MANHATTAN, Kansas - K-State used a large second and third quarter advantage to overcome a sluggish first frame to secure a 73-59 win over Houston on Sunday afternoon at Bramlage Coliseum.
K-State (8-1) has won 16 consecutive non-conference home games with its last loss coming against Idaho State on Dec. 8, 2020.
The Wildcats were led by the trio of senior Gabby Gregory and sophomores Jaelyn Glenn and Serena Sundell. Gregory led all scorers with 21 points on 6-of-13 shooting and a 7-of-8 effort from the foul line. She also pulled in five rebounds.
Glenn tallied 18 points including a career-high 8-of-12 performance from the free throw line. She also equaled her season-high on the glass with eight rebounds and handed out three assists, pocketed three steals and blocked two shots.
Sundell carded 11 points, eight assists with zero turnovers, six rebounds and two steals.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Houston (1-7) entered Sunday's game with six losses with a margin of seven points or less including overtime decisions against Florida State and Florida.
- The Cougars, who entered the game shooting 33.9 percent from the field, dashed out to a 12-1 lead and ended the opening frame with a 20-17 edge on a 52.9 percent (9-of-17) effort from the field.
- K-State started its 38-17 onslaught during the middle 20 minutes of the game with a 52.9 percent (9-of-17) effort of its own from the field in the second quarter and lock down defense. The Wildcats scored seven points off three Houston turnovers in the frame and held the Cougars to 3-of-16 (.188) shooting over the final 10 minutes of the second quarter.
- With a 40-29 lead at the half, K-State pushed its advantage to 18, 55-37, by outscoring Houston, 15-8 in the third quarter. Defensively, K-State frustrated the Cougars to a 3-of-15 (.200) third quarter.
- The Wildcats held off a fourth quarter Houston run with a near perfect effort from the foul line, as K-State was 10-of-12 (.833) including an 8-of-10 effort in the final 2:16 of the game.
QUICK FACTS
- K-State leads the series with Houston, 2-0. This was the first meeting between the schools since Nov. 24, 1977.
- The Wildcats are 53-13 all-time against current members of the American Athletic Conference.
- K-State head coach Jeff Mittie is 11-6 in his career against Houston.
TEAM NOTES
- Sunday's starting five was Sarah Shematsi, Jaelyn Glenn, Serena Sundell, Brylee Glenn and Emilee Ebert. This was the first time this group started a game together this season.
- K-State has opened the season by scoring 70 or more points in eight of its first nine games.
- For the game, K-State shot 40.4 percent (21-of-52) from the field.
- K-State was 5-of-21 (.238) from 3-point range.
- The Wildcats were 26-of-31 (.839) from the free throw line. This was the third time this season K-State made 20 or free throws in a game. This marked the fourth time the Wildcats have shot 80.0 percent or better from the charity stripe.
- Houston shot 35.8 percent (24-of-67) from the field including a 4-of-16 (.250) effort from 3-point range.
PLAYER NOTES
- Gabby Gregory tallied her 49th career game in double figures for points and her eighth at K-State. This was Gregory's 14th career game with 20 or more points and her sixth at K-State.
- Gregory's career collegiate point total stands at 975.
- The guard from Tulsa, Oklahoma, finished with two connections from long range her 35th career game with two or more connections from deep.
- Gregory hauled in five or more rebounds for the 29th time in her career and the fifth time at K-State.
- Sophomore Jaelyn Glenn reached double figures for the eighth time this season and the 15th time in her career. This was her sixth straight game in double figures, the longest streak of her career.
- Glenn made two or more 3-point field goals in a game for the 18th time in her career with two connections on Sunday.
- Sophomore Serena Sundell notched her 25th career game in double figures for points and her sixth this season.
- Sundell hauled in five or more rebounds for the 15th time in her career and the seventh time this season.
- Sundell ranks 24th in school history for career assists, as her eight on Sunday improved her career total to 222.
- Senior Emilee Ebert was 3-of-3 from the foul line and extended her consecutive free throws made streak to 28, which is tied for the fourth-longest streak in school history. Ebert is a 20-of-20 from the foul line this season and made her last eight free throws in the 2021-22 season.
FROM THE HEAD COACH
K-State Head Coach Jeff Mittie
Opening Statement...
"My opening speech will be just a hair shorter than when I called the first timeout. This started in shoot around today and seemed like it carried over a little bit in terms of our energy and that was a big concern of mine. You know, it's one thing, as I told them, it's one thing if the other team takes a lead and you're engaged and you're doing things well and you're talking and you're doing some things but I didn't like our body language. I didn't like our locker room before the game, so obviously I wanted to at least try to get their attention, and I'm proud of our group for coming back. You know, Houston played very well in that stretch as well. So they stretch that thing out to 12 to 1 but a lot of basketball left and our group after that, probably the last 12 minutes of the first half, I thought we played really well."
On his messages during the first timeout…
"They still went out and scored a bunch of points after that, you know, man to man helped. They had some players knock some shots down against the zone our activity in the zone wasn't very good. They have not been a good shooting team but you know, they have some players capable and they certainly shot well in that stretch. I think the main thing, my problem early, and I just got done telling them, is that we weren't ready to be physical. We weren't ready to be aggressive. And we're playing a team that that is their strength. And boy, if you linger 10-15 minutes and you don't answer that, then you can be a real problem. And I did think we came out after that and were more physical and more engaged. So I thought it was a little better."
On Eliza Maupin's minutes in the game…
"Early I just felt like we needed somebody that had a little bounce in their step and she's super athletic so defensively she's really good. So the areas that we weren't playing very good I thought, but then it wasn't long, a minute, to be able to see that boy she had a good look to her and had a good balance to her. So I played her a little more at the five today because of that. But it all was just her early look was really good."
On the team's rebounding…
"Below average? They out rebound us by a couple here. They're not a big team. They were really quick to the ball. They were quicker to the ball than we were, I thought it got better. I think our guards really struggled in this one. Our guards were really, I think, late on some rebounding plays, but I thought it was below average. We'll have to be wanting to be much better going forward."
On the focus for Wednesday's game…
"Well, I think just on us, I think we've got to continue to grow in handling the pressure better, defensive pressure better. I think we've got to learn that we need to control what we control. You know, we should not have been surprised by their physicality. We're eight games into this. We should not, we need to be the aggressor. And we weren't early in this game so we need to learn from that. It's not so much about Wednesday as it is for us just being able to be ready on Tuesday and be ready when the bell rings."
FROM THE FLOOR
Gabby Gregory, K-State Senior Guard
On what they did well to gain the lead…
"I think in games like this where you're playing a team that's super aggressive on defense, are going to come trap you and things like that. It takes you seconds sometimes to kind of get into the flow. And I think once we got kind of used to their aggressiveness and were able to come down and run our offense or run our push and things like that we were able to get the shots that we wanted and I think that really made a difference."
Jaelyn Glenn, K-State Sophomore Guard
On the change between the first and second half…
"I think our energy was different. I think a lot of people, like their hustle was a lot better than when we got down. That was the biggest thing that I noticed. I think Eliza [Maupin] brought a lot of energy when she had the tip in. I think that was really like a huge turning point for us, and that brought up our energy a whole bunch."
On playing after a week off…
"I think we probably didn't come out the way we wanted to or expected us to just because we had a week off. Getting back into the flow of things and a week off is always nice."
UP NEXT
K-State returns to Bramlage Coliseum on Wednesday, December 7, as the Wildcats host Kansas City at 6:30 p.m. For tickets, call (800) 221-CATS or visit kstatesports.com. Wednesday's game will air on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.