Kansas State basketball looks for defense to carry over to road test at West Virginia

MANHATTAN — There is no question that a suffocating defensive effort, especially in the first half, helped fuel Kansas State basketball's 77-52 blowout victory over Central Florida in its Big 12 opener Saturday at Bramlage Coliseum.

The Wildcats, energized by a near-sellout crowd, got in passing lanes, rebounded, and seemingly contested every UCF shot on the way to a 35-19 halftime advantage and ultimately the most lopsided victory in a conference opener in 25 years.

"You start the Big 12, everybody's a little bit more locked in," K-State coach Jerome Tang said after watching the Wildcats improve to 11-3 overall, 1-0 in the conference, with their third straight victory.

After limiting UCF to 33.8% shooting for the game — 21.6% in the opening half — the Wildcats will see how that defense travels this week with a pair of conference road games. First they face West Virginia (5-9, 0-1 Big 12) at 6 p.m. Tuesday at WVU Coliseum in Morgantown, before heading to Lubbock, Texas, on Saturday to take on Texas Tech.

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

While pleased with his team's defensive performance against UCF, it did not come as a shock to Tang. Offense was the Wildcats' biggest issue during a nonconference schedule that while producing a 10-3 record also led to a number of close calls against lesser competition.

But against UCF, the Wildcats bolted to a 12-0 start and never let the Knights off the mat, forcing six early turnovers and converting at the other end. It didn't hurt that point guard Tylor Perry broke out of a shooting slump to knock down five second-half 3-pointers and six for the game to finish with 25 points.

"I feel like we've been playing pretty good defense for the last three or four games, and sometimes that doesn't show up when the ball's not going in the hole," Tang said. "People focus on the other things.

"But we've been really pleased with our defense, and I think I'm pretty sure we've made more free throws than our opponents have attempted, and that's something that's big for us. And if we can get to the bonus and they don't get to the bonus that really helps us, and we're proud of that."

Related: Kansas State basketball gearing up daunting Big 12 schedule and opener against UCF

Indeed, the Wildcats outscored UCF from the foul line, 18-3, and did not commit their first foul until the 8:17 mark of the first half.

"We played very well on the defensive end," said junior forward Arthur Kaluma, who had 14 points, six rebounds and two steals against UCF. "All thanks to the scout team, and that goes back to guys like Taj Manning, Jerrell Colbert, giving us the best look that we could possibly have during practice so that when we come out here, we're prepared and we're ready to give the effort that we need."

Tang also gave a shout out to assistant coach Marco Borne.

"The crowd got into it, (and) obviously, our guys made plays, but I think when we go back and look at it, you'll see that it was because of the scouting report," Tang said. "Coach Marco did a scouting report and we talked about some things that we need to take away that they would look for, and I felt like we caused the turnovers and got some deflections and stuff.

"And it was their focus on the scout that allowed that to happen. And then obviously when the ball goes in the hole, that helps you."

Related: Kansas State basketball forward Taj Manning takes advantage of opportunity in Wildcat win

In West Virginia, the Wildcats will face the only conference team with a losing record at 5-9 and 0-1. The Mountaineers also got off to a rough start in the Big 12 on Saturday with an 89-55 loss at No. 3-ranked Houston.

"This is Big 12 play, and you can't get these games back," Perry said. "And every single one of them, like coach Tang says, it's a one-game season, and that's how we're treating them.

"We got this one. That was the most important one on the schedule, and now West Virginia is, and we've got to treat it the exact same way."

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: Defense has been key to Kansas State basketball's early success