Nijel Pack scored a team-high 18 points as Kansas State used a second-half spurt to defeat Florida A&M 67-57 on Wednesday in Manhattan, Kan., during the season opener for both teams.
Kansas State used a balanced attack, with nine players getting at least 14 minutes of action and eight of them producing at least one field goal. Mark Smith, a transfer from Missouri, added 12 points and Selton Miguel had 10, all in the second half.
The only Wildcat who saw significant action without hitting a basket was last-year’s second-leading scorer, Mike McGuirl. He was 0-for-6 from the field but sank 3 of 4 free throws.
Florida A&M was led by MJ Randolph, who scored a game-high 27 points. Randolph, often going against the best Kansas State defender on the floor, shot 10 of 17 from the field. Jalen Speer added 10 points for the Rattlers.
Randolph picked up two quick fouls in the second half, including his third of the game at the 17:52 mark. The teams traded the lead for the next few minutes before the Wildcats used a 9-0 run to open up a 51-43 lead, their largest advantage of the game to that point.
Turnovers cost the Rattlers, as they gave the ball away 18 times.
Kansas State closed the first half on an 11-4 run at the close of the half to take a 33-30 lead into intermission.
Randolph, who was named to the Preseason All-SWAC second team after putting up 15.3 points, 6.4 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game last season, led the Rattlers with 13 points in the first half. He had double figures by the 12:35 mark of the half.
The Wildcats shot better from 3-point range than they did from inside the arc in the first half. They were 6 of 14 from long range but just 3 of 15 from inside the arc. They were led by Pack with 13 points, as he was 3 of 6 from long range.
–Field Level Media
