Really. McGuirl, a freshman who missed the first 12 games with injury, and who had scored only thirteen points in the entire season before Friday night, fueled K-State (23-11) to a 69-59 victory over Creighton (21-12) in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.
To be fair, it wasn’t all the unexpected excellence of one guy. Playing as if they were determined to make risk of further injury to star teammate Dean Wade completely unnecessary, Kansas State played aggressive, athletic team basketball from the opening tip. They spread the scoring around and frustrated Creighton’s high-powered offense.