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Kstate quotes 15-16

MANHATTAN, Kansas - It wasn't the season opener Hawk Nation hoped for as early fouls and turnovers proved to be the undoing of UMES, falling 80-53 to Kansas State in the season opener for both programs Friday night.

"Turnovers hurt us, in the first half our defense was pretty good, but they scored off of our mistakes," said head coach Bobby Collins.

The University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) committed 22 turnovers on the night, many of which can be attributed to new floor leadership. "Our point guard situation is something we have to get under control," said Collins. "We need to do a better job making the extra pass. We kept trying different point guards to try and get a rhythm and we never could. We'll get better tomorrow."

Twelve of those miscues came in the first half, to go along with 18 fouls on the Hawks. They went into the break with seven players with two fouls each. By the end of the night they finished with four players with four personals and three with three apiece. Those fouls led to the Wildcats scoring 27 points from the charity stripe on 41 attempts. In contrast, UMES shot just 27, the same Kansas State made.

Senior standout Devin Martin (Baltimore, Md.) led the Hawks in scoring, shooting 6-11 from the floor, four from behind the arc for 18 points. Newcomer Bakari Copeland (Decatur, Ga.) added 14 and was the only other Hawk in double figures. He was 6-7 from the free throw line. Copeland also led the Hawks on the boards, grabbing eight rebounds on the night. Shane Randall (Philadelphia, Pa.) added six points in nine minutes.

The Hawks were only credited with six assists on the night, further illustrating the lack of offensive rhythm.

On the other side of the floor Kansas State was led by Wesley Iwundu with 23 points while Justin Edwards and Barry Brown each added 17. Iwundu finished with a double double, leading all rebounders with 10. The Wildcats out-boarded the Hawks 44-33 and shot just under 39 % from the floor while holding UMES to just under 30%. They committed just 10 turnovers on the night.

The Hawks will break down the film and prepare for Missouri on Sunday. A game slated for a 6 p.m. ET start. It will air live on the SEC network.