MANHATTAN, Kan. (KStateSports.com) – A hot-shooting Houston team built a near insurmountable lead in the first half, as the No. 12/11 Cougars extended their winning streak to 8 games with an 87-57 win over Kansas State on Saturday night before 8,332 fans at Bramlage Coliseum.
Houston (12-3, 4-0) connected on 57.6 percent (19-of-33) of its field goals in the opening half to build as much as a 24-point lead as the Cougars used a 16-2 run to flip a 4-point deficit (5-9) into a double-digit advantage (21-11) with 10:45 remaining.
K-State was able to cut the deficit to 60-46 with a 12-4 run near the midway point of the second half but the reigning Big 12 regular-season champions responded with another 16-2 run to reestablish control of the game with 5 minutes remaining.
Five Cougars scored in double figures led by 15 points from junior guard Emanuel Sharp, while sophomore forward Joseph Tugler added a double-double with 13 points and game-high 10 rebounds to go with 2 blocks. Graduate L.J. Cryer and senior Ja’Vier Francis chipped in 11 points each, while graduate J’Wan Roberts had 10 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists.
The loss was the third straight for K-State (7-8, 1-3 Big 12), which fell below .500 mark in a season for the first time in the tenure of head coach Jerome Tang.
Junior Brendan Hausen was one of two Wildcats to score in double figures, scoring his game-tying 15 points on 5-of-11 field goals from 3-point range. Senior Max Jones had his season-high in a Big 12 game, scoring 12 of his 13 points in the second half.
Houston, which ranks first in the nation in scoring defense (54.0 ppg.), field goal percentage defense (34.3) and scoring margin (+22.3), lived up to its billing, as the Cougars held the Wildcats to a season-low 57 points on 40.4 percent (19-of-47) shooting. They posted a 44-20 rebounding advantage, scoring 20 second chance points off 16 offensive rebounds. They also scored 21 points off 15 Wildcat turnovers.
Offensively, the Cougars connected on 49.3 percent (34-of-69) from the field, including 42.9 percent (6-of-14) from 3-point range, as 52 of their 87 points came in the paint. They had just 5 turnovers. The 52 points in the paint are the third-most allowed in the past 25 seasons.
The series is now tied at 5-all after Houston won its second in a row since joining the Big 12. This was just the third meeting between the schools in Manhattan and first since 1971.
K-State returns home to Bramlage Coliseum on Tuesday night, as the Wildcats play host to Texas Tech (11-4, 2-2 Big 12) at 8 p.m., CT on CBS Sports Network. Tickets can be purchased online at kstatesports.com/tickets or by phone (800) 221.CATS.
HEAD COACH JEROME TANG
Opening statement…
“First of all, you know, blessed to do what I do, thankful for this, this opportunity I have. You know, number two is today’s my son’s birthday. So happy birthday to Seven, and you know, wishing I could give him a better birthday present than this. But man, that team is really good. And I said it on media day, I said it, you know, in pregame media that whatever they’re ranked it’s way too low, like they’re one of the most underrated in the country. And every time we made a mistake, they made us pay. And sometimes when we didn’t make a mistake, they made us pay. They have, like, different level athletes, and when our guys were in rebounding position and even jumping and they got their hand on every rebound, even when they didn’t get it, they got the hand, so we weren’t able to get it. We rarely ever got a clean rebound, you know, they had 52 points in the paint, 20 second chance points to our 1, you know. So, you know, just hats off to them. And I was proud of our guys, because, thought we put an offensive plan together that would give us an opportunity to get shots, and thought for the most part, they tried to execute that. And then, you know, obviously they made adjustments and stuff, but we did too. So proud of how we started the game, proud of how we started the second half and just didn’t have enough to sustain for 40 minutes.”
On what the biggest issue on defense was…
“Their balance, you know, you take something away, and whenever you have to take something away, you have to give something. And every time we took one thing away, like we didn’t want [L.J.] Cryer and [Emanuel] Sharp to go off on us. And Cryer hits a step back 3 to start the game, Sharp hits a step back 3 on the other side to start the game, right. Then you’re like, ‘dude, we’re there, we contested, right?’ So, then we didn’t want [J’Wan] Roberts to get to his right shoulder, but he got to his right shoulder. Only had six points at the time, but it was the offensive rebound, because we’re challenging the shot, and they get the offense or so every time you make a mistake, the good teams make you pay. And they’re one of those teams, man, that this made you pay. And so, like, whatever was available they were able to get. And you can see the balance in their scoring, right, like, I mean, they scored 30 points off the bench. [Joseph] Tugler, 13, Roberts 10, Cryer, 11, Sharp, 15, [Ja’vier] Francis, 11. You know, Arceneaux, Arceneaux’s 3, and when Max [Jones] was laying on him in the corner, and he drills it, you know? I mean, that’s just a really good team.”
On if the effort was better from the previous two games…
“Yeah, our effort was way better. I mean, I hope you all saw that, that our effort was way better today. And you know, but that’s just how good they are, like this wasn’t an effort issue, they’re just, they’re better than we are, you know, at maybe every position. And they’re not just more talented, you know, they have an experience to them. You know, they got two guys that are six-year guys and one of them is six years in the program. You know, three guys that have three plus years in addition to that in the program. And so, hats off to Coach [Kelvin] Sampson to be able to do that and build that kind of program. He’s been coaching for a long time; he’s been in Houston for a long time. Our goal is to get there, right, that’s our goal. Our goal is to get there where we have guys, multiple David N’Guessan’s in the program, that are on the floor at the same time. You know that’s where we gotta get to. And we have to figure out how to get there in a day and age where kids are allowed to leave whenever they want to, right. And so, me and my staff, we have a challenge, but it’s a challenge that we’re embracing, we’re accepting and we’re going full speed ahead, and it’s going to get there, and we’re going to get it”
On if Houston has set the standard of a top tier team…
“Yes, they do. Yes, they do. They set this as Houston, Auburn, Iowa State, you know, they’re different, though, those guards that Houston have been really good and then the forwards just compliment them. Iowa State’s guards, you know, and the forward’s compliment. Auburn’s a little different in that it’s their forwards, and they got the really good freshman guard, you know. And there are others too. I mean, you look across college basketball, like good teams get beat, but like the special ones, they figure out a way to win games. And, yeah, I mean, you think of Houston’s two of their three losses are overtime games to Auburn and Alabama, you know. I mean, like, yeah, they’re ridiculous. But the great thing about that is that they set the standard, and it’s something for us to shoot for, right? And we see it multiple times and so like, we know what we gotta make it look like and we have the resolve to get there.”
FIRST HALF
Both teams were hot from 3-point range to start the game, as they combined to shoot 5-of-7 from beyond the arc, as K-State held a 9-8 edge at the first media timeout with 15:40 to play. Junior Brendan Hausen had two of the Wildcats’ 3 triples in the opening minutes, which equaled their entire total from the Oklahoma State game.
Houston took the lead shortly after the first stoppage with back-to-back baskets by junior Milos Uzan and graduate L.J. Cryer, as the Cougars used a 16-2 run to build a double-digit lead at 21-11 to force a timeout by head coach Jerome Tang with 10:45 to play. A third Hausen 3-pointer out of the timeout snapped a near 3-minute scoring drought, but the Cougars kept the scoring pace with 9 of the next 14 points to pull ahead 30-19 at the third media timeout at the 7:14 mark.
The run continued out of the timeout as Houston doubled up K-State, 38-19, after a layup by graduate Mylik Wilson with 5:12 before halftime. Tang called his second timeout of the half after a jumper by junior Emanuel Sharp extended the lead to 40-19 after the run grew to 12-0.
A 3-pointer by Hausen out of the timeout ended the run, but the Cougars followed that 12-0 spurt with 6 in a row to extend the lead to 46-22 right before halftime. A layup by senior Max Jones right before the shot clock expired closed the deficit to 46-24 at the break.
Houston connected on 57.6 percent (19-of-33) from the field, including 57.1 percent (4-of-7) from 3-point range, as the Cougars scored 28 of their 46 first-half points in the paint. Sharp led all scorers with 15 points. K-State shot just 33.3 percent (9-of-27), including 37.5 percent (6-of-16) from beyond the arc, with Hausen leading the way with 12 points.
SECOND HALF
K-State scored 8 of the first 10 points of the second half to cut the deficit to 48-32 after an old-fashioned 3-point play by Max Jones at the 17:04 mark. However, Houston was able to push the lead back over 20 points by scoring 8 of the next 10 points over the next 3 minutes.
The Wildcats continued to fight despite the large deficit, using a 12-4 run to get within 60-46 before a timeout by Tang with 9:54 remaining. Five different players contributed to the run, which was capped by a fifth 3-pointer from Hausen. However, the Cougars scored on back-to-back possessions out of the timeout as part of a 16-2 run to push the lead to 76-48 with 5:04 to play.
The lead grew to its largest at 87-55 after a jumper from redshirt freshman Kordelius Jefferson with 1:12 to play.
Houston outscored K-State, 41-33, in the second half, including 24 points in the paint. Graduate J’Wan Roberts and sophomore Terrence Arceneaux led the way with 8 points each.
The Wildcats shot 50 percent (10-of-20) from the field after halftime, including 44.4 percent (4-of-9) from beyond the arc. Max Jones scored 11 of his 13 points in the second half.
BEYOND THE BOXSCORE
- The series is now tied between K-State and Houston at 5 wins each… This was just the third matchup in Manhattan (1956, 1971 and 2025) and the first at Bramlage Coliseum… The Cougars have won each of the first 2 Big 12 matchups.
- K-State is now 436-150 all-time at Bramlage Coliseum, including 175-120 in league play.
- K-State is now 134-298 vs. Top 25 opponents, including 6-14 vs. the AP No. 12 team.
- K-State is now 51-74 vs. Top 25 teams at Bramlage Coliseum, including 47-71 vs. ranked Big 12 opponents.
- The 30-point loss was the largest under head coach Jerome Tang… The 30-point loss was the fifth largest at home in school history (third largest at Bramlage Coliseum) and the largest since a 100-69 loss to Baylor on Dec. 19, 2020.
- K-State used a starting lineup of junior Dug McDaniel, junior Brendan Hausen, senior Max Jones, senior Coleman Hawkins and senior David N’Guessan for the fifth time and the fourth straight game… Hausen, M. Jones, Hawkins and N’Guessan have now started the first 15 games… All 15 of Hausen’s career starts have come at K-State.
- Hawkins now has 97 career starts (Illinois/K-State), M. Jones now has 96 career starts (Tampa/Cal State Fullerton/K-State), N’Guessan now has 54 career starts (all at K-State) and McDaniel now has 57 career starts (Michigan/K-State).
TEAM NOTES
- K-State scored a season-low 57 points on 40.4 percent (19-of-47) shooting, including 40 percent (10-of-25) from 3-point range, while making 64.3 percent (9-of-14) from the free throw line.
- K-State connected on better than 50 percent from the field in the second half for the third straight game, hitting on exactly 50 percent (10-of-20).
- Houston’s 52 points in the paint were the third-most allowed an opponent and the most since TCU had 54 on Jan. 14, 2023.
- Houston held a 44-20 advantage on the boards, scoring 20 second-chance points on 16 offensive rebounds.
- Houston scored 21 points off 15 K-State turnovers.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
- Two Wildcats scored in double figures led by 15 points from junior Brendan Hausen and 13 points from senior Max Jones.
- Hausen scored his 15 points on 5-of-11 field goals, all from 3-point range, in nearly 29 minutes… He now has 22 career double-digit scoring games, including 10 at K-State… He now has 3 games with at least 5 made 3-pointers.
- Jones scored his 13 points on 4-of-9 field goals, including 2-of-4 from 3-point range, and 3-of-5 free throws to go with a team-tying 4 assists in 31 minutes… He now has 72 career double-digit scoring games, including 7 at K-State.
