#20 Emporia State men fall in exhibition play at Kansas State

November 1, 2023-Emporia State was within eight points at the under eight media timeout of the first half before falling 102-68 at Kansas State on Wednesday night in exhibition action at Bramlage Coliseum.
 
The Wildcats scored the first six points of the game before the Hornets answered with an 8-2 run of their own.  Solomon Oraegbu's old fashioned three-point play with 16:05 left tied the game at 8-8.  With the score tied at 10, K-State went on a 9-2 run to take the lead for good. An Atavian Butler dunk in traffic pulled Emporia State within 24-19 with 10:37 left, but K-State scored six points in under a minute to go back up by 11.
 
The Hornets were within ten points with 4:48 remaining when Peyton Rogers-Schmidt went down with a knee injury.  The Wildcats finished the half on a 15-7 run to take a 51-33 lead into the break.  Emporia State shot .393 from the field in the opening half but were just two of 11 from the three-point line.
 
The teams stayed fairly close through the first 12 minutes of the second half as a Cael McGee dunk with 7:52 left pulled the Hornets within 82-63.  The Wildcats scored the next eight points to take a 90-63 lead with 5:12 left and ended the game on a 2-05 run.
 
Solomon Oraegbu led three Hornets in double figures with 18 points while Owen Long socred 17 and Alijah Comitheir scored 12 points. Kaden Evans dished seven assists and had three steals for the Hornets. Peyton Rogers-Schmidt had five points and a team high five rebounds in  13 minutes before leaving the game with an injury.  
 
The #20 Hornets will open the regular season on Saturday, November 4 when they take on #8 UNC-Pembroke in the SCB Hall of Fame Classic in Lakeland, Fla.