Kansas City, Mo. — Sitting court-side watching Kansas State’s spirited comeback from 18 points down fall short reminded me of how the Wildcats could have had an even better season.

If then Kansas State coach Frank Martin and his staff had deemed Lawrence High standout Dorian Green worth recruiting, Green would have made a perfect complement to point guard Angel Rodriguez. Instead, Green went to Colorado State and became a starter from Day 1. He scored 26 points to lead the Rams past Missouri in Lexington, Ky. Thursday night. Meanwhile, K-State starting guard Will Spradling scored two points in 17 minutes in the 63-61 loss to La Salle.

Announcers talked more about Green than anyone else during the telecast of the Colorado State’s first NCAA Tournament victory in 24 seasons. Yet, nobody made the connection of Green growing up in a town where the average kid grows up despising all things Missouri.

Green was asked about it in the post-game press conference.

“It feels good to be from Kansas and beat Missouri,” Green said. “I just wanted to be aggressive tonight. Didn’t matter who we were playing, but, you know, it’s good to beat them from where I’m from.”

Next up for Green and CSU’s other four starters is Louisville, the tournament’s overall No. 1 seed.