Three takeaways from Kansas State’s Monday basketball victory over South Dakota State

Jerome Tang was understandably worried about Kansas State’s basketball game against South Dakota State on Monday at Bramlage Coliseum.

He didn’t put the Jackrabbits on the schedule to give the Wildcats an easy victory. He agreed to play them because he thought they would give his team a test before it departs for an early season basketball tournament with Providence, Georgia and Miami in the Bahamas later this week.

South Dakota State is a quality mid-major team that many expect to win the Summit League this season. Tang said the Jackrabbits presented “nothing but problems” for the Wildcats.

With all that in mind, K-State came up with an impressive result when the Cats defeated SDSU 91-68.

This was easily its most complete performance of its first three games. K-State shot the ball well behind 22 points from Tylor Perry and 25 points from Cam Carter. It also worked the ball inside and got easy buckets from David N’Guessan and Will McNair. Beyond that, the Wildcats also played excellent defense by holding the Jackrabbits to 0.97 points per possession.

And they did all that without Creighton transfer Arthur Kaluma in the lineup, whom a team spokesperson said was sidelined with a minor injury.

This was the type of game that K-State (2-1) can build on before it turns its attention to even stronger competition than SDSU (1-2).

Here are some takeaways from the action:

Cam Carter, Tylor Perry continue to be dynamic duo on offense

You know what you are going to get from the K-State backcourt right now.

Junior guard Cam Carter and North Texas transfer Tylor Perry are both going to knock down plenty of shots and score 15 or more points.

There are few things that Tang likes more than consistency from his players, so he has to be pleased by his top two ball-handlers and scorers early on this season.

Both of them once again put on a show for the home crowd against South Dakota State.

Carter got points whenever he wanted. He attacked the basket from the very beginning and finished with a game-high 25 points on 10 of 20 shooting. He made four shots from 3-point range and also sent out six assists. This was the most points he has ever scored in a K-State uniform

Perry got hot from the outside and finished with 22 points on six of eight shooting from 3-point range. He was best known as a sharpshooter when he arrived on campus with big expectations. So far, he is living up to them.

It will be interesting to see if they can continue scoring at this rate when they begin to play teams with better athletes and stronger defenses, but they are off to an encouraging start.

Whenever K-State needs an important bucket it knows which players deserve the ball.

Will McNair is worthy of his starting spot at center

Tang has been critical of Will McNair for not being a complete player during the early portion of this college basketball season, but the senior center may not require much more tough love if he continues to produce on the inside.

McNair had his finest game in a K-State uniform on Monday when he dropped 10 points on South Dakota State.

The 6-foot-11 big men made five of seven shots from the field and also grabbed seven rebounds. His best play of the evening came early on when he came up with a steal at midcourt and then took the ball the other way for a crowd-pleasing dunk.

No one knew what to expect from McNair when he decided to transfer to K-State from Mississippi State late this past offseason. But he is doing much more than simply taking up space on the roster. He is a skilled player on the offensive end and he is also a capable defender.

It’s unclear if Tang will look to keep McNair in the starting if/when Nae’Qwan Tomlin returns from suspension, but McNair isn’t giving his coaches many reasons to move him to the bench right now. At the very least, McNair has already proven that he can give the Wildcats valuable size under the basket.

RJ Jones appears ready to make an immediate impact

The freshman guard from Denton, Texas gave K-State a big spark whenever he was on the floor.

Even though Tang only used him for 19 minutes he found a way to score 14 points. Jones was at his best from 3-point range, where he made four of five shots beyond the arc.

This was the second straight game that a K-State freshman got hot and helped the Wildcats pull away. Tang is showing trust in his youngest players as they mature. He started freshman guard Dai Dai Ames and even used three rookies together for a few moments on Monday.

Their contributions should grow as the season progresses and they adjust to college basketball.