Kansas State basketball guard Tylor Perry keeps the faith and helps gun down UCF

MANHATTAN — Kansas State basketball guard Tylor Perry insists that he remained confident, even through a season-long shooting slump that has tested his reputation as an elite marksman.

But that does not mean he was immune to frustration.

"My confidence never wavered, but sometimes it gets hard," Perry said after busting out in a big way Saturday by knocking down six 3-pointers in the Wildcats' 77-52 blowout of Central Florida in the Big 12 opener for both teams. "You continue to miss open shots, continue to struggle a little bit.

"But at the end of the day, I know who I am as a player, and I have such a good supporting group around me. They continue to find me, continue to feed me, and I'm blessed to be in a position to have a coach and have a group of guys who believe in me more than I believe in myself sometimes."

It didn't hurt that the Wildcats (11-3, 1-0 Big 12) jumped on UCF from the start, scoring the game's first 12 points and never letting the Knights back in the game. Perry knocked down a 3-pointer during that early spurt and had eight points on the way to a 35-19 K-State halftime lead.

Related: Kansas State basketball guard Tylor Perry makes up for slow starts with late-game heroics

But it was in the second half that everything started to fall for Perry, who finished with a game-high 25 points to go with five assists. He knocked down his first five 3-point attempts of the period, which helped K-State open a 35-point lead at one point.

"Coach calls him the best shooter in America every day in practice, and all 13 of us really believe it," redshirt freshman Dorian Finister said of Perry. "So, we never lose confidence in him."

Even while shooting just 31.3% from 3-point range in nonconference play — he averaged better than 41% the two previous seasons at North Texas — Perry has come up big in big moments several times this season. In fact, 164 of his 220 points this season have come in the second half or overtime.

K-State coach Jerome Tang indeed has called him the best shooter in the country from the time he stepped on campus, in part because he wants Perry to believe it.

"One of my things is I like to breed confidence into guys," Tang said. "So, Markquis Nowell was the best point guard in America last year, long before he was the best point guard in America. And Ish Massoud was the best shooter in America long before he became (known as) Big 12 Ish.

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"It's just one of those things. And so, I've called Tyler period best shooter in America. I believe it. I just like to breed confidence."

Unfortunately, Tang's declaration and the numbers haven't matched up, leading someone on social media to remark that if Perry is the best shooter in the country, then the basketball is in dire straits.

Perry shared that tidbit with the team during a mentor session that the Wildcats do each game day after their scouting report session and shootaround.

"I don't read that stuff, but our kids do," he said of the social media post. "And my man is absorbing that thing. And so, I was very thankful that he was willing to be so transparent with the team and talk about his struggle and use it to help the whole team move forward.

"I believe that the best thing we do is our mentors. Segments where we talk about life and the things we're going through and how we approach things. And so, I was really thankful that TP was willing to do that today and be transparent. I think it helped everybody — staff, players, everyone."

Related: Kansas State basketball's Tylor Perry and Arthur Kaluma receive Big 12 honorable mention

Perry's shooting display was just part of the story for the Wildcats, who held UCF to 33.8% shooting for the game, including 23.8% on 3-pointers, and outrebounded the Knights, 40-36. Plus, they got double-figure point production from three other players — Arthur Kaluma with 14 points, Cam Carter with 12 and six assists, and center Will McNair with 11 points.

David N'Guessan only made 1 of 6 shots, but he grabbed 14 rebounds.

"(Perry) talked about just looking himself in the mirror and realizing how special the situation is that he has here," Tang said of his point guard's pregame talk. "And that he was going to approach it and be more thankful just knowing that everybody doesn't get this opportunity, and you can tell he played with a lot more freedom and less stress."

With the first conference test out of the way, K-State now hits the road for its next two, starting with a 6 p.m. game Tuesday at West Virginia and continuing next Saturday with a 3 p.m. tipoff at Texas Tech.

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 guard Tylor Perry comes up big against UCF