MANHATTAN, Kan. (KStateSports.com) – Powered by 18 points from senior Tylor Perry and a career-best 17 from junior Cam Carter, Kansas State ushered in a new year at Bramlage Coliseum with a hard-fought 83-75 win over a pesky Bellarmine squad in the home season opener on Friday night before 9,947 fans. The Wildcats are now 30-3 in the building in home openers, while they moved to 16-1 under head coach Jerome Tang.
K-State (1-1) led by as many as 19 points in the second half before Bellarmine (0-2) used a late 10-4 rally to close to within single digits with under a minute to play. The Wildcats had a 79-63 lead after a dunk by senior David N’Guessan with 2:11 to play before the Knights scored 7 straight to close the gap to 79-70 with 51.6 seconds.
After Perry knocked down a pair of free throws, they got a 3-pointer from graduate student Bash Wieland, who had team-high 17 points off the bench, to get within 81-73 with 35 seconds left. However, they could get no closer as Perry canned another pair of free throws to extend the game back to double figures. Perry finished a perfect 6-of-6 from the line.
In the early moments of an up-and-down game, K-State got a big boost from true freshman Dai Dai Ames, who scored 11 of his 12 points during a pivotal 13-5 run in the first half. He hit his first career 3-pointer to give the Wildcats a 10-4 then showed off his versatility with a step back jumper 32 seconds later to push the lead to 12-7. He finished the run with a pair of 3-pointers to give the Wildcats a 20-9 advantage and force an early Bellarmine timeout with 11:42.
After the Knights got to within 24-17 with just over 8 minutes to play before halftime, Carter sparked the home team with the first 6 points in an 18-6 run to push ahead 42-23. The lead stood at 46-31 at the half, as Carter led all scorers with 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting.
In all, four Wildcats scored in double figures as Ames (12 points) and junior Arthur Kaluma (12 points) collected their first double-digit scoring games in a K-State uniform. The team also got 8 points each from senior Will McNair Jr. and freshman R.J. Jones, while senior David N’Guessan chipped in 6 points to go with his game-high 9 rebounds.
Perry scored his game-high 18 points on 4 3-point field goals and 6 free throws while adding 5 assists and 4 rebounds in just over 32 minutes. Carter added a career-best 4 steals to go with his career-tying 17 points, going 7-of-14 from the field in 34 minutes.
Ames went 4-of-9 from the field with 3 triples in his 12-point performance, while adding a game-tying 6 assists and 3 steals. Kaluma scored his 12 points on 5-of-14 shooting with 7 rebounds and a pair of steals.
Bellarmine connected on 48.4 percent (30-of-62) of its field goals, including 42.1 percent (8-of-19) from 3-point range, and made 7-of-8 free throw attempts. Three players scored in double figures led by Wieland’s 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting in 27 minutes. He also added a team-high 7 rebounds and 3 assists. Junior Langdon Hatton scored all 14 of his points in the first half, going 6-of-11 from the field, while redshirt sophomore Ben Johnson added 12 points.
HEAD COACH JEROME TANG
On the game…
“Thankful for the win tonight. I thought we played about 12 minutes, the way we are capable of playing, and how we want to play. It was eight in the first half and four in the second half. And so now we can grow from there. And so, you know, just a lot of work that we still have to do but we’re gonna look forward.”
On the offensive performance…
“Well, we got paint touches, we reversed the ball quickly and we were able to drive. They [Bellarmine] do a terrific job of guarding blocks and elbows, but if you can make them go side to side quickly, there are driving lanes, and when we got there, we were able to make plays for people. So, we did that in the first half for the most part. There were 19 possessions where we got a paint touch and a bucket, or a pass for a bucket, 19 possessions. The problem is, we had 15 possessions where we never got a paint touch at all, and sometimes when you start making shots, you start thinking ‘oh well, I can take this shot’ and they’ll give you that first shot because they have rebounding position. So, we had to stay away from that. We didn’t stay away from it enough in the second half.”
TEAM NOTES
Points off Turnovers: K-State was able to take advantage of Bellarmine’s turnovers, converting those 15 miscues into a 27-11 edge in points off turnovers. Twenty of those 27 points came in the first half, as the Wildcats built a 15-point halftime advantage. The 27 points off turnovers were the fourth-most under head coach Jerome Tang. K-State tallied 10 steals on the night, including a career-best 4 from junior Cam Carter and another 3 from freshman Dai Dai Ames.
Noteworthy Numbers: K-State scored its 83 points on 44.4 percent (28-of-63) shooting, including 38.7 percent (12-of-31) from 3-point range, and made 68.2 percent (15-of-22) from the free throw line. In addition to the 27 points off turnovers, the Wildcats had 26 in the paint, 14 on fast breaks and 22 from the bench.
After attempting 33 3-pointers in the first game against USC on Monday night, the Wildcats had 31 attempts against Bellarmine, notching double-digit 3-pointers (12) for the first time. Five different players had at least one triple, while four had at least two 3-pointers.
K-State won the rebounding battle, 38-32, including 16 offensive rebounds. However, the Wildcats were only able to convert those into 6 second-chance points.
Starting 5: Head coach Jerome Tang changed up the starting lineup for game two, going a with bigger lineup, including senior guard Tylor Perry, junior guard Cam Carter, junior wing Arthur Kaluma, senior wing David N’Guessan and senior center Will McNair Jr. Carter has now started 38 consecutive games dating back to 2022-23, while N’Guessan started for the 20th time in his K-State career. It was the second starts for Kaluma and Perry in their respective Wildcat careers, while McNair started for the first time.
Kaluma and Perry now have started 69 and 39 games, respectively, in their college careers. McNair has now started in 30 career games.
Home Openers: K-State is now 97-23 all-time in home openers, including 30-3 at Bramlage Coliseum. The Wildcats have now won 19 of their last 21 home openers and moved to 2-0 under head coach Jerome Tang, who is 17-1 in home games.
PLAYER NOTES
Another Scoring Night for Perry: Senior Tylor Perry led the Wildcats in scoring for the second straight game, finishing with a game-high 18 points on 4-of-10 field goals, including 4-of-9 from 3-point range, to go with 5 assists, 4 rebounds and a steal in 32 minutes. Perry has now scored in double figures in 11 straight games dating back to last season at North Texas. Overall, he has double-digit points in 59 of his 69 career games in Division I.
Bucket Getter: Junior Cam Carter hit double figures for the 10th time in his K-State career with a career-tying 17 points on 7-of-14 shooting, along with a career-high 4 steals, 4 rebounds and 2 assists in 34 minutes. He also had a career-high 17 at Texas in 2022-23.
Ames Has Memorable First Game at Bramage: Freshman Dai Dai Ames became the first Wildcat true freshman to crack double figure scoring since Nijel Pack in 2021, as the Chicago native posted 12 points on 4-of-9 shooting, including 3-of-5 from 3-point range, to go with a game-tying 6 assists and 3 steals in just over 26 minutes.
Kaluma Hits Double Figures: Junior Arthur Kaluma reached double figures for the first time as a Wildcat, finishing the night with 12 points on 5-of-14 field goals with 7 rebounds and 2 steals in just under 29 minutes. He has now scored in double figures in 41 career games.
Freshmen Combine for 20 in First Home Game: Ames and fellow freshman R.J. Jones combined for 20 points in their official game at Bramlage Coliseum, as the tandem went 6-of-13 from the field, including 5-of-9 from beyond the arc.
UP NEXT
K-State will play its second game in a 4-day span on Monday night when the Wildcats play host to Summit League favorite South Dakota State (1-1) at 7 p.m., CT. Tickets are still available and can be purchased online at kstatesports.com/tickets.
