Box Score Dec. 31, 2012
Final Stats
MANHATTAN, Kan.â€"Nino Williams scored a game-high 16 points and Rodney McGruder added 15 to lead 25th-ranked Kansas State to a 70-50 win against South Dakota Monday at Bramlage Coliseum.
Kansas State (11-2) used a late 12-0 run to separate itself from a pesky South Dakota team that stole 13 passes and forced 17 turnovers. The Wildcats made seven 3-pointers and used a 39-24 rebounding edge to improve their non-conference, home winning streak to 48 games.
Karim Rowson scored 14 points and Juevol Myles had 13 in his return trip to Manhattan to lead South Dakota (6-9). Myles played in 19 games as a sophomore at KSU during the 2010-11 season.
Dave Boots was denied in his first chance at win No. 500 as coach of the Coyotes, but saw his team pull within five, 44-39, with eight minutes to go after trailing 24-8 at the same mark of the first half.
Jordan Henriquez converted a three-point play to make it 47-39. Moments later, Rowson intentionally fouled Williams, who was breaking away for an uncontested score. Williams made both free throws and Shane Southwell hit a 3 on the ensuing possession that made it 52-39 with 6:18 to go. Southwell added a layup and a jumper from the wing that completed the 12-0 run. He finished with 12 points.
USD registered a season-low for points scored two days after scoring a season-best 95 points in a road win against Omaha. The Coyotes made five first-half field goals and trailed 30-18 at halftime.
Brandon Bos made South Dakota's only two 3-pointers and had 11 points. USD was 2 of 11 from beyond the arc after making 11 threes against Omaha.
Kansas State shot 50 percent from the field and was 7 of 18 from three-point range. The Wildcats used 11 offensive rebounds to score 15 points.
The New Year's Eve contest was both teams' final tune-up before diving into the conference season. South Dakota hosts North Dakota State Thursday and South Dakota State Saturday at the DakotaDome.
Head Coach Dave Boots post-game quotes:
On Kansas State…
They are very good defensively and we could barely get anything going inside. We didn't get a lot of touches in there. They got out on the perimeter pretty well. We hung in there in that first half. It could have been a bigger deficit than it was. We only shot 20 percent in the first half. We got into a better flow offensively. We weren't screening as well as we needed to and we got that corrected in the second half.
On the 12-0 run late in the game…
Brandon (Bos) had a nice drive and we didn't get a call. We didn't handle it well after that. We broke down a little bit on offense and they went after it really tough on the boards the next few minutes after that. We didn't get the best shots. We attacked the basket but it resulted in turnovers and blocked shots. We probably lost our patience a little bit.
I thought we played terrific up to that point to get it within five and we had that opportunity to keep cutting that thing, but our kids played hard and against a talented and physical basketball team, we did some things and got some shots off in the second half.
On defending Kansas State and forcing 17 turnovers…
Our matchup (zone) was really good today. It was active. We didn't miss a lot of rotations. When they did score, they overpowered us on the inside with big, strong kids. We got pounded on the boards early, but got better after that. If you don't play good offense, it puts pressure on your defense and that's how they were able to get their runs.
On the play of Karim Rowson…
Karim attacked the basket pretty well, but he had a couple there that were tough getting in through all the big people that they had. Those are things we have to keep working with him on, but he gave us a good effort today.
On Juevol Myles' return to Kansas State…
He settled down and played well in the second half. He attacked the basket under real good control and had some nice driving baskets there. Had a couple good looks at three's that didn't go down for him and he had five steals. He played with those kids physically and I was really pleased with his effort.
On Brandon Bos…
Brandon did a terrific job at the three spot today. He was good on his rotations. He was beat a little bit on the boards at the end because he's an under-sized kid, but offensively, he has a good flow to his game right now and he's doing everything we need him to do."
