DaJuan Gordon had a pretty simple mindset coming into the 2020-21 season.
"Let Mike be the voice and just show my energy."
K-State's returning leader in minutes alongside Mike McGuirl, Gordon would need enough energy to spark eight new scholarship players on the Big 12's youngest team.
In their first win of the season? Mission accomplished.
Gordon poured in 14 points and grabbed nine rebounds against Kansas City, drawing fouls and drawing attention in a 62-58 win over the Roos.
"We lost the last two games, so that was the biggest thing for us. All we wanted to do was win," Gordon said. "No matter who it was, we just wanted to win. Now, we want to make it a winning streak."
As much as this offseason overhaul was a bet on the freshmen, former JUCO standouts and transfers that Bruce Weber brought in, it was also about his belief in Gordon.
The only freshman to appear in all 36 games for K-State a season ago, Gordon made his third start of the season against Kansas City. He missed a double-double by just one rebound.
"It's hard, but it's not hard. When we come out and play the right way, when we play with energy, we can get out to a good start," he said. "Our biggest thing was sustaining the lead when we get to the end, which we didn't do against Colorado or Drake."
It wasn't just that Gordon poured on the points against the Roos, but how he did it.
On a K-State team that will need to identify players who can consistently get to the rim, the sophomore has the size and handles to fight through traffic. He drew contact against Kansas City and was always waiting to make a backdoor cut for a lob pass.
"It's just about playing basketball," he said. "They didn't help on the lob, so I got a couple of lob plays…The coaches drew it up, they slipped, and we got some plays around the rim."
Gordon is somebody you can't lose track of; when the Roos did, he punished them.
After leading the Wildcats in rebounds against Colorado, Gordon repeated the feat on Monday night. That's the sort of effort Weber has demanded of his young team.
"DaJuan's overall line was really good. 14 and 9, and then two steals," Weber said. "And he led us on the play hard chart."
Even when he wasn't scoring, Gordon found ways to make an impact beyond the box score.
With the Wildcats looking to hold off a late Kansas City rally, Gordon was reliable as an on-ball defender, bringing the ball out of bounds and crashing the boards on every possession.
Put another way, Gordon wanted the ball with the game on the line.
"Move without the basketball," Gordon said. "Play unselfish and play the right way. That's Coach's biggest thing: Just play the right way."
Of course, Kansas City isn't the opponent that Gordon's 2020-21 season will be judged on. If he's going to make "the jump" in his sophomore season, the Chicago native will need to have nights like this against opponents that rank higher than No. 284 in KenPom's latest ranking.
But with K-State facing their first Big 12 opponent in two weeks, you could do worse than helping eight of your new teammates get the first win of their K-State career.
"Now we know the feeling, so that's something we want to continue. We lost the last two, but both of those were veteran teams," Gordon said. "This shows us that we can do it, no matter who the opponent is."
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