The Herd stuck around, but the Wildcats proved to be too much

The NDSU Men’s Basketball team was beat in their season opener 54-67 against the Kansas State Wildcats. The game took place at the Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan, Kansas.

The Herd fell flat on Tuesday night in Kansas, shooting 29 percent from the floor. Rocky Kreuser led NDSU with 14 points with three-threes, Tyson Ward also had 12 points with seven boards. The Herd led 22-21 at half even though they only shot 28 percent from the floor in the first half. The contest remained neck and neck until about the 12-minute mark K-State hit two clutch back to back treys. The buckets extended the Wildcats lead to eight. 

The Herd remained resilient through most of the game, but the lead would prove to be too much. The Wildcats outscored the Herd 32- 46 in the second half, and secured a win in their home-opener. Some honorable mentions for the Herd include Sam Greisel who had nine boards and eight points and Vinnie Shahid scored eight for the Herd, with two threes and two free throws.

The Wildcats were led by Junior guard Cartier Diarra who scored 23 points, while Makol Mawien scored 15 while collecting 10 rebounds. The Wildcats shot 33 percent from the floor in the first half but bounced back in the second and shot 52 percent. K-State would finish the night shooting 26-62 insided the paint, and 9-12 on threes, as well as being 9-12 from the line.

The Wildcats came off the bench hotter than NDSU leading bench points 15-7. The defending Big 12 Champions the K-State Wildcats now have won 30 straight non-conference wins at home.  The Wildcats go to Vegas, to take on the University of Nevada Las Vegas Rebels on Saturday.

The Herd was just 8-30 from beyond the arch, and 16-25 from the charity stripe. After the lackluster shooting performance, the Bison will look to bounce back as they take on Mayville State at the SHAC today. Mayville is 4-1 on the season after after losing their opener

A loss to the a defending conference champ is nothing for the Herd to hang their heads about. Kansas State is well coached, and the Bison went in and hung with the wildcats for most of the game. The Bison have at least proved to themselves that they can play with the big dogs.