Kansas State men’s basketball and head coach Jerome Tang appeared to be in a position to win its fourth straight game over Baylor — his former team —before K-State’s late woes returned and Baylor overcame a 12-point second-half deficit to post a 70-62 win on Wednesday night. 

K-State (7-11, 1-6 Big 12) extends its overall losing streak to six and 15 straight losses on the road, dating back to last season. 

“I was really proud of our guys’ effort tonight. They keep fighting. I just need to keep helping them find ways to help us,” Tang said to K-State Athletics. “I remember back when I was at Baylor (as an assistant), and we started conference play 2-8 and everybody had given up on us. We were able to finish conference play 9-9, won three games at the Big 12 Championship and went to the Sweet 16.”

Three Wildcats scored in double figures, including a team-high 13 points for N’Guessan, who added 11 rebounds for his team-leading fourth double-double of the season and the seventh of his career. 

Guards Brendan Hausen and Dug McDaniel each finished with 12 points, while senior Coleman Hawkins dished out a team-high 7 assists, and zero turnovers, to go with 8 points and 9 rebounds.

Baylor’s VJ Edgecombe showed why he is considered one of the nation’s best freshmen, as the rookie scored a game-high 30 points.

Tang’s Wildcats came off a 10-point loss to KU on Saturday and looked to come out strong. While it ended up being a slow start for both teams, K-State held a slight advantage at the first media timeout. 

Shortly after, K-State started to take off with a 10-0 run for a 25-16 lead. The run was a big momentum boost for K-State, something the team needed while on its losing streak. Two late 3-pointers by Baylor cut the lead to 30-26 at the half. Even with the late triples, K-State had confidence. 

K-State’s defense was solid in the first half, holding Baylor to 9-36 (25%) from the floor. Baylor knocked down six 3-pointers but it came on 21 attempts, something the Wildcats could live with. Dug McDaniel led K-State in the first half with nine points and the ‘Cats as a team shot 50% from the field. 

Out of the gate in the second half, the Wildcats came out strong and answered Baylor’s run at the end of the first half. K-State started with a 7-0 run, later extending its lead to the largest of the night at 12.

Baylor, a good 3-point shooting team, was able to knock down shots and crawl their way back in it. The Bears regained the lead with just under eight minutes to go in the second half.

“I just know that we were unable to, down the stretch, to really keep them out of the paint, and they were able to pick on what they wanted to pick on,” Tang said.

Down the stretch, Edgecombe delivered for Baylor hitting big-time shots, finishing around the rim and knocking down his free throws. Edgecombe scored 20 of his 30 points in the second half.

“In the first half, we were switching so he wasn’t able to get the ball. But our switches weren’t as good as they needed to be in the second half, so he got going,” Tang said. “I tip my cap to him. He made plays that he was supposed to make. We didn’t do a good job of taking it away.”

Complimenting Edgecombe was guard Jalen Celestine as he scored 18 points, 15 of them in the second half. Much like Edgecombe, Celestine hit big threes down the stretch for Baylor. K-State wasn’t able to find an answer for either one of them. 

Baylor was able to extend their lead to as high as six but K-State had answers from Hausen as he showed off his range hitting from the outside. Hausen finished the game hitting four triples. Hawkins had a tip-in dunk with 3:25 to go in the game and made the score a one-possession game with Baylor leading 61-58.

However, that tip-in dunk was the last field goal for K-State of the game which led to Baylor extending their lead and holding onto the victory. Baylor was 15-19 from the charity stripe in the second half. 

Baylor also was 12-20 (60%) from the field in the second half and hit on five of their eight three-point attempts. It was the defensive end for Baylor though that confused the Wildcats as the Bears switched to a one-three-one zone, making it hard for K-State to get the ball inside to their playmakers, Hawkins and N’Guessan.

“Great adjustment by coach Drew going to the zone in the second. I thought our guys executed our offensive game plan early and made him have to switch to the zone,” Tang said.

The ‘Cats had issues with the zone shooting 11-29 (38%) in the second half. The zone also required K-State to rely on the three ball more making six of its 17 attempts. 

K-State returns home on Saturday to face the West Virginia Mountaineers at 5 p.m. WVU is 13-5 overall and 4-3 in Big 12 play.