CINCINNATI (KStateSports.com) – Senior David N’Guessan collected his team-leading sixth double-double of the season with a game-high 18 points and 10 rebounds in helping Kansas State to a 54-49 win over Cincinnati on Wednesday night before 10,814 fans at Fifth Third Arena.
K-State (15-15, 9-10 Big 12) used a stifling defensive effort to snap a 3-game road losing streak while sweeping the regular season series from Cincinnati, including its first-ever road win in four tries. The 49 points were the fewest allowed by a Jerome Tang team and the fewest allowed by the Wildcats in a conference game since Oklahoma State scored 46 points on Feb. 23, 2019.
N’Guessan continued his impressive senior season, as he led or was tied for the team lead in points, rebounds, assists (4), steals (2) and blocks (1) in the win over the Bearcats (17-13, 7-12 Big 12). The Big 12’s field goal percentage leader (63.1) not only leads the Wildcats in double-doubles and 20-point games (5) but has also scored in double figures in a team-leading 24 of 30 games.
N’Guessan scored 14 of his 18 points in the second half on 6-of-6 shooting.
In addition to N’Guessan’s stellar performance, the game marked the return of senior Coleman Hawkins, who missed the last 2 games due to injury. Hawkins was his usual all-around self despite some rust, posting 9 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, a steal and a block in nearly 34 minutes.
The two seniors, along with junior Dug McDaniel and fellow senior Max Jones, helped spark a big second-half run by K-State, which rallied from a halftime deficit for the first time in 11 tries while connecting on 50 percent (13-of-26) from the field, including 61.9 percent (13-of-21) on 2-point attempts. The turnaround in the second half came after the Wildcats scored a season-tying low 22 points in the opening half on just 32.1 percent (9-of-28).
K-State went nearly 5 minutes without scoring in the first half, as the Wildcats made just 4 of their first 17 field goals, including 1 of their first 10 from 3-point range, as Cincinnati built as much as an 8-point lead (19-11). A 3-pointer from Jones helped start a 10-2 run that knotted the game at 21-all with 1:38 to play in the opening half. However, two free throws from graduate Aziz Bandaogo and layup from junior Dan Skillings Jr. lifted the Bearcats to a 25-22 lead at halftime.
Cincinnati carried its momentum into the second half, scoring 10 of the first 16 points to extend the lead to 35-28 just after the first media timeout with 14:47 to play. However, Jones ignited another K-State run, as his jumper sparked a string of 8 straight points that gave K-State a 36-35 lead with just under 12 minutes remaining.
After the Bearcats went back ahead on a jumper at 37-36 following a timeout, junior C.J. Jones gave the Wildcats the lead for good with a jumper at the front of the rim that sparked a 6-3 run that extended the lead to 44-40 at the third media timeout. The home team pulled to within 46-45 with 6:21 to play but 6 straight points, including back-to-back baskets from N’Guessan, gave the Wildcats a 52-45 edge with just over 4 minutes remaining.
Four straight points got Cincinnati to within 52-49 with 1:48 to play, but the Bearcats could get no closer as the Wildcats locked down defensively before junior Brendan Hausen knocked down a pair of free throws for a 54-49 lead with 22 seconds.
McDaniel joined N’Guessan in double figures with 13 points on 5-of-14 field goals and 2-of-2 free throws to go with 4 assists, 2 steals and 2 rebounds in more than 38 minutes. Jones matched Hawkins’ 9 points on 4-of-10 shooting to go with 7 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal.
Cincinnati was led by 12 points from senior Day Day Thomas and 10 points from sophomore Jizzle James, who also added 6 rebounds and 3 assists.
On the strength of its second-half shooting, K-State finished the game at 40.7 percent (22-of-54) shooting from the field with a 30-26 advantage in points in the paint and a 17-12 edge in points off turnovers. Cincinnati shot just 36.8 percent (21-of-57) from the field, including 32.3 percent (10-of-31) in the second half.
Neither team shot the ball from 3-point range, as the Wildcats went 3-of-18 from long range compared to 2-of-18 for the Bearcats.
K-State had lost 8 consecutive games to Cincinnati in the series heading into the 2024-25 before earning the regular-season sweep, which including a 70-67 win at home in the Big 12 opener on Dec. 30. It was also the first-ever win in four chances in a road game at Cincinnati after losing games in 1963, 1968 and 2024. The Bearcats still lead the all-time series, 8-3.
K-State plays its final regular-season game on Saturday when the Wildcats host No. 10/10 Iowa State (22-8, 12-7 Big 12) at 12:30 p.m., CT on Senior Day at Bramlage Coliseum. Tickets can be purchased online at kstatesports.com/tickets or by phone (800) 221.CATS.
HEAD COACH JEROME TANG
Opening statement…
“First of all, I just want to thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, for the blessing that I have of being able to steward this program with these incredible young men, and we are learning that we can have a struggle and success at the same time, and that’s just a part of life. And I just love the way my guys are responding. And, you know, in this day and age, there’s a lot of transfers and like going on. I got a group of guys that now that are playing for K State, right? And you can see it, and I’m just so proud of them. And so that’s, that’s a really good team that we beat, and they’ve lost a lot of really close games. And, you know, (head coach) Wes (Miller), does a terrific job. Last year, we came here, and it was a nail biter the same way. And, you know, Simas (Lukosius) rose up and hit that three, and that one stuck with us for a long time, and so happy to get this one.”
On the message in huddle that sparked the big second-half run…
“You know, in the first half, we just weren’t making shots, and we were settling for too many threes. One of the things we want to have as our identity is the ability to get to the paint and make plays from the paint, and I thought their physicality, they were just playing with more force than we were. We’ve got to drive with a greater force. We have to screen better. We have to cut better. Then it started going, and we didn’t settle for threes, and because five of our first eight shots were threes, and the second half, we only took five threes. We didn’t make any, but we only took five and because we just kept putting pressure on the rim. And so that was just what we want to do.
On Coleman Hawkins returning to the lineup…
“Well, Coleman wanted to play. And from the time he had the injury, he said, ‘I am coming back and I’m going to play.’ And he didn’t care what they said about the how long it was going to take, and he put in incredible work, him and Luke (Sauber), our trainer. I mean it was 24/7 and, you know, I told him, I said, ‘Coleman, I really like you to play, but you have a bright future. There is nothing more important than your health. It is more than important to me than you playing.’ And he told me, ‘Thank you, coach. I’m keep working and I’m gonna let you know when I’m ready.’ And today, he said he was ready. And I told him, if you’re ready, I’m gonna start you. I’m not gonna let you warm up and sit. Up and sit on the bench and be get cold, right? So, I’m gonna start you, and we’re gonna play you, and if you’re tired, let me know, and I’ll call a timeout, or I’ll sub you out. And so, it took him a little bit, and it probably take another little bit, but you know, it’s always when you have a talented young man like that who sees the floor, he’s basically our second point guard on the floor, and it just makes everything move a little bit easier for you.”
On the five-minute scoring drought in the first half and still having a chance…
“My question to our staff was like, ‘man, we gotta do a better job of tagging here and doing that. I was saying something defensively, and they looked at me and went, ‘hey, Coach, they’re shooting like 20 percent. They only have 15 points. We gotta figure out how to score. And I was like, ‘Okay, y’all are right, so let’s figure out how to score.’ That’s where my mind went immediately. But so, we figured out a way. I mean, we’ve been down. We were down I think, 15-0 at Arizona State, you know, 14-0 at Kansas. And were down 13-4 and came back Iowa State. So, we’ve gotten down before, right? And so, we just tell ourselves, no, we’ve been here before. ‘Let’s just keep grinding.’ Tough people do the next right thing. I got a bunch of tough guys and did the next right thing.”
On what was said in the huddle before the big second-half run…
“Sometimes you say things in huddles and in the locker room that are just for the huddles in the locker room. I asked our staff to find me somebody. Find me players who are more passionate about this game than I am. I don’t want to be the most passionate person on the floor, the most passionate person in the in the gym and it is fun to have a guy and multiple guys who are as passionate about this game and represent in Kansas State as I am.”
FIRST HALF
Cincinnati broke an early 7-all tie with 6 straight points just before the second media timeout to take a 13-7 lead at the 9:11 mark of the first half. The lead grew to 15-7 before senior Max Jones ended near a 5-minute scoring drought with a jumper.
The Bearcats surged ahead 19-11 before a Jones’ 3-pointer and a layup by senior David N’Guessan gave the Wildcats’ consecutive baskets right before the last media timeout with 3:21 to play. After a basket by the home team, senior Coleman Hawkins tied the game at 21-all with a personal 5-0 run, including a 3-pointer.
A pair of free throws by fifth-year Aziz Bandaogo gave UC the lead with a pair of free throws at 23-21 before junior Brendan Hausen split 2 free throws. Junior Dan Skillings Jr. scored on an inbounds play, as the Bearcats led 25-22 at the halftime break.
K-State hit on just 32.1 percent (9-of-28) of its field goals, including 23.1 percent (3-of-13) from 3-point range, while Cincinnati shot 42.3 percent (11-of-26) from the field, including 11.1 percent (1-of-9) from long range. Junior Dug McDaniel led the Wildcats with 7 points.
SECOND HALF
Cincinnati scored 9 of the first 15 points out of halftime to take a 34-28 lead at the first media timeout at the 14:47 mark. After a free throw extended the lead to 35-28 out of the timeout, K-State rattled off 8 straight points, all coming from 4 different players, to take a 36-35 lead and force a timeout by UC head coach Wes Miller at the 11:53 mark.
The Bearcats retook the lead on a layup, but the Wildcats responded with 8 of the next 11 points to extend their lead to 44-40 at the third media timeout with 7:42 to play. The home team closed to within 46-45 on consecutive baskets before N’Guessan countered with back-to-back jumpers to force another timeout by Miller at the 4:48 mark.
McDaniel made it 3 straight baskets with a jumper on a N’Guessan screen before a running layup by Cincinnati closed the deficit to 52-47 at the final media timeout with 2:57 to play. A jumper by Jizzle James pulled the Bearcats within 52-49 prompting head coach Jerome Tang to call a full timeout with 1:39 remaining. Following empty possessions by both teams, Miller called a timeout with 54 seconds left but James’ layup missed and went out of bounds.
With just 3 personal fouls, Cincinnati had to foul on 4 consecutive possessions before sending Hausen to the line, where he converted on both attempts to extend the lead to 54-49 with 22 seconds. Senior Simas Lukosius had a chance to pull the Bearcats when a possession, but his 3-pointer rimmed out and N’Guessan grabbed his 10th rebound and was fouled with 10 seconds.
N’Guessan missed the front end of the free throw, but junior Josh Reed’s 3-pointer missed with 2 seconds and Hawkins grabbed the rebound to secure the win.
N’Guessan scored 14 of his game-high 18 points in the second half on 6-of-6 from the field.
BEYOND THE BOXSCORE
- K-State (15-15, 9-10 Big 12) won its second consecutive game with a 54-49 win over Cincinnati (17-13, 7-12 Big 12) at Fifth Third Arena on Wednesday night.
- K-State won consecutive games for the first time since Feb. 8 and 11.
- K-State finished the season with a 3-7 road record in Big 12 play.
- Cincinnati still leads the all-time series, 8-3, including 3-1 at home… K-State, which had lost 8 straight games in the series heading into the 2024-25, swept the season series after a 70-67 win at home on Dec. 30, 2024.
- 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 17th time this season… Hausen, M. Jones and N’Guessan have now started all 30 games… All 30 of Hausen’s career starts have come at K-State.
- M. Jones now has 111 career starts (Tampa/Cal State Fullerton/K-State), N’Guessan now has 69 career starts (all at K-State), McDaniel now has 72 career starts (Michigan/K-State) and Hawkins now has 109 career starts (Illinois/K-State).
- Hawkins returned to the lineup after missing 2 games due to injury.
- Sophomore Mobi Ikegwuruka played 2 minutes after not playing against Colorado.
TEAM NOTES
- K-State scored its 54 points on 40.7 percent (22-of-54) shooting, including 16.7 percent (3-of-18) from 3-point range, while hitting on 70.0 percent (7-of-10) from the free throw line.
- K-State held Cincinnati to 49 points on 36.8 percent (21-of-57) shooting, including 11.1 percent (2-of-18) from 3-point range… The 2 made 3-pointers tied for an opponent-low.
- The 49 points were the fewest allowed by a Jerome Tang team and the fewest allowed by K-State in a conference game since allowing 46 to Oklahoma State on Feb. 23, 2019.
- K-State scored 17 points off 10 Cincinnati turnovers.
- Cincinnati held a 37-36 advantage on the glass, however, K-State posted a 9-7 edge in second-chance points thanks to 8 offensive rebounds.
- Cincinnati led 25-22 at the halftime, as K-State won the first time this season when trailing at the half (1-10).
- The 22 first-half points tied a season-low (22 at BYU).
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
- Two Wildcats scored in double figures led by a game-high 18 points from senior David N’Guessan… He was joined in double figures by juniors Dug McDaniel (10 points).
- The game marked the return of senior Coleman Hawkins, who played nearly 35 minutes, after missing the last 2 games due to injury… Hawkins finished with 9 points on 4-of-10 field goals with 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal and 1 block.
- N’Guessan posted his ninth career double-double, including his team-leading sixth double-double, with 18 points and 10 rebounds to go with 4 assists, 2 steals and a block in 35 minutes… His 18 points came on 8-of-10 field goals and 2-of-4 free throws… He now has 49 career double-digit scoring games, including his team-high 24 this season.
- Junior Dug McDaniel scored 13 points on 5-of-14 field goals and 2-of-2 free throws to go with 4 assists, 2 rebounds and 2 steals in more than 38 minutes… He now has 55 career double-digit scoring games, including 18 this season (13 in Big 12 play).
