Kansas State men’s basketball grabbed its fourth consecutive Big 12 win, taking down Arizona State 71-70 in dramatic fashion.
In what was a possible trap game for the Wildcats, who had a big win over No. 3 Iowa State on Saturday and in-state rival Kansas Jayhawks up next, K-State was able to prevail to take down the Sun Devils.
The win gave K-State (11-11, 5-6 Big 12) consecutive road wins for the first time since defeating No. 6 Texas and No. 19 Baylor in January 2023. The 4-game winning streak is the longest by the Wildcats in Big 12 play since winning 4 in a row from Feb. 18 to March 1, 2023.
Arizona State center Jayden Quaintance was at the free throw line with four seconds to go and a chance to give Arizona State the lead but missed both allowing K-State to escape with the victory.
Quaintance found himself at the line because of an incredible effort play by K-State forward David N’Guessan who didn’t give up on the play and fouled Quaintance before he could dunk the ball.
“I’m thankful that David N’Guessan didn’t give up on the play and fouled him. That’s a tough situation for a 17- year-old to be in. He’s a heck of a player and is going to be really good,” head coach Jerome Tang said to K-State Athletics.
N’Guessan was big for the Wildcats on offense as well, leading the team with 22 points and eight rebounds. N’Guessan even knocked down a 3-pointer in the contest and was 5-6 from the free-throw line.
Things didn’t start so great for K-State in the first half as the Wildcats struggled to make shots and found themselves at an early 15-0 deficit seven minutes into the game. Senior guard Max Jones finally got the Wildcats on the board with a turnaround jumper to make the game 15-2.
Arizona State ultimately stretched the lead to as large as sixteen points but K-State fought their way back with a huge 33-14 run to end the first half. Instead of settling for 3-pointers, K-State attacked downhill and was able to get to the rim to finish, opening up open 3-point opportunities later in the game.
“Energy picked up. We opened the game, and four of our first six shots were threes,” Tang said. “We have good three-point shooters, but it was not necessarily how we wanted to start the game.”
The first half ended with K-State leading 35-32 and on a 7-0 run which was capped by a Max Jones three. Jones got the Wildcats started in the first half and closed out an impressive run for the ‘Cats to end the half as well.
Jones scored a Big 12-high 15 points in the contest. Jones has scored double figures in eight of the last nine Big 12 contests, including four straight.
In the second half, K-State continued its run and stretched its lead to as large as 13 points after guard Brendan Hausen hit back-to-back triples. Arizona State had a comeback of their own in store though and managed to come all the way back to briefly take the lead.
However, whatever punch Arizona State had, K-State had an answer for, primarily with forward Coleman Hawkins, who had 11 points, six rebounds and seven assists on the night.
Hawkins had two great passes to find a cutting N’Guessan and then with under two minutes to play Hawkins knocked down a massive triple to give K-State a two-point lead.
Sharing the ball has been a big reason why K-State has been so successful lately as they dished out 20 assists against the Sun Devils. The leader was guard Dug McDaniel as he had nine assists. McDaniel has been playing the point guard spot as well as anyone the last few games.
“Dug is playing at a high level right now, and what’s crazy is that he’s got three or four more levels he can get to. I’m so excited to watch his continued growth,” Tang said.
K-State will now turn its focus to in-state rival Kansas. The game will tip at 1 p.m. on Saturday, and be televised on ESPN.
