Arthur Kaluma had a season-high 20 points as Kansas State defeated visiting Central Arkansas 100-56 Wednesday night. Kaluma was one of four Wildcats to reach double figures.
The Wildcats led from wire to wire, scoring their most points this season.
The Wildcats (4-2) got 14 points from Dai Dai Ames, 13 from Macaleab Rich and 11 from David N’Guessan. The Wildcats only committed 10 fouls, including just four in the second half.
Central Arkansas (1-5) was playing in its third game in five days. They lost their last three games by a total of 8 points. Carl Doughtery led the Bears with a season and game-high 23 points. They also got 13 points from Tucker Anderson.
K-State, which led by 27 at halftime, pulled away in the second half. The Wildcats used a 10-0 run to grab a 74-38 lead, their largest to that point. The Cats’ largest lead was 100-55.
Central Arkansas never got within 26 points in the second half.
K-State started quickly. The Cats led 10-1 before Central Arkansas made its first field goal. The Bears missed their first 10 shots before Daughtery hit a short jumper. The Bears hit a couple of buckets before the Wildcats used an 11-0 run to open up a 26-5 lead.
The Bears didn’t hit double-figures until Brendan Simmons hit a 3-pointer with 9:18 left. The Wildcats’ lead grew to 30 points just before halftime at 49-22. Daughtery hit another 3-pointer to close the first half scoring.
Central Arkansas hit just 17.9 percent (7-of-39) of its shots in the first half, including just 2-of-18 from beyond the arc. Daughtery’s 8 points led the Bears.
The Wildcats had two players reach double-figures in the first half. Kaluma had 13 points, and Ames had 11. Leading scorer Tylor Perry, who came in averaging 19.2 ppg, did not score. The Wildcats shot 51.4 percent (19-of-37) in the first half. They also owned a 35-17 advantage on the boards and a 28-6 advantage in points in the paint.
–Field Level Media