, offensively and defensively," said K-State guard Tylor Perry, who missed four of five shots, all from 3-point range to finish 11.5 points below his average. "They just make it tough on you.
"They were just a tougher team today, and so, give a lot of credit to them, their game plan, and we've got to just got to go on to the next thing we do."
Houston has always been known for its defense under coach Kelvin Sampson. It is what has allowed the Cougars to transition seamlessly to the Big 12 this year.
"We held that team to 52 points. The cynical people will look and say that this guy didn't do that, we can't make free throws, we can't do this, we can't do that, and you're probably right," Sampson said. "But we can guard.
"The last time I checked, the team with the most points wins games. We defend, we rebound, and don't overlook how we take care of the ball. That's not an accident."
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As for Tang, whose Wildcats endured their most difficult week to date, his message didn't change.
"It's a one-game season," he said. "We didn't lose two games today or three games. We lost one game. And had we won, we'd have won one game.
"So, we put it in a box, and we move on. And every game is a one-game season and that's how we're treating it."
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.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas State basketball was simply unable to solve Houston defense
