Nine days can be a long time, especially when you are
waiting for something. The Kansas State Wildcats had
been waiting to see game action since December 7.
Junior Cartier Martin said the break between games
seemed like "forever, especially during finals."
The Wildcats retook the floor and pulled out a
victory, though not exactly in impressive fashion.
Players, including Martin, thought they may have
worked through a little rust on the court against the
Bethune-Cookman Wildcats. "Game speed and practice
speed are a little different," Martin said. "You have
to get a little rust our, and put a little WD-40 on
that."
Despite his desire to take the machine to the shop,
Martin was the one Wildcat that seemed unaffected by
the layoff. Martin kept his scoring spree going,
scoring a career-high 27 points, and leading the
Wildcats in scoring for the fifth time this season.
"Every night we depend on him," sophomore David Hoskins said of Martin. "We have full confidence that
he can carry us the whole season, so when he is open
he gets the ball."
Hoskins added 17 points, and junior Mario Taybron
pitched in 12.
The Wildcats shot 56-percent from the field, and
84-percent from the free throw line, but still were
not clicking on offense. Coach Jim Wooldridge said the
Wildcats had "very little thrust and attack on
offense," and were "very tentative," in the first 30
minutes of the game.
Wooldridge said the difference in the game came in the
final ten minutes when K-State was able to get its
transition game working, and score some points in fast
break opportunities.
While he admitted there may be some rust due to the
long break between games, Wooldridge hinted that there
was more to the lackadaisical offense than that. "You
can't attribute all that to rust," Wooldridge said.
Notes
Player of the game
Cartier Martin
Once again, Martin led the Wildcats in scoring. He
also pulled down four rebounds, earned three assists,
and provided vocal leadership for the young team yet
again. Martin is putting together and All-Big 12
season, and is making fans forget about the loss of
Jeremiah Massey.
Lineup Change
The Wildcats featured a new starting lineup Saturday,
with Dramane Diarra starting in place of Akeem Wright.
Wright had missed practices during the past week to
attend his brother's funeral. Wright still played 26
minutes.
Career Night
Along with his career-high point total (27), Martin
also set a career mark for free throws made in a game,
hitting 12 of 14. Martin's 27 points also marked his
seventh career 20-point game, and made Martin only the
sixth Wildcat ever to score in double-digits in each
of the first eight games of a season.
70 is the key number here
The Wildcats 74-61 victory improved the Wildcats'
record to 5-0 when they score 70-or-more points.