SerpApi.Org
After a few dismal seasons on the hardwood, Kansas State basketball fans have been eager to cheer about something (anything, if we’re being honest) exciting that happens inside Bramlage Coliseum.
Michael Beasley gave it to them on Tuesday with a massive jolt of nostalgia.
The former one-and-done Wildcat star returned to his old stomping grounds and suited up for the first time in nearly two decades as a member of Purple Reign, a K-State basketball alumni team that is competing for a $2 million prize at TBT this summer. And then he led his squad to an 80-61 victory over JHX Hoops by scoring 20 points and sending out six assists.
“It was a lot of fun doing that in Manhattan and being back at this university,” Beasley said afterward. “Beating KU and doing it again and re-creating some old memories with Mario Chalmers and Sherron Collins on the floor, the same guys I beat. We did it again.”
Beasley clearly still remembers the time he led K-State to a victory over KU when he was a college freshman back in 2008.
The Jayhawks have mostly owned the Sunflower Showdown basketball rivalry in recent decades, but Beasley can boast that he has never lost to them inside Bramlage.
He said KU alum Billy Preston told him “it’s about time you beat us on that floor” after the game ended. Beasley was quick to point out his personal record in the series, which now includes an alumni victory.
“I’m 2-0,” Beasley said. “That kid is crazy, right? I’ve never lost to them on this floor.”
Beasley did a little bit of everything to help Purple Reign win the first game of a best-of-three series against JHX Hoops on Tuesday. Both sides will meet in game 2 on Wednesday in Topeka.
He made three-pointers, he threw down dunks, he sent alley-oop passes to his teammates and he talked lots of trash to the KU alumni team.
At one point, he made a layup and then shoved JHX Hoops player Tra-Deon Hollins as some type of exclamation mark. That earned him a technical foul, and he flirted with another when he confronted a group of KU alums a few moments later. That’s when he made the odd decision to give Carlton Bragg a peck on the cheek.
The home crowd ate it up. Beasley received a standing ovation as he walked away from the scrum.
“I didn’t want to give them life,” Beasley said later, “but one of their players over there wasn’t playing basketball.”
JHX Hoops coach Sherron Collins said the shove was unnecessary, but he didn’t think it was malicious. He said that’s simply how Beasley plays, and those antics can help him get under an opponent’s skin.
It was clear Beasley enjoyed the homecoming, because he smiled the whole way through.
But he did admit that he was nervous at the start of the contest. So much so, that he followed the lead of fellow K-State alum Xavier Sneed, who had 16 points and eight rebounds.
Sneed began the game with a lob dunk. Then he knocked down a jumper to set the tone for the evening.
Beasley took center stage shortly after.
Purple Reign was in command the whole game.
K-State fans had plenty to cheer about.
