MANHATTAN, Ks. — Evins Desir and Jamir Williams posted career highs, but the Florida A&M University men’s basketball team could not slow down Kansas State in a 76-58 loss to the Wildcats on Monday night at the Fred Bramlage Coliseum.
Florida A&M (0-6) got the opening bucket of the game, but suffered a cold shooting spell in the first half as Kansas State took advantage and pushed the small lead into a double-digit advantage. The Wildcats (5-2) began the second half on a 14-2 run and did not look back to pick up the win.
Desir paced the Rattlers with a team-high 18 points, along with eight rebounds, one steal and one assist. MJ Randolph added 10 points, three boards and two steals. Williams finished with seven points, one rebound and one assist.
Xavier Sneed led the way for Kansas State with 18 points, four rebounds, three assists and two blocks. Mike McGuirl registered 16 points, three boards, two steals and a pair of assists, while Cartier Diarra added 11 points, seven assists, five steals and a pair of rebounds.
How It Happened
Florida A&M got the opening bucket by Evins Desir, but Kansas State responded on a 10-2 run, capped by a Mike McGuirl 3-pointer with 15 minutes remaining in the first half, to take a 10-4 lead.
The Rattlers trimmed the deficit to 10-8 after back-to-back buckets by Bryce Moragne and Brendon Myles with 13:16 left, but the Wildcats took advantage of a FAMU cold spell and pushed the margin to to 24-12 after a pair of free throws by Makol Mawien with 8:32 remaining.
Kansas State stretched the advantage to 35-20 after a 3-pointer by Mike Mcguirl with 3:45 remaining in the first half and the Wildcats got a dunk by Makol Mawien right before the halftime buzzer to give KSU a 39-25 lead entering the break.
Kansas State opened the second half on a 14-2 run to extend the lead to 54-27, but Florida A&M refused to go away quietly as the Rattlers trimmed the deficit to 65-49 after a bucket by MJ Randolph with 5:43 remaining.
Florida A&M closed the gap to 15 points during the final five minutes, but could not get any closer.
