Kansas State basketball forward Coleman Hawkins on offensive struggles
Kansas State basketball forward Coleman Hawkins talks about his struggles with shooting against Mississippi Valley State.
K-State Athletics
MANHATTAN — A part of Kansas State basketball forward Coleman Hawkins no doubt wanted to scream.
He had just missed 10 of his 11 shots during what was an uninspiring — to put it mildly — Wildcat performance against a team that others had routinely destroyed through the first couple of weeks of the season.
But instead of dwelling on the negative, Hawkins tried to take an encouraging word from coach Jerome Tang to heart following K-State’s 74-56 victory over Mississippi Valley State on Tuesday night at Bramlage Coliseum.
“Tonight, the good thing is we won. That’s all that really matters,” said Hawkins, the 6-foot-10 Illinois transfer whose missed shots mostly came right around the basket where he otherwise dominated. “Coach just said to me I improved in the area he wanted me to improve.
“The shots weren’t falling but we won. So that’s all that really matters.”
As Tang has previously pointed out about Hawkins, the highest-priced and most decorated newcomer to this year’s retooled Wildcat roster, he doesn’t let an off night on offense negatively impact the rest of his game. To wit, while Hawkins’ shots banged off the rim at an alarming rate, he still tied a career high with 13 rebounds — seven on the offensive end — to go with four assists and three steals.
“What was lacking is rebounding, and he did it today, and so I’m fine,” Tang said of Hawkins. “Because he’s a good basketball player.
“I see him (making shots) in practice all the time … so him missing layups was all right. Not all right, but it didn’t bother me because he got us 13 rebounds and seven of them were offensive rebounds, and he hadn’t done that all year long.”
Neither had most of the Wildcats, which is why they were manhandled on the boards Thursday night in a 76-65 loss to LSU. They had 14 fewer rebounds than their opponents through the first three games.
Rebounding and transition defense were the mantra in practice over the past several days and it seemingly paid off. K-State outrebounded Mississippi Valley State, 45-26 and limited the Delta Devils to two fast-break points.
“Tonight, we worked on a couple of things the last few days and I thought we executed those things,” Tang said. “And so, we have a building block to move forward from, so I’m excited about that.
“I was very pleased with the execution of the things that we worked on.”
The Wildcats (3-1) needed a big second half to put away a Mississippi Valley State team (1-4) that had been outscored by an average of 94-42 in its three previous losses at Iowa State, Missouri and Texas. K-State led just 25-23 at halftime.
Tang admittedly is still tinkering with the lineup, looking for the right combinations. Point guard Dug McDaniel, who had 16 points and five assists in his first start against LSU, did not get off the bench in what Tang simply said was a “coach’s decision.”
“We’re just really trying to figure it out, and it’s going to take us a little while,” he said of the rotation. “But none of that matters if we don’t have the staples, the meat and potatoes, the transition defense, so that they have to play us five-on-five. Limit them to one shot, boxing out and defensive rebounding, and then getting second-chance shots on the other end.
“None of that matters if we don’t do those things. So, that’s what we’ve got to get everybody to buy into, and then we can figure out the other stuff.”
The Wildcats got a career-high 16 points from 7-footer Ugonna Onyenso and 12 from point guard C.J. Jones against Mississippi Valley State. And Hawkins was active everywhere but in the scoring column.
“If I’m being honest, I’m a little too hard on myself, but personally I give myself and F,” Hawkins said in assessing his overall game. “I know some of the fans that were booing would probably give me and F too, but I’ll only get better from here as long as everyone stays patient I wouldn’t panic.”
K-State now will leave the comfort of Bramlage and head to the U.S. Virgin Islands for three games in four days at the Paradise Jam, where they open at 7 p.m. Friday against George Washington.
Arne Green is based in Salina and covers Kansas State University sports for the Gannett network. He can be reached at agreen@gannett.com or on X (formerly Twitter) at @arnegreen.
