MANHATTAN, Kan. — The Kansas State men’s basketball team was unable to protect a double-digit lead and lost an important conference game against Texas, 69-66, on Saturday inside Bramlage Coliseum.

Keyontae Johnson led the Wildcats (18-5, 6-4 Big 12) with 16 points, but offense was otherwise difficult to come by. Sir’Jabari Rice and Christian Bishop both led the Longhorns (19-4, 8-2 Big 12) with 14 points and several clutch plays in the final minutes.

K-State will try to bounce back in its next game against TCU on Tuesday.

Until then, here are some takeaways from Saturday’s action:

Forgettable game from Markquis Nowell

This was not a quality outing from Kansas State’s point guard.

Markquis Nowell played one of his worst games of the season and finished with only 10 points against the Longhorns. Not only was it difficult for him to score in this matchup, he also turned the ball over six times and didn’t make a single shot from 3-point range.

He was 4 of 11 from the field and 0 for 5 on 3-pointers.

On a day when offense was difficult, the Wildcats needed more from one of their star players.

Nowell will regret two plays the most from this one. They both occurred in the final minute with K-State trying to make a go-ahead bucket while trailing 67-66.

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