K-State got their first win of the 2022-23 basketball season on Monday night with a 93-59 victory over the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.

The Cats put together one of their most dynamic non-conference games in a long time with accurate shooting, spectacular play-making and finishing at the rim with authority. Head coach Jerome Tang got his first win as K-State's head coach, and the team looked darn good doing it.

Right out of the gate, they were all up in UTRGV'S grill. As a result, they were able to force a ton of turnovers and get easy points in transition.

Senior Keyontae Johnson looked fantastic in his first regular season game in almost two years. He attacked the paint and made open jumpers leading to 13 points.

Senior guard Desi Sills did a great job slashing in the paint and finishing at the rim. He also made some great passes. Sills ended up with ten points in his Wildcat debut.

Senior point guard Markquis Nowell picked up where he left off making tough three-pointers and even had some sick alley-oop passes. Nowell finished his evening with 14 points and seven assists.

Junior forward Nae'Qwan Tomlin had some struggles missing a few open mid and long-range shots. He also had some silly fouls, but still had a solid performance. He ended up with 14 points and eight rebounds.

Senior center Abayomi Iyiola had a nice second half and will be a big part of this team. He will get some good minutes inside when Tomlin is on the bench. He got 12 points and five rebounds in the win.

In my opinion, their biggest issue for the night was not retreating on defense after a made basket. UTRGV made multiple baskets simply because K-State wouldn't get back.

K-State shot an encouraging 12-for-27 (44.4%) from beyond the arc. Overall, they shot 45.5% and 72.4% from the free throw line (21-for-29).

This was an overall solid team win in every facet of the game. The Octagon of Doom was rocking with not a single student section seat open.

Coach Tang's Cats are 1-0 and will have their first true road game this Friday at Cal 6 p.m.