Kansas State wants to prevent another prolonged losing streak when it visits No. 1 Arizona on Wednesday night in Tucson, Ariz.
Kansas State saw its four-game winning streak snapped against No. 10 BYU on Saturday.
Before that streak, the program lost four straight games.
“Win or lose this game, it’s a 1-0 season, right?” Kansas State coach Jerome Tang said after the 83-73 loss to the Cougars at home. “Like you win, you have to wash it. It’s 1-0 season, one-game season. You lose, you got to wash it.
“I’m hoping they walk away with confidence that if that’s a top-10 team in the country and the team people say can win a national championship, and we didn’t play close to what we’re capable of playing, we should be really confident and excited about getting back into practice and improving.”
After trailing 45-35 at halftime, Kansas State (9-5, 0-1 Big 12) closed the deficit to single digits on several occasions but could not get closer than six points.
Kansas State was held to a season-low 14.3% (3 of 21) shooting from beyond the arc, including 15.4% (2 of 13) in the first half.
Abdi Bashir Jr. was the only player who made a 3-pointer, going 3 of 8.
Six others failed to make a shot from beyond the arc, including reserve guard David Castillo, who was 0 of 5.
Bashir has a better percentage from 3-point range (47.3%) than overall (43.9%).
Arizona (14-0, 1-0) won its Big 12 opener at Utah 97-78 on Saturday, extending its best start to a season since the 2013-14 team began 21-0.
Arizona’s streak of eight straight games winning by more than 20 points came to an end, but it was the ninth consecutive time at least five players scored in double figures.
“I just think when you have multiple guys who contribute, you’re a little more comfortable sticking to a subbing rotation, where guys have certainty and know where their opportunities are going to come,” Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd said. “We don’t ever want to be a program that’s just relying on one guy.
“We want to be a program that that guys want to make each other better, and at the same token I want to help my brother. I also understand my brother helps me.”
Tobe Awaka and Jaden Bradley each scored 18 points and Brayden Burries had 17 points and 11 rebounds for his first double-double. Koa Peat also scored 17 points and Ivan Kharchenkov added 13.
Awaka had a game-high 12 rebounds, giving him his third double-double this season. The power forward also made both of his attempts from 3-point range. He entered the game 3 of 8 in his career.
“Are we going to live and die in that? No,” Lloyd said of his frontcourt players shooting 3-pointers. “Is it nice to have in your back pocket once in a while? Yeah.”
Kansas State’s trip to Arizona includes a matchup with Arizona State on Saturday.
“Excited about this road trip, both because of the weather, and because we get to spend a lot of time together,” Tang said. “The opportunity that’s in front of us to go play the No. 1 team on their home court. I’m excited about this.”
