Kansas State basketball guard Markquis Nowell had a message following a 98-93 overtime win over the Michigan State Spartans, ESPN staff writer Jeff Borzello wrote in a Thursday article.
“Dang, I've got to watch what I say,” Nowell said.
Markquis Nowell looked over at the crowd and yelled “watch this” before appearing to fake an argument with head coach Jerome Tang about a play call after he brought the ball up the floor. The ball was lobbed up to forward Keyontae Johnson, who slammed home a reverse dunk to put the Wildcats up by two.
“It was just a basketball play between me and Keyontae,” Nowell added. “We knew how Michigan State plays defense. They play high up. We got eye contact, he was like, ‘lob, lob.' I just threw it up and he made a great play.”
Markquis Nowell ended the night with 20 points and 19 assists, breaking the NCAA tournament record for the most assists in a game. The previous record was set by UNLV guard Mark Wade, who dished 18 assists in a 97-93 win by the Indiana Hoosiers in 1987. Two 30-point games from UNLV from forward Armen Gilliam and guard Freddie Banks was not enough to lift the Rebels to a win over the Hoosiers, ending a run that featured wins over Iowa, Wyoming and Kansas State, according to Sports Reference.
Tang was left in awe after the performance by Nowell.
“This a bad boy,” Tang said during a postgame interview.
Six Kansas State starters scored in double-digits, including 20 or more points from Johnson and Markquis Nowell. Michigan State guard A.J. Hoggard led the Spartans with 25 points, hitting seven of his 14 shot attempts and 10 of his 11 free throws in 40 minutes.
Kansas State will take on Florida Atlantic in the Elite Eight at 6:09 p.m. EDT on Saturday in Madison Square Garden. The game will be broadcasted on TBS.
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