Kansas State starts slow, never recovers in 74-49 loss to No. 4 Baylor: Three takeaways

WACO, Texas — Whether it was a hangover from a heartbreaking loss against Kansas or simply that Baylor was that much stronger, things did not end well for the Kansas State men's basketball team Tuesday night at the Ferrell Center.

No. 4-ranked Baylor jumped on the Wildcats early and never let them back in the game, rolling to a 74-49 victory. It was by far the lowest scoring output of the season for K-State, which previously had 57 points in home losses to Texas and TCU.

It also was the second straight loss for the Wildcats, who slipped to 10-9 overall, 2-6 in the Big 12. Baylor won its third in a row and improved to 18-2 and 6-2.

Nijel Pack led K-State with 13 points and Markquis Nowell had 11, all in the second half. LJ Cryer led four Baylor players in double figures with 14 points, while Adam Flagler and Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua and each had 13 and Kendall Brown 10.

Tchamwa Tchatchoua also had 12 rebounds and Brown 10 as the Bears destroyed K-State on the boards, 39-28.

The loss ended a four-game stretch against ranked opponents for K-State, which won the first two against Texas Tech and Texas before falling to Kansas and Baylor. The Wildcats head to Oxford, Mississippi on Saturday for a 3 p.m. game against Mississippi in the Big 12/SEC Challenge series.

Here are three takeaways from the Baylor game:

Markquis Nowell, Nijel Pack on the attack

Nowell tried to act as facilitator in the first half, attempting just one shot without scoring. But with the Wildcats missing shot at an alarming rate, he went on the attack in the second half.

Nowell started the half with a 3-pointer and then drove hard to the basket for three straight layups, scoring K-State's first nine points of the . But it wasn't enough.

Even when Pack heated up from the perimeter later in the half, K-State could not make a dent in Baylor's 39-21 halftime lead.

After Pack (13 points) and Nowell (11), no other Wildcat had more than six. Mark Smith had another tough game, shooting 2 of 11, but did lead the team in rebounding with six, while Nowell had four assists.

Reverting to first-half form

Kansas State, which appeared to have kicked its slow start problem recently, reverted to form against Baylor.

After Ismael Massoud opened the game with a 3-pointer, the Wildcats made just one of their next 14 shots and trailed 18-6 midway through the half. They were down 39-21 at intermission.

Sparked by Nowell, the K-State cut the lead to 14 early in the second half and had a chance to get it to 12, but Nowell missed two free-throw attempts and the Baylor pulled away again.

Rebounding woes continue for Kansas State

With center Davion Bradford listed as questionable for the game after suffering an injury against Kansas on Saturday, Kansas State went small, starting guards Nowell, Pack, Selton Miguel and Smith, along with 6-foot-9 forward Massoud.

By midway through the second half, Baylor had doubled K-State up on the boards before the Wildcats closed the final gap to 39-28 down the stretch.

Bradford did check in less than four minutes into the game, the first of three Wildcat centers to play in the first half, but played only five minutes. He was replaced in short order by Carlton Linguard and Kaosi Ezeagu, who actually was the Wildcats' second-leading scorer in the period with four points.

Ezeagu played 19 minutes and Linguard seven, and along with Bradford the three combined for just six points and six rebounds. Massoud hit a 3-pointer to start the game and did not score again, grabbing just one rebound in his 21 minutes.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas State basketball starts slow, never recovers in loss to Baylor