BATON ROUGE, La. – Louisiana native Cam Carter led four Wildcats in double figures with a game-high 21 points, as Kansas State ran its winning streak to 5 games with a 75-60 road win over LSU on Saturday afternoon before 7,413 fans at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
The 5-game winning streak is the longest since winning 9 straight from Dec. 3, 2022, to Jan. 10, 2023.
A native of Donaldsonville, La., which is just 40 miles from the LSU campus, Carter played a memorable first half in front of countless family and friends, scoring 19 points on 7-of-11 field goals, including 3-of-5 from beyond the arc, in helping the Wildcats build an 8-point lead at the half.
K-State (8-2) opened the second half by scoring 14 of the first 19 points, including back-to-back 3-pointers from senior Tylor Perry and junior Arthur Kaluma, to build a 17-point lead with just under 14 minutes to play. However, LSU (5-4) wouldn’t go away that easily, as the Tigers forced the Wildcats into bad shots and turnovers to use a 16-2 run to cut the deficit to 58-55 with just 10 seconds to play.
With the momentum shifting to the home team, Kaluma made a huge play off a missed 3-pointer by Perry as the shot clock was expiring, grabbing the rebound, and laying it up to ignite a run of 7 straight points that pushed the lead back out to 65-55 with 7 minutes remaining. Kaluma, who finished with his fifth career double-double, scored 5 of the 7 points in the stretch, including a pivotal 3-pointer.
The Wildcats held strong the rest of the way, ending the game on a 17-5 run, as senior David N’Guessan and Perry finished the scoring with a pair of layups, four free throws and a jumper.
Joining Carter in double figures was Kaluma, who finished with 17 points on 6-of-8 field goals, including 3-of-4 from 3-point range, to go with a game-high 11 rebounds, while Perry and fellow senior Will McNair Jr. added 14 and 13 points, respectively.
The 15-point win was the largest in a road game since a 75-57 victory at Oklahoma State on Feb. 2, 2019. The Wildcats are now 5-7 in true road games under head coach Jerome Tang, who is a perfect 4-0 against SEC competition (LSU (twice), Florida and Kentucky) in his career.
For the game, K-State connected on 47.3 percent (26-of-55) from the field, including 33.3 percent (8-of-24) from 3-point range, while hitting on 68.2 percent (15-of-22) from the free throw line. The Wildcats had 30 points in the paint, as they shot 58.1 percent (18-of-31) inside the 3-point line.
After shooting nearly 60 percent (59.1/13-of-22) in the first half, LSU (5-4) was held to just 29 percent (9-of-31) in the second half, including 18.2 percent (2-of-11) from 3-point range, as the Tigers finished 41.5 percent (22-of-53) from the field. Two players registered double figures led by graduate transfer Jordan Wright, who scored 19 points on 6-of-14 shooting, including 3-of-6 from 3-point range.
K-State now has back-to-back wins over LSU in consecutive seasons after defeating the Tigers in the championship game of the 2022 Cayman Islands Classic. The two teams will conclude the home-and-home series with a matchup at Bramlage Coliseum in 2024-25.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The teams exchanged runs in the early going, as K-State scored the first 5 points – including a 3-pointer from Louisiana native Cam Carter from the corner to open the game – before LSU responded with 8 in a row. The Tigers were hot from 3-point range – making their first 3 attempts – as they took an early 11-7 advantage into the first media timeout.
K-State was able to battle back to knot the game, first at 13-all then at 16-all on a personal 8-0 run by Carter, who opened the game shooting 4-of-5 from the field, including 2-of-2 from 3-point range. After LSU re-took the lead on a fourth 3-pointer, the Wildcats seized the momentum with a 16-5 run to push ahead 32-23 at the third media timeout at the 7:42 mark.
K-State led by 11 points after a pair of free throws by Carter before LSU scored 5 in a row to close the gap to 40-34 with 34 seconds before senior Will McNair Jr. sank a couple of free throws to give the Wildcats a 42-34 advantage at the half. Carter led all scorers with 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting, including 3-of-5 from 3-point range, while McNair chipped in 9 points.
Senior Tylor Perry opened the second half with a deep 3-pointer followed by a second one from junior Arthur Kaluma, as the Wildcats scored 12 of the first 17 points to take a 54-39 lead and forced a timeout by LSU head coach Matt McMahon with 14:47 remaining. Carter extended the lead to 56-39 with a pair of free throws right after the timeout to eclipse the 20-point plateau for the third time this season.
The home team started to chip away at the deficit, using an 8-2 run to close the gap to 58-47 just after the second media timeout with under 12 to play. The run continued with 5 more points by the Tigers to close the gap to 58-53 and force a timeout by head coach Jerome Tang with 10:24 to play.
The timeout didn’t seem to thwart the momentum, as LSU got the lead to within a possession at 58-55 after a pair of missed free throws by senior David N’Guessan. However, a Kaluma putback on a missed 3-pointer by Perry with the shot clock expiring sparked a run of 7 straight by the Wildcats, as they pushed back ahead 65-55 with under 6 minutes to play.
LSU never got closer than 8 points down the stretch, as K-State salted the game away with a pair of layups from N’Guessan and four free throws and a jumper by Perry.
HEAD COACH JEROME TANG
On his team’s focus…
“Our guys love playing basketball and love being together. This is the time of the year where we don’t have to worry about the distractions where you can just focus on playing and getting better as a basketball team. I felt like our guys had a lot to play for, a lot to focus on and a lot to be thankful for. That allowed them to put their energy in the right place.”
On the plan for the game…
“Teams haven’t been guarding our 4s and 5s in the lane and we really worked on how we can take advantage of that. We were able to do that some. I wanted to see ball movement and body movement and we did that. Defensively, they got off to a hot start. Two guys who normally don’t shoot 3s made 3s in the first half. It was great that we didn’t flinch. Those things tend to make you overreact, but they didn’t. We stayed locked in. In the second half, we were able to really focus on what they wanted to do (offensively) and really shrink the floor. They turned the ball over and we were able to get in transition.”
On his leadership of his team…
“I’m seeing growth in TP (Tylor Perry). I’m seeing growth in Arthur Kaluma, Will McNair. Cam (Carter). I mean how about Cam coming home and having that kind of game? Sometimes guys come home, and they try to do too much. They play too fast. So, he was really good. We are really developing. We are growing. Guys are embracing the challenge that we place on them. We require them not to be just great basketball players, but great people and great teammates. To care about the little things. And every dude in our program cares about that.”
TEAM NOTES
- K-State (8-2) ran its winning streak to 5 games with a 75-60 win at LSU.
- The winning streak is the longest since a 9-game streak from Dec. 3, 2022, to Jan. 10, 2023.
- K-State now has back-to-back wins over LSU in consecutive seasons after defeating the Tigers in the 2022 Cayman Islands Classic Championship game… The two schools will complete the home-and-home series with a matchup in Bramlage Coliseum in 2024-25.
- K-State is now 179-55 in non-conference play since 2006-07.
- K-State is now 5-7 in true road games under head coach Jerome Tang… The Wildcats have now won at least one non-conference road game for the third consecutive season.
- Tang is now 4-0 all-time against SEC competition (LSU (twice), Florida and Kentucky).
- K-State scored its 75 points on 47.3 percent (26-of-55) shooting, including 33.3 percent (8-of-24) from 3-point range, and 68.2 percent (15-of-22) from the free throw line.
- K-State dominated the glass, holding a 39-26 advantage in rebounding… The Wildcats collected 13 offensive rebounds, converting those into an 11-4 edge in second-chance points… The team has now out-rebounded 7 of 10 opponents.
- K-State held the advantage in points off turnovers (16-15), points in the paint (30-26) and second-chance points (11-4).
- K-State started a lineup of senior Tylor Perry, junior Cam Carter, junior Arthur Kaluma and senior David N’Guessan and senior Will McNair Jr. … It marked the sixth time using this lineup… Carter has now started all 46 games in his K-State career… Carter, N’Guessan and Perry have started all 10 games… Kaluma and McNair earned their eighth starts, respectively.
PLAYER NOTES
- Four Wildcats scored in double figures, including a game-high 21 points from junior Cam Carter… It was his third career 20-point game, all this season… Junior Arthur Kaluma added his fifth career double-double with 17 points and a game-high 11 rebounds… Seniors Tylor Perry and Will McNair Jr. scored 14 and 13 points, respectively.
- K-State is now 19-5 under head coach Jerome Tang when at least four players score in double figures, including 7-1 this season.
- Carter finished the day with 21 points on 7-of-18 field goals, including 3-of-9 from 3-point range, to go with 8 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals in playing nearly 40 minutes… It was his third career 20-point game, all this season… He has now scored in double figures in 18 career games, including 8 times in 2023-24.
- Kaluma continued his impressive play, recording his fifth career double-double, including his second in a Wildcat uniform with 17 points and a game-high 11 rebounds… He has now scored in double figures in 48 career games, including 8 times this season.
- Perry scored his 14 points on 3-of-10 shooting, including 2-of-7 from 3-point range, while making all 6 free throws, to go with a game-high 6 assists and 3 steals in more than 37 minutes… He has now scored in double figures in 66 career games, including in 9 of 10 games this season… His 6 assists matched a season-high for the seventh time and fifth consecutive game.
- McNair scored his 13 points on 5-of-6 field goals and 3-of-4 free throws to go with 5 rebounds and a season-best 3 blocks in 28 minutes… He has now scored in double figures in 18 career games, including 3 times as a Wildcat.
UP NEXT
K-State will take a week off for semester exams before returning on Sunday, Dec. 17 to play host to Nebraska (7-2) at 2 p.m., CT at Bramlage Coliseum. The game is a sellout.
