Things continue to get worse for Kansas State. The Wildcats entered Wednesday having lost three of their last four games, but a road trip to Lubbock to face league-worst Texas Tech seemed like just the break Weber’s team needed. Shortly before game time, however, the head coach announced in a statement that freshman Malek Harris and sophomore Marcus Foster had been suspended for violating team rules. “Our players have expectations and there are consequences when you don’t live up to those expectations,” the statement said. “Hopefully, they will learn from this experience and make the necessary progress to rejoin our team.” For those scoring at home, this is the second time Foster has found his way into Weber’s doghouse this season. The sophomore was also benched by his coach earlier in Big 12 play. Harris, a top-100 recruit, is averaging 13.6 minutes per game. While he doesn’t fill up the stat sheet, the 6’8″ freshman has provided the Wildcats with additional frontcourt depth this season.
The bigger loss is Foster, the team’s leading scorer and best player. In his second season, Foster is averaging 14.0 points per game and he was pegged as a potential Big 12 Player of the Year candidate over the summer. Although Foster hasn’t lived up to those lofty expectations this season, he’s still been the team’s most important player and his absence showed on Wednesday night. Texas Tech smashed the Wildcats by 17 points in the team’s second biggest loss of the year. The Wildcats looked helpless offensively against the Big 12’s worst defensive team, scoring just 0.94 points per possession (PPP) and becoming the only team to post a number below 1.00 PPP against the Red Raiders during conference play. The Wildcats also suffered their worst defensive game of the season, allowing a bad offense to score 1.28 PPP and shoot 53.7 percent from the field against them.
The long-term effects of the suspensions were laid bare by the loss. Kansas State’s poor non-conference performance left the team little margin for error in Big 12 play if the Wildcats hoped to make another NCAA Tournament. The loss to Texas Tech pushes the Wildcats’ league record to 5-5 and added another bad loss to the team’s resume. Ken Pomeroy’s system now projects Kansas State to finish conference play with a 7-11 record, although the Wildcats are not favored in any of their remaining games. It was already hard to imagine Weber’s team picking up a win in any of its next three contests against the likes of Texas, West Virginia, and Oklahoma, but that task appears very difficult if these suspensions last that long. Even if Harris and Foster return immediately, the Wildcats may have already done enough damage to their resume to keep them out of the NCAA Tournament this season.