LUBBOCK, Texas-For Kansas State, the worst thing about a 74-58 loss at Texas Tech on Saturday was playing the entire second half without Kamau Stokes.
The junior point guard limped off the floor after playing 15 minutes and never returned. While his teammates charged onto the floor and tried to mount a comeback over the final 20 minutes at United Supermarkets Arena, Stokes remained in the locker room with a foot injury of unknown severity.
But it doesn't sound good.
"We just hope and pray he is all right," K-State coach Bruce Weber said. "We will see what happens."
Weber and K-State players all admitted there is a chance they will have to play without Stokes in future games.
"The big thing, if we don't have Kamau, is replacing 15 points a game, right?" Weber said. "That is not going to be easy."
What could life look like for the Wildcats without Stokes? We got a glimpse in this game.
Redshirt freshman Cartier Diarra took over at point guard in the second half, and K-State responded favorably, at least compared to an ugly first half in which Texas Tech raced to a 40-22 lead.
Diarra was a big reason for that turnaround. He scored 11 points, sent out two assists and grabbed a rebound. With him and backup forward Mawdo Sallah in the lineup, the Wildcats fought back and pulled within seven early in the second half on an and-one layup from Barry Brown.
They didn't have it in them to get any closer, but it provided some reason to hope.
"It was just determination," Diarra said.
Still, the Wildcats don't have the type of roster that can easily overcome the loss of a veteran starter.
This team was built around four key players-Barry Brown, Xavier Sneed, Dean Wade and Stokes. All four of them are good enough to make runs at All-Big 12 honors this season. The rest of the roster? Not so much.
Starting center Makol Mawien is playing himself out of the rotation, Amaad Wainright struggles to score, Mawdo Sallah is wildly inconsistent, Levi Stockard is a freshman and this is Diarra's first year on the floor.
When K-State is at its best, it gets major contributions from its top players and solid play from its glue guys. Sneed (nine), Brown (21), Stokes (23) and Wade (34) combined for 87 points against Iowa State, and the Wildcats won easily. But the rest of the team combined to score four points.
On Saturday, 10 Texas Tech players scored and K-State had no chance. Brown had 24, Wade added 14 and Diarra scored 11. No one else scored more than three.
"You look at our bench and our scoring, we didn't get much done," Weber said. "Amaad had 21 minutes and I don't think he got a basket. They have got to find a way to get something done."
That won't be easy without Stokes. Diarra will face the biggest challenge of all.
He hopes Stokes can continue starting at point guard.
"Kamau is strong," Diarra said. "We just keep praying for him and hope he is OK."
But he will begin preparing to take over the role as K-State shifts its focus to its next game against Oklahoma State on Wednesday.
"I was never scared," Diarra said. "I don't think anything out there is too much for me. It would be more conditioning (if I start), just getting ready to play more minutes and stuff like that. I have just got to get in the gym and run and condition myself more."