It wasn’t the prettiest game K-State fans could have asked for but the Cats won tonight, 90-76. The 11-1 start marks the best start for Kansas State since the 1958 season. Additionally, K-State’s AP ranking of 12th is its best since the 1973 season.

Coming into the game against Arkansas-Pine Bluff, a lot of K-State fans surely were not prepared to see a winless team dominate the Wildcats on the boards, 44-39. A closer look at the nine previous games Arkansas-Pine Bluff had played reveals that they are a solid team that gets after rebounds. Though their record showed no wins and nine losses, Arkansas-Pine Bluff out-rebounded all but three of their previous opponents.

Kansas State did a decent job of spreading the ball around offensively in the game tonight with five players scoring in double-digits. Jacob Pullen once again led the charge offensively, shooting 50% from the floor and chipping in 18 points. For me, the star in the game tonight was Dominique Sutton, who produced a pair of outstanding dunks, numerous hustle plays, and nearly had a double-double.

However, a lackadaisical defensive showing by the Wildcats allowed Arkansas-Pine Bluff to outscore the Wildcats 47-46 in the second half of the game to produce an outcome that was a lot closer than most Cat fans figured the game would be. Unfortunately, it also means K-State failed to produce a full game against another opponent. This makes two games in a row where K-State has come out and played a flat second half. It simply cannot continue as opponents will continue to get increasingly tougher as K-State nears conference play on January 9th against Missouri.

K-State’s next game is Tuesday, December 29th against Cleveland State. The game tips off at 8:00PM in Bramlage Coliseum. Cleveland State may well be better than their 4-8 record would indicate as they nearly pulled the upset against Bob Huggins and his sixth-ranked West Virginia Mountaineers before falling 78-80 in their game on December 19th.