KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KStateSports.com) – Junior Bennett Stirtz’s 3-pointer with 4 seconds left in overtime spoiled Kansas State’s spirited comeback, as Drake remained unbeaten with a 73-70 overtime win in the 13th Wildcat Classic on Tuesday night before 9,210 fans at the T-Mobile Center.
Down by as many as 20 points in the first half, K-State (6-4) rallied to take the lead with 9:04 remaining on a layup by senior David N’Guessan. The Wildcats led 60-57 with 4:32 to play before the Bulldogs (10-0) tied it at 63-all with 23 seconds remaining to force overtime.
In the extra session, Drake jumped out to a 70-64 lead with less than 2 minutes left before K-State once again rallied to tie it at 70-all on a 3-pointer by senior Coleman Hawkins with 13 seconds. However, on the ensuing possession, Stirtz connected on the game-winning 3-pointer with 4 seconds to play before senior Max Jones’ desperation 3-pointer was off the mark at the buzzer.
The loss was the first in overtime in head coach Jerome Tang‘s coaching career (13-1), including his first at K-State (12-1). He was a perfect 13-0 in his head coaching career prior to tonight’s extra-session loss, which included one overtime win as interim head coach at Baylor in 2013 to go with 12 while at K-State (2022-present).
Hawkins was one of four Wildcats to score in double figures with a team-high 16 points on 6-of-9 field goals to go with 5 rebounds and team-highs in assists (5), steals (4) and blocks (2). He has now registered at least 4 assists and 2 steals in 7 of 10 games this season, while he has grabbed 5 or more rebounds on 7 occasions and has had 4 games of at least 2 blocks.
Hawkins was joined in double figures by senior David N’Guessan (13 points), senior Max Jones (12 points) and junior Dug McDaniel (10 points). N’Guessan has now scored in double figures in 11 consecutive games dating back to last season, including all 10 this season.
For the game, the Wildcats connected on 50 percent (26-of-52) from the field, including 38 points in the paint, while hitting on 33.3 percent (7-of-21) from 3-point range and 55 percent (11-of-20) from the free throw line. The team had 21 assists on 26 made field goals.
Drake hit on 49 percent (24-of-49) of its field goals, including 56.3 percent (9-of-16) from 3-point range, and made 16 of 22 attempts (72.7 percent) from the free throw line.
Stirtz finished with 22 points, while fellow transfer Mitch Mascari added a game-high 25 points, as he converted on 8-of-11 field goals, including 8-of-10 from beyond the arc. They were joined in double figures by sophomore Cam Manyawu, who added 11 points. Graduate Isaiah Jackson led the way with team-highs in assists (8) and rebounds (8).
K-State will conclude non-conference play on Saturday night, as the Wildcats travel to Wichita, Kan., to take on in-state rival Wichita State (8-2) at Koch Arena. Tip is set for 6 p.m., CT on ESPN+. This will be the final game in a 4-game series that began in 2021.
HEAD COACH JEROME TANG
On the game…
“First of all, let me thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, for this opportunity he’s blessed me with. To do something I love, with people I love and the places I love and so, so grateful for that. Thank you to our fans who showed up and showed out, they really gave us a boost. And you know, congratulations to the Drake team. That’s like, man, they’re super connected. When you have two guys who’ve been in the program for six years, one guy who’s been in the program for five years, another guy who’s been in the program for three years, right. You just have layers of stuff you can do and build on. And so, they were hard to guard, but so proud of our guys’ effort, their fight, their togetherness, their buy-in, all the things that we’ve been stressing and pushing and fighting for. I mean, those guys came through and they gave a great effort that was good enough to get us to win but we have to do a better job as a staff and help them in those situations there. So, I should have done a better job at the end of regulation, and I definitely should have done a better job at the end of overtime to set our defense and help our guys in those situations.”
On the switch that flipped in the last 5 minutes of regulation…
“Our guys just picked up their effort and got after it. And then we made some shots and that gave us more energy and then it got the crowd involved. And, you know, just really, really flipped the game, the crowd, the energy that really helped us.”
On the pressure of negative comments toward the team…
“Coleman’s [Hawkins] effort and his leadership, the energy, the enthusiasm he played with, was great. His buy-in on, you know, what we wanted to do, I was so proud of that. Man, it’s a shame you know that some of the comments that these guys get right? Like, the narrative going into this game was that the Drake team, which is a wonderful group of young men, you know, they’re super loyal and they went with their coach and, you know, together. Well, I mean, you look at the guys on our roster right, like, let’s talk like all the ones that we brought in either had graduated from the university they were at right, so they had an extra year that allowed them to do something, or their coach either got fired or left, right. So, I mean, you know, you talk about loyalty like, I got a great group of dudes there. And they are working really, really hard and they’re trying to put into just a few months what, you know, some of the teams have multiple years to do. And you know, you see a lot of this, but for any fans, any people who are reaching out and saying negative things to these guys, man, shame on you. Shame on you.”
On changing the starting lineup…
“I need to get David [Castillo] on the floor. Tough situation to throw him into, right? But I thought he responded well. I played a couple other guys. And, you know, David played 15 minutes, Taj [Manning] played three. Mobi [Ikegwuruka] played nine. Those 27 minutes actually helped us, because we went to overtime. So, I gotta find a way to rotate some guys through there. Their energy, right, they bring tremendous energy, and they’ve got great buy-in and that was the reason why.”
On the upcoming game against Wichita State…
“Well coached team, you know, they’ve played some tough games. They just had a tough one at DePaul on the road, very similar to our game at St. John’s. And, you know, they get to come home and play in front of their crowd and they’re going to be fired up. And, you know, we always say everybody has Christmas, but the difference between a Christmas and a Merry Christmas is a win. So that’s what we’re going to try and figure out how to get a win so we can have a Merry Christmas.”
On what needs to change to close out games…
“I got to coach better at the end. Today was not on our guys. When you hold a team under 70 points, right, that means your team gave you an effort and they executed well enough to give you a chance to win and that’s where it falls on the coaching staff and me on my shoulders. That I have to do a better job at the end to help them get the win and put them over the top.”
FIRST HALF
Drake got off to a fast start, scoring the game’s first 9 points to force head coach Jerome Tang to call his first timeout at the 15:27 mark. The Wildcats trailed 11-0 before junior C.J. Jones converted on a layup for the team’s first field goal less than a minute later.
Sophomore Mobi Ikegwuruka gave K-State back-to-back baskets with his first career points on a layup, but Drake followed with 8 consecutive points, including consecutive 3-pointers, to take a commanding 19-4 lead with just over 11 minutes remaining.
The lead grew to 20 after the Bulldogs knocked down their fifth 3-pointer of the half to take a 29-9 lead with 5:52 to play. However, back-to-back 3-pointers from senior Max Jones and junior C.J. Jones gave the Wildcats some life, sparking an 11-2 run that cut the deficit to 31-20 at the final media timeout with 2:39 remaining.
A 3-pointer by freshman David Castillo out of the timeout got K-State to within 31-23, but a 3-pointer by graduate Mitch Mascari – his sixth of the half – at the shot clock buzzer pushed the lead back out to double figures at 34-23.
A layup by senior Coleman Hawkins and a floater at the buzzer by junior Dug McDaniel pulled the Wildcats to within single digits at the halftime break, 36-27.
Drake connected on 57.1 percent (12-of-21) from the field, including 66.7 percent (6-of-9) from 3-point range, as Mascari led all scorers with 18 points on 6-of-7 shooting. K-State shot 47.8 percent (11-of-23) in the first half, as Max Jones led the way with 7 points.
SECOND HALF
K-State was the aggressor to start the second half, as the Wildcats chipped away at the deficit, scoring 6 of the first 9 points to close to within 39-33 at the first media timeout with 15:52 remaining. A free throw and a dunk by Hawkins pulled the Wildcats to within a possession at 39-36 before 4 straight points by the Bulldogs provided some cushion at 43-36.
K-State continued to battle, closing the deficit to 45-42 at the second media timeout before using a 9-4 spurt to grab its first lead at 51-49 on a layup by senior David N’Guessan at the 9:04 mark. However, Mascari answered with his seventh triple to give Drake the lead back at 52-51.
With the Bulldogs leading 54-51 after a pair of free throws, a 6-0 run capped by an old-fashioned 3-point play by Max Jones helped the Wildcats go ahead 57-54 at the 5:40 mark. However, Mascari connected on an eighth 3-pointer to knot the game up at 57-all.
McDaniel answered Mascari’s 3-pointer with one of his own to give K-State a 60-57 lead, as Tang called a timeout with 4:32 to play. Drake chipped away at the tying it at 61-all on a layup by graduate Daniel Abreu with less than 2 minutes left. N’Guessan made a pair of clutch free throws to give the Wildcats a 63-61 lead with 94 seconds before Abreu followed with 2 free throws to tie it at 63-all with 23 seconds.
K-State had one last chance to win it on the last possession, but junior Brendan Hausen’s 3-pointer from the top of the key rimmed off at the buzzer.
The Wildcats connected on 58.3 percent (14-of-24) in the second half with 24 of their 36 second-half points coming in the paint. N’Guessan led all scorers with 9 points.
OVERTIME
Drake scored 7 of the first 8 points in the overtime period to take a 70-64 lead with 1:57 to play. However, K-State steadied itself with a free throw from Hawkins and two more from N’Guessan to pull to within a possession at 70-67 with 27.2 seconds to play.
After a defensive stop, the Wildcats gave themselves multiple chance to tie the game before Hawkins converted on a 3-pointer with 13 seconds. However, Stirtz’s pull-up 3-pointer with 4 seconds proved true before Max Jones’ last-second 3-pointer was off the mark.
Drake connected on 50 percent (4-of-8) of its field goals in the extra session, while K-State went just 1-of-5 from the field, including 1-of-3 from beyond the arc.
BEYOND THE BOXSCORE
- K-State still leads the all-time series, 20-8, in this, the first meeting outside of either Manhattan or Des Moines… Drake has now won the last 2 meetings.
- K-State is now 10-3 all-time in the Wildcat Classic, including 2-1 under head coach Jerome Tang… This is the first loss in the Classic since a 66-63 loss to Saint Louis on Dec. 21, 2019.
- K-State is now 187-60 in non-conference play since 2006-07.
- K-State is now 83-48 all-time in overtime games, including 77-38 in single overtimes… This is the first overtime loss since an 82-79 setback at Oklahoma State on Feb. 19, 2022.
- Head coach Jerome Tang suffered his first overtime loss after starting his career with 13 such victories, including one as interim coach at Baylor in 2013 and 12 at K-State.
- K-State used a starting lineup of freshman David Castillo, junior Brendan Hausen, senior Max Jones, senior Coleman Hawkins and senior David N’Guessan for the first time this season… Hausen, M. Jones, Hawkins and N’Guessan have now started the first 10 games.
- Hawkins now has 92 career starts (Illinois/K-State), M. Jones now has 91 career starts (Tampa/Cal State Fullerton/K-State) and N’Guessan now has 49 career starts (all at K-State)… All 10 of Hausen’s career starts have come at K-State.
- This was the first career start for Castillo.
TEAM NOTES
- K-State scored its 71 points on 50 percent (26-of-52) shooting, including 33.3 percent (7-of-21) from 3-point range, while making 55 percent (11-of-20) from the free throw line.
- K-State had 21 assists on 26 made field goals… The Wildcats have now dished out 20 or more assists in 3 games this season.
- K-State had 12 steals on the night, which marked the third time this season with double-digit steals.
- Drake out-rebounded K-State, 31-26, including 8 offensive rebounds that it converted into 13 second-chance points.
- The teams combined for 41 points off turnovers (21-20 in favor of Drake).
- K-State held the advantage in both points in the paint (38-26) and bench points (23-4).
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
- Four Wildcats scored in double figures led by senior Coleman Hawkins’ 16 points… He was joined in double figures by senior David N’Guessan (13 points), senior Max Jones (12 points) and junior Dug McDaniel (10 points).
- Hawkins now has 50 career double-digit scoring games, including 5 at K-State, after his 16-point effort on 6-of-9 field goals and 3-of-8 free throws… He also added team-highs in assists (5), steals (4) and blocks (2) to go with 5 rebounds.
- N’Guessan now has 35 career double-digit scoring games, including 24 at K-State, after his 13-point performance on 4-of-7 field goals and 5-of-7 free throws… He has scored in double figures in 11 consecutive games dating back to last season.
- Jones now has 70 career double-digit scoring games, including 5 at K-State, after scoring 12 points on 4-of-10 field goals, including 2-of-6 from 3-point range, to go with 4 assists.
- McDaniel now has 42 career double-digit scoring games, including 5 at K-State, after scoring 10 points on 4-of-11 field goals to go with 4 assists and 3 rebounds.
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