A standing ovation and chants of K-S-U streamed from Kansas State fans on Tuesday night, still showing support for the Wildcats. Despite the hectic status of the team, K-State was ready to come out and compete against the Baylor Bears, snapping a six-game losing streak.
Nate Johnson started strong with a made basket from beyond the arc and would stay that way for the rest of the night.
With back-to-back three-pointers, Johnson would extend the lead to 13-6.
“Nate [Johnson] was shooting like Steph Curry out there,” P.J. Haggerty said. “He got hot early. He just does it all, rebounds, passes, scores.”
Johnson didn’t just have the ability to score; he also dished it out, finding Haggerty as he made a smooth backdoor cut, making the layup to lead 24-17.
“Nate [Johnson] sees things,” Haggerty said. “He just makes it easy for me, because, you know, he can create for himself and others. But it’s been, it’s been a lot of fun.”
Haggerty got stuck on the baseline but was able to maneuver, converting a three-point play off a reverse layup. His basket from the stripe pushed the Wildcats’ lead to 13 points.
K-State’s offense continued to click as C.J. Jones drove to the lane through contact to convert a three-point play with 1:44 left before the break.
The Wildcats led the Bears 41-34 at halftime as Johnson put up 16 points, three rebounds and two steals, and Haggerty added 13 points, two rebounds and two steals. The dominance of Haggerty and Johnson would continue as they had a combined 67 points by the end of the night.
“I thought our defense tonight set the tone,” K-State interim head coach Matthew Driscoll said. “I thought it led to us playing with some easy situations. I thought our guys put ourselves in positions to be really successful and getting downhill and playing at the rim based on if they were going to switch or they were not going to switch.”
Coming back energized for the second half, the Wildcats went on an 8-0 run over 2:04 while the Bears went on a scoring drought of 3:01.
K-State would build its highest lead to 21 points after Johnson made a layup at the 10:39 mark.
Continuing their groove, the ‘Cats would go on another 7-0 run with contributions from the duo themselves — Haggerty and Johnson.
Baylor would go on an 8-0 run in the middle of the second half before Johnson knocked down a pair of free throws, pushing K-State back to a comfortable 66-52 lead.
The Wildcats and Bears went back and forth for the remaining 7:10, with both teams going on two-point and four-point runs. Regardless of Baylor’s efforts and the full-court press they put on K-State, the purple and white jerseys would brawl this game out, prevailing 90-74 and ending a six-game losing streak.
“I’m honored when he [Tang] talked to me on Sunday and said, ‘I want you to do this,’” Driscoll said. “But nothing in life that’s great gets accomplished alone. So I’m super proud of our staff and the way in which they dealt with this, and obviously the players, the resiliency and their ability to overcome a lot.”
The Wildcats move to 11-15 overall and 2-11 in conference play. K-State will travel to Texas Tech for its next matchup at 1:30 p.m. on Feb. 21.
