Kansas State fans celebrated after getting their first Big 12 win of the season against Utah.
But the loss they took may have been grander. Junior guard Abdi Bashir Jr., the Wildcats' second-leading scorer, will be out 4-6 weeks with a foot injury.
Bashir is their primary outside shooter, leading the team in 3-point shooting and ranking among the top 5 in the country in total 3-pointers made. An already-uphill battle climbing from the conference basement only gets more difficult with this injury.
Regardless, coach Jerome Tang believes the next-man mentality is the saving grace to keep Kansas State afloat.
"Everybody's gonna get an opportunity now, it's the next guy up," Tang said in his postgame press conference. "We just need the next person to step up and then just keep battling. This league is unforgiving."
TAKEAWAYS FROM KANSAS STATE'S VICTORY OVER UTAH
1. David Castillo finally showed back up.
After a dominant season start, sophomore guard David Castillo has gone cold in Big 12 play. He finally got back to that star level against the Utes. Castillo neared his season high with 20 points on 6-of-9 shooting from 3-point range. His start took some production off the bench, but rounded out Nate Johnson and PJ Haggerty's big nights.
No Bashir, no problem. Castillo's high-scoring performance contributed to the team's 52 percent shooting from 3-point range. Games like these show why he is the Wildcats' biggest X-factor. Kansas State is now 6-1 when Castillo scores at least 15 points.
2. PJ Haggerty had himself a game.
Another slow start from PJ Haggerty raised concerns that he would have another underwhelming scoring performance.
He didn't falter. In fact, Haggerty had one of his best games of the season with 34 points, eight rebounds, and two steals. He took over in the final minutes, illustrating some of his early-season form by single-handedly dominating against the Utes. Haggerty did have a nearly disastrous late-game turnover and shot 25 percent from 3-point range. But you can't be too mad at a 30-point performance, especially with him scoring the last 11 points before Johnson's game-winning free throws.
3. The defense has to improve against the Big 12 slate.
Kansas State's bread-and-butter has been its offensive production.
The defense...is another story. Of course, missing forwards McGriff, Mobi Ikegwuruka, and Elias Rapieque detriments the frontcourt defense. But even then, giving up 80 points/game can't keep being the recipe for success in a conference as dominant as the Big 12. Unless the offense can sustain dropping 85-90 points every given night (which they can't), the team will have to lock down on defense at some point. Luckily, they were playing another relatively lackluster Utah defense. However, against teams like Iowa State, Houston, and Kansas, the Wildcats must be much better.