Five takeaways from Kansas State’s overtime win over Providence in the Bahamas

Jerome Tang is the king of overtime.

The Kansas State men’s basketball coach remained undefeated as a head coach in overtime games when the Wildcats defeated Providence 73-70 in the semifinal round of the Baha Mar Hoops tournament on Friday in the Bahamas.

K-State pulled away from the Friars in the extra period thanks to six clutch points from David N’Guessan, a timely 3-pointer from Arthur Kaluma and perfect free-throw shooting from Tylor Perry.

Tang is now 6-0 in overtime games with the Wildcats, and his coaching prowess shined through against Providence.

“We work on it every single day,” Tang said. “We work on those game situations and play a five-minute segment every day called five to grind and how we want to play and what goes into winning those close games. Then when you have a staff with Ulric Maligi and Rodney Perry, guys who are really seeing how we can take advantage of things offensively and what we need to do defensively and making those adjustments. We really have an advantage with those guys on our bench.”

K-State won a back-and-forth game that featured 10 ties and 10 lead changes.

Perry led all scorers with 24 points thanks to a flawless 14-of-14 effort from the free-throw line.

Next up for K-State (3-1) is the championship game of the event, where it will play No. 12 Miami and former Wildcats guard Nijel Pack on Sunday.

That will be a must-watch game.

Until then, here are some thoughts on K-State’s victory over Providence:

Tylor Perry is lethal at the free-throw line

Tylor Perry is best known for his 3-point shooting, but he might be even better from the free-throw line.

The North Texas transfer has nearly been automatic from the charity stripe this season. He didn’t miss a single attempt against Providence, as he went 14 for 14 on foul shots. Add that on to a pair of 3-pointers and some makes around the basket and he finished with a game-high 24 points.

“It’s all about poise,” Perry said. “I love those type of moments. I love being at the end of the game with the ball in my hand going to the free-throw line as much as I can. If I don’t have the ball at the end you don’t even want to know what Coach Tang says to me. But the biggest thing is staying poised in those moments. If I don’t get rattled the rest of us won’t get rattled. I just wanted to ice the game. I think I did a good job of doing that tonight.”

At the end of this game, Providence tried to do everything it could to prevent Perry from getting the ball because the Friars knew they couldn’t afford to foul him and send him to the free-throw line.

They learned their lesson after fouling him several times while he was attempting 3-pointers. They basically gifted K-State three free points in those situations.

His excellent free-throw shooting should come as no surprise, though.

Perry has made an outstanding 30 of 31 foul shots this season.

David N’Guessan comes up clutch in OT

The K-State forward didn’t score a single point in regulation, but that didn’t stop him from making a big impact in overtime.

N’Guessan scored six points in the extra period and played a major role in helping the Wildcats win.

N’Guessan got around the basket, and his teammates did a nice job of finding him when he was open. He took advantage of his opportunities when the Wildcats needed him most.

Arthur Kaluma showed his scoring potential

It has been a mostly disappointing season for Arthur Kaluma thus far. The Creighton transfer was quiet during K-State’s first two games against USC and Bellarmine.

Afterward, Tang said Kaluma needed to learn how to “buy in.” Then he missed the third game against South Dakota State with a minor knee injury.

But he put those games behind him and showed why he was a prized recruit on the transfer market in the offseason. Kaluma scored 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds on Friday.

“His buy-in is really coming around,” Tang said.

Kaluma was at his best during a stretch of the second half when he knocked down a pair of quick 3-pointers and also got to the basket for a layup to score eight points in a short amount of time.

Kaluma also drained a clutch 3-pointer in overtime that felt like a game-clincher for the Wildcats.

“I was coming down in transition and I noticed they weren’t set on defense properly,” Kaluma said. “My man left me for a quick second. I saw an open path to the line but I thought to myself, I have been hot so far. Why not take the shot?”

Good call.

It wasn’t a perfect night for him. He picked up three fouls in the first half, and he could have been more efficient. But this was still a step in the right direction for him.

“This was a confidence booster for me,” Kaluma said. “I feel like I have been playing mediocre so far, but it’s honestly all thanks to my teammates and the coaching staff. Everybody prepared me for this moment, and I wouldn’t have been able to do this if I didn’t have a great point guard and great teammates.”

Both he and senior center Will McNair picked a good day to help out on offense, as Cam Carter was held to five points.

This was a sloppy basketball game

The best thing about early-season tournaments that are played on neutral courts in exotic locations is that they give every team that plays in them an opportunity learn and to grow.

What happens in these events doesn’t necessarily define anyone. No team is a finished product before Thanksgiving.

These teams clearly have much room to grow. They played a sloppy game on Friday that featured a combined total of 35 turnovers. Providence gave the ball away 15 times, and K-State lost it 20 times.

Scoring was also difficult. Neither team averaged a point per possession. Open looks were rare. Easy buckets were even rarer. This was a rock fight between a pair of teams that struggled on the offensive end.

That led to some interesting moments. This game featured two scuffles.

The first one resulted in a technical foul against Providence when Bryce Hopkins shoved Tylor Perry to the floor. The second was deemed a fight between Garwey Dual and Dai Dai Ames. That happened in overtime when both teams made contact with each other near the sideline and then Dual threw a punch at Ames.

Both players were ejected after a video review.

Kaluma picked up three fouls in the first half. Cam Carter saw an important 3-pointer get wiped off the board because of a shot-clock violation after video review.

Providence came up with eight blocks.

This was a physical defensive battle. Neither team had been involved in one of those yet this year. It will be interesting to see how the Wildcats handle things the next time they end up in a game like this.

Jerome Tang uses small rotation

Eight different K-State basketball players saw action against Providence, but it was clear that Tang only trusted six on Friday night.

Freshman RJ Jones and big man Jerrell Colbert saw just 10 minutes between them.

Usual rotation players Dorian Finister, Macaleab Rich and Taj Manning didn’t play at all. Perhaps this type of game was too competitive for them.

Instead, Tang relied heavily on his starting five, plus Dai Dai Ames.

Tylor Perry, Cam Carter, Will McNair, Arthur Kaluma, David N’Guessan and Ames all played more than 28 minutes. Carter and Perry both played more than 40. K-State might as well have been a six-man team.