The Kansas State Wildcats are still undefeated at 5-0, but their most recent victory showed that it might be harder to keep that streak going as the competition increases from early season opponents who offered little in the way of a fight. Against the Delaware Blue Hens in the NIT Season Tipoff, the Wildcats struggled to play their game under the lights at Madison Square Garden and ended up with a hard-fought 66-63 victory.
"We did not play pretty," Kansas State coach Bruce Weber said. "That was pretty obvious. It had been so good for us at home and we had defended so well and the games came easy. Now it didn't come quite as easy. We missed a lot of easy shots and made some mistakes defensively, but we made a good run at the right time."
Still Weber said the win was "good" for the team, noting the ability to play in an arena like MSG on the national stage.
"You have a chance to play in the championship game of the NIT, one of the most prestigious tournaments around, and especially pre season. For us it's a big step.:"
Will Spradling, who had 12 points, says the players had to adjust, at first, to the platform they had against Delaware.
"We didn't shoot the ball well at all to start the game," he said. "We were missing layups. That is something we normally will make. You could tell that we were nervous. Once we settled down, we started playing. We really kind of put it on our defense tonight and we did a pretty good job of that."
K-State advances to face Michigan on Friday.