By Samori Benjamin
Harlem World was deep in the building for the #3 Kansas State Wildcats on Saturday night as they took on #9 Florida Atlantic University at Madison Square, for the right to go to the Final Four.
But it was not to be as they fell to FAU 79-76, leaving the school still searching for its first Final Four appearance since 1967.
After dishing out the most assists (19) in a single NCAA tournament game in the previous round, Harlem native Markquis Nowell finished with 30 points, 12 assists, 5 steals and he played all forty minutes of the contest. Another Harlem cat, Nae’Qwan Tomlin had the second highest point total for KSU with 14. In total, four members of the KSU team are from Harlem.
Kansas State forward Keyontae Johnson, who was the second leading scorer on the team this season behind Nowell, was in foul trouble all game and finished with just nine points on seven shot attempts in 18 minutes. Johnson’s comeback story however, has been incredible as he made it back to the court this season after missing two and a half years because of a heart ailment that caused him to collapse on the court during a game as a member of the University of Florida in December 2020.
