It was over 2 months ago that
K-State and OSU last met. Needless to say, a lot has changed since that first encounter, and in some ways the things we saw in that game don't apply much for Saturday's contest. We didn't yet know that K-State would become one of the most efficient offenses in the league and the top 3 point shooting team, nor did anyone imagine that in the final weeks of the season both teams would be in contention for a Big 12 title. That day the Cats shot hit only 33% of their 3s, with Angel, Will, and Tay combining to go 1-10. We all remember Rodney's incredible 2nd half, but the secondary hero that day was Nino Williams and his 17 points on 7-11 shooting (Nino actually took more shots than Rodney). Angel fouled out of the first game only playing 25 minutes and struggled shooting (0-5), but still managed 8 assists and 2 steals. JO was not the JO we've seen the last month and only played 14 minutes, but Gipson has a decent game with 9 points and 6 boards while playing 25. Shane wasn't much of a factor with Nino's good game, scoring 5 points in only 19 minutes.
For OSU, Smart and Brown led the way scoring 44 of OSU's 67 points and combining to shoot 11-18 overall, 3-7 from 3, and 13-16 from the FT line. Nash was pretty much a non-factor and both of OSU's bigs struggled with fouls the entire game. OSU's FT rate was really the only thing that kept the game as close as it was, as they only shot 3-11 from 3 and the Cats outboarded them badly, with a 18% differential in OR%. The Cowboys would split their next 4 games, starting league play at only 2-3 before going on their impressive run before losing to ISU last night, eliminating them from league title contention.
The charts below give you all the info from both teams in league games, comparing efficiencies and the 4 factors in multiple ways in addition to various offensive and defensive criteria.
The difference in the teams comes in how they score and how often they get to the FT line; Ford clearly relies on his talented players making plays and attacking the basket; as both their A% and FT rate on offense would indicate. OSU is also one of the best defensive rebounding teams in the league, and like us they are keyed by their ability to force TOs and create steals while also not turning the ball over a lot on offense. K-State has the clear shooting advantage, but OSU doesn't shoot nearly as many 3s and has the clear advantage in getting to the FT line.
"straight the bottom" will come later, but I'm looking forward to discussion of one of the most important regular season games for K-State in my lifetime.
