Kansas State basketball comeback falls short again in loss to Texas to run skid to three
No one can question Kansas State basketball's resilience.
Unfortunately for the Wildcats, it once again was too little, too late.
The Wildcats cut a 12-point deficit to four in the final three-plus minutes, but again came up short on the road as they dropped a 62-56 decision to Texas on Monday night in Big 12 Conference play at Moody Center in Austin, Texas.
The loss, their third straight and seventh in the last eight games, dropped the Wildcats to 15-11 overall and 5-8 in the Big 12. Texas improved to 17-9 with a 6-7 league record.
The Wildcats trailed 54-42 with 3:21 left, when Dai Dai Ames was ejected for a flagrant foul on Texas' Chendall Weaver. But two Cam Carter free throws with 50.3 seconds left trimmed it to 56-52 before the Longhorns closed it out.
For K-State, Arthur Kaluma led the way with 17 points, followed by Tylor Perry with 13 and David N'Guessan with 12. Kaluma and N'Guessan each had seven rebounds.
For Texas, Dylan Disu led all scorers with 20 points.
Here are three takeaways from the Wildcats' final Big 12 regular-season game against Texas.
Related: Kansas State basketball shot down by a dagger three as TCU eeks out a 75-72 victory
Arthur Kaluma comes to life
After missing seven of his first eight shots, and going 2-for-10 in the first half, Kaluma after intermission, knocked down a pair of 3-pointers — one of them a four-point play, to keep the Wildcats in it.
Kaluma was 5of 17 from the floor, but hit all five of his free throws and also had seven rebounds.
Related: Kansas State basketball coach Jerome Tang's message remains the same in good times and bad
K-State changes it up defensively
K-State coach Jerome Tang tried a little of everything defensively to slow down Texas in the first half, giving the Longhorns a variety of zone looks, including a triangle-and-two, on Max Abmas and Dylan Disu.
It worked relatively well as the Longhorns shot 32.3% on the way to a 27-22 halftime advantage.
The Wildcats returned to their signature man-to-man in the second period.
Wildcats' 3-point woes continue in first half
After going 1-for-15 from 3-point range in Saturday's loss to TCU, things did not improve in the first half against Texas as the Wildcats were 1 of 10 at the break. Things improved in the second half, but they still finished at just 5-for-19.
Perry, who was shut out behind the arc for the first time all season in the TCU game, had the Wildcats' only first-half make and hit two more to start the second period. But before Arthur Kaluma finally connected withg 6:36, the rest of the team was 0-for-9.
Kaluma knocked down another one with 2:41 to go and was fouled for a four-point play.
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 hangs tough, but drops third straight game to Texas in Big 12 conference
