Had Kansas State guard Nate Johnson known that he was on the brink of a triple-double against UNC Greensboro, perhaps he would've tried to stay in the game and stuff the stat sheet in the blowout victory.

Sadly, he didn't. But that was probably the worst Wildcats news from Tuesday night, as they coasted to a 29-point victory in a second-half domination against the Spartans.

Johnson ended with 22 points, nine rebounds, and nine assists, illustrating why he was last year's Mid-American Conference (MAC) Player and Defensive Player of the Year.

"I just played off my teammates," Johnson said in his postgame interview. "Guys like [P.J. Haggerty] to get downhill and make plays. Just being able to play off of them, and then just the confidence they have in me to shoot the ball and get downhill and make plays too."

The Wildcats were down early against UNCG, but the backcourt play evaporated the deficit and sparked the dominant second half. Johnson said the team's ability to stay calm in adversity is what catapulted it to the win.

"I think as a team we handled it well," Johnson said. "We came together and just knew that first game jitters for everybody. For some people, this is a different scene for them, having guys overseas. But we've got vets that’ve been here before, so we just overcame it. We talk about adversity all the time."

Johnson's new star teammate, P.J. Haggerty, couldn't help but admire Johnson's all-around display. Haggerty finished with 27 points and three assists.

"He was hooping," Haggerty said. "I didn't expect anything less. We’ve been playing since the summer. Just the way he has a feel for the game, defense and offense, he had a great game. We're just gonna keep capitalizing."

K-State coach Jerome Tang praised Johnson's two-way play to complement and balance out the high-scoring backcourt with Haggerty and Abdi Bashir Jr.

"He did a lot of everything," Tang said. "It was like a plus 47 when he was on the floor. It probably wasn’t a very good sub by me, having them on the bench turn that one stretch there. But Nate, P.J., and Abdi are really good guards."

Kansas State plays Bellarmine (0-1) on Saturday night.