Kansas State basketball subs make the most of limited bench minutes in West Virginia win
Kansas State basketball coach Jerome Tang has been stingy with his bench minutes of late, but that doesn't mean he has forgotten about his backups.
Perhaps judicious is more accurate than stingy.
Such was the case again Tuesday night in the Wildcats' impressive 81-67 road victory against West Virginia at WVU Coliseum in Morgantown, West Virginia, when only redshirt freshman guard Dorian Finister logged double-digit minutes as a reserve.
The formula seems to be working. The Wildcats are 12-3 overall, 2-0 in the Big 12, and have won four straight.
Finister, who played 22 minutes and — his second career high in as many games — is establishing himself as a reliable sixth man, especially when freshman point guard Dai Dai Ames is not on his game. But against West Virginia it was big man Jerrell Colbert who provided the biggest spark as the Wildcats went from a 42-40 halftime deficit to taking control after intermission.
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Colbert, a 6-foot-10 redshirt sophomore, played only six minutes, all in the second half, but contributed four rebounds and was a force on defense with four rebounds and two blocked shots.
"We're forging to be the team that we're capable of being, and there's a lot that goes into it," Tang said of his team's depth. "The last few scouts, Jerrell has volunteered to be on the scout team, and so with him and Taj (Manning) on scout team, that really helped us."
Manning, a redshirt freshman forward, played just one minute in the first half against the Mountaineers, but a week before he was the one who logged a career high of 15 minutes off the bench in a victory over Chicago State.
Forward Arthur Kaluma, who finished with 17 points, was not surprised to see Colbert rise to the occasion when he and forward David N'Guessan were in foul trouble or needed a break.
"Those guys prepare every single day," Kaluma said of Colbert and Finister, who had six points on 3 of 4 shooting, plus two rebounds and two assists. "Jerrell works hard every single day.
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"His work ethic and his ability to come out here and perform the way he did — plus-9 (while on the court), that's amazing. Four rebounds, and it's just a testament to his mental toughness."
Or as Tang suggested, it is a matter of seizing the moment.
"It’s just about staying ready. Will (McNair) needed a breather, Dave (N’Guessan) got in foul trouble, (and) Art (Kaluma) was in foul trouble," Tang said. "We had to play a few different lineups that we probably hadn’t thought about, and Jerrell was ready, just like Tag was ready the other night.
"I wish I had (a combined) 400 minutes, but I don't. We've got 200 minutes to do this thing and we just all have to be happy for each other when we can. When somebody is successful and we get our opportunity, we have to be ready."
K-State is back on the road Saturday for a 3 p.m. game against 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 backups contribute in win at West Virginia
