What a game!!! Tie game at 92 with a minute left and Kansas State’s Markquis Nowell ties the NCAA Tournament record with his 18th assist with a beautiful lob pass to Keyontae Johnson for a dunk to give the Wildcats a 2 point lead.
The Spartans have a three pointer in the corner but it gets called off for a foul off the screen. Malik Hall hits the first free throw but misses the second setting the stage.
Nowell draws the clock down and once again settles for a three pointer from the logo. It is an airball and goes out of bounds, but it was barely tipped by Spartan’s AJ Hoggard. So the shortest man on the court inbounds the ball to the corner to Ismael Massoud who hits the baseline jumper to give the Wildcats a three point lead and Nowell his record breaking 19th assist.
The Spartans try to get open for a three but just can’t get free. Tyson Walker tries to put up a three but as he goes up, Nowell strips the ball, chases it to half-court and runs away from the Spartans to hit a layup at the buzzer and lead the Wildcats to a 98-93 victory. Kansas State is the first team earning their spot to the Elite 8, 5’8” Markquis Nowell leads his team with 20 points and 19 assists, and Keyontae Johnson added 22 points and 6 rebounds.
For those who don’t remember, Johnson was the player from Florida who scarily collapsed on the court in a 2020 game against Florida State, and spent 3 days in a medically induced coma. It didn’t look like Johnson would ever play basketball again, but he worked his way back to health and was a graduate transfer to Kansas State – and now he will be playing on Saturday for a chance to go to the Final 4.
But while Johnson’s story is amazing, a 5’8” point guard was the star tonight as he broke the NCAA tournament record for assists in a game and in the last seconds of the game, blocked the Spartans last chance to tie the game.
Congratulations to the Wildcats from Kansas State. The team from Manhattan, Kansas won their game on Manhattan Island in New York. We will also congratulate the Connecticut Huskies who while I have been watching the exciting game at Madison Square Garden, they have been annihilating Arkansas. With an 82-57 lead over Arkansas with 3 minutes to go, it seems pretty safe that UConn will also be heading to the Elite 8.