Ugonna Onyenso scored a career-high 16 points and CJ Jones added 12 as Kansas State survived a rough shooting night from distance to earn a 74-56 home victory over Mississippi Valley State at Manhattan, Kan.
David N’Guessan scored 10 points and Coleman Hawkins had 13 rebounds, with four assists and three steals for the Wildcats (3-1), who missed their first 10 attempts from 3-point range and finished 3 of 23 (13.0 percent) from beyond the arc.
Wildcats point guard Dug McDaniel, a Michigan transfer, did not play after making his first start for his new program Thursday in a 76-65 loss to LSU. Coach Jerome Tang called it a “coach’s decision.”
Kansas State outrebounded Mississippi Valley State 45-28 and forced 17 turnovers to win despite shooting 35.9 percent overall from the floor. The Wildcats went 25 of 27 from the free-throw line while the Delta Devils were 8-for-8.
Arthur Tate scored 16 points for Mississippi Valley State (1-4), while Antonio Sisk added 15 in the team’s fourth game against a power-conference opponent, all losses.
Walter Hamilton had six rebounds for the Delta Devils, who also have losses to Iowa State, Missouri and Texas. Mississippi Valley State went 1-30 last season.
After early struggles from long range, Kansas State moved inside to find offense and built a 21-7 lead when David Castillo finally gave the Wildcats their first 3-pointer with 5:25 remaining in the half.
Mississippi Valley State then went on a 16-2 run to tie the game 23-23 late in the first half before Kansas State took a 25-23 lead into halftime.
The Delta Devils tied the game again at 25-25 on a Tate basket early in the second half before the Wildcats took control of the game with a 16-3 run to take a 41-28 lead with 14:52 remaining.
Mississippi Valley State never got within double digits the rest of the way, despite a late 9-0 run, while dropping the program’s first-ever meeting with Kansas State.
–Field Level Media
