By Jackson Schneider
MANHATTAN, Kan. — In a rare Monday afternoon tilt, Kansas State handled the Jacksonville Dolphins with relative ease, bouncing back from a blowout loss to 2nd-ranked Baylor over the Weekend.
Sophomore Dajuan Gordon tallied 13 points and 12 rebounds for his second career double double and second in the last three games.
“He’s a year older, more experienced, understanding who he is, and just playing hard. I was really happy for him. He’s been a sad puppy because he has worked on his shot, but he hasn’t made shots. He knows it," said Bruce Weber. "Yesterday in practice with the scout squad they were giving him heck and not guarding him and he was still missing. I was happy he got to make some shots. I told him ‘Whether you make shots or not, you can help our team. Because of what you do and how hard you play, you’re successful.’"
Freshman Nijel Pack added a career-high 16 points on 4-6 shooting from three-point range, while also adding five assists.
“Having some confidence when seeing the ball go through the net, pretty much gives everyone confidence," said Pack. "My teammates kept finding me which fed my confidence. They kept going in and that really boosted my confidence to keep going and shoot a couple more.”
Mike McGuirl added to the scoring with 12 of his own, adding seven more assists, three rebounds and two steals.
The all-around effort lead the Wildcats to a 19 point advantage at the break and they would coast from there.
In a game in which they never trailed, Kansas State snagged a 70-46 win, their fourth of the season, bringing their record to 4-5 overall. Kansas State will be in action on Tuesday, December 29 at 7 p.m. when they host the Omaha Mavericks. to wrap up the 2020 portion of their campaign.