Courtesy of Kansas State Athletics
ABU DHABI, U.A.E. -- Paul Stoll's free throws with 11.7 seconds left in the fourth quarter proved to be difference, as Team Mexico held on late to knock off Kansas State, 83-81, in an exhibition game on Thursday night (August 17) at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, U.A.E. It was the Wildcats' second exhibition game of their historic 10-day trip to Israel and Abu Dhabi, which began Wednesday, August 9 and runs until Sunday, August 20.
Team Mexico, which is in Abu Dhabi training for the FIBA World Cup in Manila, The Philippines at the end of the month, used a pivotal 7-0 run to rally from a 4-point deficit midway through the final quarter to take an 80-76 lead with under 2 minutes to play. However, K-State took advantage of a pair of technicals from Mexico’s Israel Gutierrez (with graduate transfer Tylor Perry making both free throws) followed by a 3-pointer from Perry to regain the lead at 81-80 with 38.6 seconds remaining. The Mexicans tied it at 81-all on a free throw with 27.9 seconds left before Stoll’s game-winning free throws a few seconds later. The Wildcats had one more chance with 11.7 seconds remaining but could not convert.
Team Mexico is rated 31st in the world in the latest FIBA World Rankings.
Perry led all scorers with 18 points, as he went 5-of-10 from beyond the arc and 3-of-4 from the free throw line, to go with team-tying 3 assists before fouling out with just under 30 seconds to play. Three other Wildcats scored in double figures, including 15 from senior Nae’Qwan Tomlin, 11 from junior Cam Carter and 10 from freshman Macaleab Rich. Tomlin and redshirt sophomore Jerrell Colbert each grabbed a game-tying 7 rebounds.
Team Mexico was led by Gael Bonilla, who scored 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting to go with 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals in playing all 40 minutes. Bonilla currently plays for the NBA G-League’s Mexico City Capitanes. Fellow G-Leaguer and Capitanes’ teammate Moises Andriassi had 16 points off the bench, including 4 3-pointers.
K-State is now 72-21 all-time in exhibition play dating back to the first such competitions in 1964, including 28-14 against international competition. This was the first meeting with a team from Mexico. The current international tour is the program’s first since 2016 when the Wildcats played 5 exhibition games in Italy and Switzerland.
K-State will make a quick turnaround on Friday (August 18) when the Wildcats play their third and final game against Sharjah at 4 a.m., CT/1 p.m., local time in Abu Dhabi. The traveling party will visit the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque after the game before watching Team USA take on Greece that evening, as the teams’ prep for the FIBA World Cup.
The K-State/Mexico box score is available here.
HEAD COACH JEROME TANG
On the game…
“This was exactly what our staff wanted. We wanted to be able to play all 10 guys, and try to balance the minutes. And we knew that Mexico had a really good team, so we were going to find out a lot about our guys today. There was one spurt where it was, TP (Tylor Perry), RJ (Jones), Quan (Tomlin), Cam (Carter) and Jerrell (Colbert) and I thought we looked pretty good. And so right now, we don't need to look 40 minutes good. But it was good to see spurts of what it could be like. And I couldn't have asked for anything better, except for, maybe not turning it over as much as we did and not having, TP (Tylor Perry) and Quan (Tomlin) at the end of game. But it put other guys in situations that maybe they don't have to be in during the season. They're going to be able to revert back to this and know what to what not to do with that.”
On the growth of the freshmen…
“I love their growth. I mean, Buddy (Macaleab Rich), we started him today because we wanted to get him more minutes. And he really gave us a lot to start the game. And then like most freshmen late in the game, his body kind of cramped up on him and, and so conditioning and some more experience will help with that. Both RJ (Jones) and Dai Dai (Ames), they did a great job and I was really pleased what they did defensively more than what they did offensively.”
TEAM NOTES
Another Strong Start, Another Close Game: K-State once again enjoyed a strong start to the game, jumping out to a 15-6 advantage, which included 3-pointers from graduate transfer Tylor Perry, freshman R.J. Jones and junior Cam Carter. However, Team Mexico used a big 13-0 run later in the first quarter to regain the lead at 19-15. From then on, neither team led by more than 5 points the rest of the game.
Noteworthy Numbers: The Wildcats connected on 37.5 percent (24-of-64) from the field, 25 percent (9-of-36) from 3-point range and made 85.7 percent (24-of-28) from the free throw line. Team Mexico shot 45.6 percent (26-of-57), including 33.3 percent (9-of-27) from long range, and 73.3 percent (22-of-30) from the line.
The Mexicans held a 30-26 advantage in the paint, while the Wildcats took advantage of their 11 offensive rebounds to post a 19-4 edge in second-chance points.
Mixing and Matching: Head coach Jerome Tang started different lineups in each half, opening the game with graduate transfer Tylor Perry, freshmen R.J. Jones and Macaleab Rich, junior Arthur Kaluma and redshirt sophomore Jerrell Colbert before opting for freshman Dai Dai Ames, junior Cam Carter, sophomore Dorian Finister, redshirt freshman Taj Manning and Tomlin to start the third quarter. Every player saw at least 13 minutes of action, while Carter played the most minutes at just under 27.
Playing with 10: The K-State team consisted of 10 players, as rising senior David N’Guessan finished playing for The Netherlands at the FIBA Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournament in Istanbul, Turkiye on Wednesday (August 16). The Orange Lions concluded the tournament at 1-2 after an 89-81 loss to Croatia on Wednesday (August 16).
PLAYER NOTES
Perry Stars Again: Graduate transfer Tylor Perry is averaging 17.5 points after 2 exhibition games after pouring in a game-high 18 points vs. Team Mexico. Perry has not taken a field goal attempt inside the 3-point line, connecting on 9-of-22 from beyond the arc, including 5-of-10 on Thursday. He also has a team-leading 10 assists after 2 games, including 3 today.
Tomlin Bounces Back: Senior Nae’Qwan Tomlin enjoyed strong afternoon before fouling out with just over 4 minutes to play. Tomlin scored 15 points on 7-of-13 shooting to go with a team-tying 7 rebounds, 3 steals and 1 assist in nearly 25 minutes.
Freshmen Trio Perform Well: The freshmen trio of Dai Dai Ames, R.J. Jones and Macaleab Rich combined for 22 points vs. Team Mexico, including 10 from Rich and 9 from Ames. In addition, Rich grabbed 5 rebounds in his 14 minutes, while Jones dished out a team-tying 3 assists.
What's Next
Game 3 | K-State vs. Sharjah | August 18 @ 4 a.m. CT/1 p.m. Local | No Streaming Link