MANHATTAN, Kan. (KStateSports.com) – Senior Elijah Hawkins’ layup with 5:28 remaining proved to be the game-winner in a defensive slugfest, as Texas Tech held on late for a 61-57 win over Kansas State on Tuesday night before 8,019 fans at Bramlage Coliseum.
In a game where points were at a premium it was Texas Tech (12-4, 3-2 Big 12) which was able to grind out a key Big 12 victory, as the teams combined for 13 points in the final 10:07.
Following the Hawkins’ layup, neither team scored for more than 5 minutes before junior Darrion Williams’ second chance layup with 17 seconds gave the Red Raiders a 4-point lead. On the last possessions of the game, freshman David Castillo missed from 3-point range with 12 seconds followed by a missed layup from senior Coleman Hawkins with 6 seconds.
All told, K-State (7-9, 1-4 Big 12) did not score in the final 5:50 of the game, making just 1 of its last 12 field goals, including 8 consecutive misses to finish the game. The 57 points matched their season-low for the second consecutive game, as the Wildcats registered season-lows for second-half points (24) and second-half field goal percentage (29.6; 8-of-27) after an 11-0 run helped propel them to a 33-31 lead at the half.
The dismal offensive performance overshadowed an impressive defensive effort, as K-State held Texas Tech to a season-low 61 points, nearly 25 points under their scoring average (85.6 ppg.). The Red Raiders entered the game ranking in the top 25 of seven offensive categories nationally.
Four Wildcats scored in double figures led by junior Brendan Hausen’s 13 points on 4-of-9 shooting, including 3-of-8 from 3-point range. Hawkins added 12 points to go with 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals, while senior David N’Guessan scored in double figures for the team-leading 14th time with 11 points. Senior Max Jones had a near double-double with 10 points and a season-high 9 rebounds in nearly 39 minutes of action.
Williams paced all scorers with 16 points for the Red Raiders, finishing the night 7-of-15 from the field with 4 rebounds and 3 assists in 35 minutes. Hawkins had a near points/assists double-double with 14 points and a game-high 9 assists to go with 5 rebounds in a team-high 37 minutes. Senior Federiko Federiko (9 points) and freshman Christian Anderson (8 points) combined for 17 of the team’s 20 bench points.
The loss was K-State’s fourth in a row, including their second straight at home. The Wildcats have now lost 7 of their last 8 games since starting the season at 6-2.
Offensively, Texas Tech connected on 50 percent (26-of-52) of its field goals, including 38.5 percent (5-of-13) from 3-point range. The team scored 40 of their 61 points in the paint.
K-State shot 36.5 percent (19-of-52) from the field, including 30 percent (9-of-30) from 3-point range, while hitting on 10 of 12 attempts from the free throw line.
The Red Raiders have now won the last 3 in the series, including their first win in Manhattan since 2021.
K-State begins a 2-game road trip on Saturday when the Wildcats visit No. 9/10 Kansas (12-3, 3-1 Big 12) at noon CT on CBS. The next home game will be Saturday, Jan. 25 against West Virginia (12-3, 3-1 Big 12) at 5 p.m., CT. Tickets can be purchased online at kstatesports.com/tickets or by phone (800) 221.CATS.
HEAD COACH JEROME TANG
Opening statement…
“Yeah, a couple things. Number one is, and I absolutely love what I do and why I’m doing it and so blessed to be able to do this. And I’m really thankful, I told the team today before the game like, God gives His toughest challenges to his biggest warriors. And you know, just that what we’re going through, you know, it’s not fun, but there’s something to be learned from this. And the story I told them was from the book of Job. You know, he had everything and then lost everything, and consecutively, but he didn’t give up faith, right? And I thought we had a team that took the floor today that showed they haven’t given up faith and they’ve got a lot of fight in them and we have to learn to execute. Credit to Texas Tech, [head coach] Grant McCasland. Y’all obviously know how I feel about him, and just absolutely love him and his family, and so congratulations to them on the win, but I was really proud of our fight. We have to just be better execution wise and can’t go 5 minutes 30 seconds at the end of the game and not make a bucket. And that’s something we’ll look at and try to figure that out. And then the 13- run in the first half, got to figure out how to solve that. And, you know, we’re tinkering, we’re moving around, but, you know, I promise our fans that we will put dudes on the floor that are going to give it effort that’s worthy of wearing a K-State uniform. And if they’re not going to be gritty and tough like Max Jones and some of the other guys show tonight, then they won’t be on that floor today.”
On allowing 40 points in the paint…
“Well, the way we guarded them, it took away their bigs from getting points in the paint, other than when we screwed up, right and stuff. But it created some opportunities for their guards to get there. And you know, our goal was making 10 3s a game. And so, our goal was to take that away, because that’s the strength of their guards and then to limit what their bigs could do and I thought we did that. We just had some mess ups on some assignments and some of it happens in transition when you can’t set your defense, you know, and so we have to fix that or have guys out there who can execute it.”
On playing 20 conference games and improving down the stretch…
“The fact that we’re playing 20 games is incredible and great and it’s something that we are excited about. We have to just keep getting better and people just keep saying fix it, right, like something’s so broken, right? And you like, get rid of it. Or, like, we are constantly tinkering to get it just a little bit better. And, you know, I was pleased with some of the things that I saw tonight. And then obviously, when I go look at the film and see some things that we could make a game plan for it, but we didn’t execute it. And so that’s where we got to find, figure out the guys who can execute it, and in search of one more forward, who can, give us some minutes. You know, just can’t play Dave [N’Guessan] and Coleman [Hawkins], that many minutes over and over, you know, I think some of it is the wear down also. So, we’re working on it, and we don’t look at it like, man, you got to fix it by this time. Otherwise, it’s just, it’s 20 games, but it’s one game at a time, so this is done. We’re going to look at it as a staff tonight and tomorrow but then it’s planning to play the school up the road [Kansas], and you got to go there, and you got to give an effort like that and try to keep the game. We don’t have a team that can play up and down, you know, because we have to have a gritty, tough game like this more and then learn how to execute at the end.”
On limiting Texas Tech to 61 points…
“I was encouraged by the defensive effort, but they still shot 50 percent on the field with limiting their three point attempts, that was huge and our guys did a good job of that. And I thought our patience on offense played into that, also trying, you know, just not giving them a ton of possessions.”
On the inability to win close games…
“Yeah, we haven’t embraced what ‘five to grind’ is about and it’s been something that we’ve been trying to work on in practice, but everybody has to buy into it and how we win the last five minutes of games, and we haven’t fully embraced that yet. And so we just got to keep plugging away and get more buy in and figure out the guys who are going to do it. But I mean, Brendan Hausen three right sets ran open. We take that, you know, David [N’Guessan] gets on, catches the ball from the rim, you know, you’re taking that. You’ve got Coleman Hawkins rolling to the goal, pass to him, you know, I mean, y ou got the three things that you wanted, where we called to get and we got them, we just put the ball in the hole. So, you know, we’ll keep plugging away and figuring it out.”
FIRST HALF
Following the game’s opening basket from senior David N’Guessan, Texas Tech responded with 6 straight points to take an 8-5 lead into the first media timeout at the 15:58 mark. The lead grew to 14-9 at the next media timeout, as the Red Raiders continued their strong offense start, hitting on 6 of their first 11 field goals compared to the Wildcats’ 3-of-12 start from the field.
Texas Tech built as much as an 8-point lead (17-9) over the next few minutes before a 3-pointer from junior C.J. Jones cut the deficit to one possession at 19-16 right before a timeout by head coach Jerome Tang with 7:06 to play. However, the Red Raiders responded with a 7-2 run to take a 26-18 lead into the final media timeout with 3:59 before halftime.
A K-State offense that struggled for much of the first half finally got a spark from junior Brendan Hausen, as his corner 3-pointer started an 11-0 run that gave the Wildcats their first lead at 29-26 and forced a timeout by head coach Grant McCasland at the 2:20 mark.
The Red Raiders responded with a 3-pointer on the next possession to tie the game at 29-all, but a layup from N’Guessan once again gave the Wildcats a 31-29 lead. After a jumper by Tech tied it at 31-all, junior Dug McDaniel gave K-State a 33-31 lead at the half with a jumper at the buzzer.
K-State connected on 44 percent (11-of-25) from the field in the first half, including 35.7 percent (5-of-14) from 3-point line, while Texas Tech hit on 46.4 percent (13-of-28), including 50 percent (3-of-6) from beyond the arc. N’Guessan led all scorers with 11 points.
SECOND HALF
K-State enjoyed a solid start to the second half, as a pair of 3-pointers from Hausen and Max Jones gave the Wildcats a 44-38 lead at the first media timeout at the 15:06 mark. However, a 3-point play from Federiko Federiko started a 6-0 run from Texas Tech that tied the game at 44-all and forced a timeout by Tang with 14:11 to play.
The timeout didn’t halt the Red Raiders’ momentum, as they rattled off 7 more points to push ahead 51-44 and force yet another Tang timeout at the 12:33 mark. A layup by senior Coleman Hawkins ended the 13-0 run and pulled the Wildcats to within 51-46 at the second media timeout.
Back-to-back 3-pointer from Hawkins got K-State to within 53-52 at the 10:07 mark, prompting a timeout from McCasland. The teams traded baskets before a Max Jones free throw tied it at 55-all. A jumper from Elijah Hawkins gave Tech a 57-55 at the third media timeout with 6:22 to play.
The Red Raiders maintained their 2-point lead (59-57) heading into the final media timeout with 3:44 remaining. Neither team could score until junior Darrion Williams’ layup with 17 seconds extended the lead to 61-57. Freshman David Castillo’s 3-pointer was off the mark with 12 seconds as was Hawkins’ layup with 6 seconds.
K-State scored a season-low 24 points in the second half on a season-low 29.6 percent (8-of-27) shooting, including 25 percent (4-of-16) from 3-point range. Texas Tech scored its 30 points on 54.2 percent (13-of-24) from the field.
BEYOND THE BOXSCORE
- K-State still leads the all-time series, 26-24, including 18-6 in games played in Manhattan and 14-6 at Bramlage Coliseum… Texas Tech has won 3 straight in the series, as the Red Raiders picked up their first win in Manhattan since 2021.
- K-State is now 436-151 all-time at Bramlage Coliseum, including 175-121 in league play.
- 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 sixth time and the fifth straight game… Hausen, M. Jones, Hawkins and N’Guessan have now started the first 16 games… All 16 of Hausen’s career starts have come at K-State.
- Hawkins now has 98 career starts (Illinois/K-State), M. Jones now has 97 career starts (Tampa/Cal State Fullerton/K-State), N’Guessan now has 55 career starts (all at K-State) and McDaniel now has 58 career starts (Michigan/K-State).
TEAM NOTES
- K-State tied its season-low for the second consecutive game, scoring its 57 points on 36.5 percent (19-of-52) shooting, including 30 percent (9-of-30) from 3-point range, while hitting on 83.3 percent (10-of-12) from the free throw line.
- K-State held Texas Tech to a season-low 61 points, nearly 25 points under its scoring average (85.4 ppg.) which ranked 13th nationally.
- 40 of Texas Tech’s 61 points came in the paint, where they held a 40-18 advantage.
- Texas Tech held a 35-24 advantage on the boards but were tied in second-chance points at 11-each… 26 of the 35 rebounds came on the defensive end.
- K-State managed just 10 turnovers, which was the fewest in Big 12 play this season.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
- Four Wildcats scored in double figures led by 13 points from junior Brendan Hausen, 12 points from senior Coleman Hawkins, 11 points from senior David N’Guessan and 10 points from senior Max Jones.
- Hausen scored his 13 points on 4-of-9 field goals, including 3-of-8 from 3-point range, and 2-of-2 from the free throw line to go with 3 rebounds and 2 assists in 29 minutes… He now has 23 career double-digit scoring games, including 11 at K-State.
- Hawkins scored his 12 points on 5-of-12 field goals, including 2-of-5 from 3-point range, to go with 5 rebounds, a team-high 3 assists and 2 steals in 28 minutes… He now has 54 career double-digit scoring games, including 9 at K-State.
- N’Guessan scored his 11 points on 4-of-7 field goals, including 1-of-2 from 3-point range, and 2-of-2 from the free throw line, to go with 3 rebounds, 2 steals and a block in 37 minutes… He now has 39 career double-digit scoring games, including a team-leading 14 this season.
- Jones scored his 10 points on 2-of-6 field goals, including 2-of-6 from 3-point range, and 4-of-6 free throws to go with a season-high 9 rebounds in 39 minutes… He now has 73 career double-digit scoring games, including 8 at K-State.
