Kansas State men’s basketball allowed an 18-5 run to open the second half against St. John’s, leading to an 88-71 loss on Saturday.

K-State, which dropped to 6-3, led by as many as 10 points in the first half but ultimately fell in the final Big 12/Big East Battle. The Big 12 won the battle 6-5. 

“I wasn’t able to get a timeout when they were going on their big run to start the second half,” head coach Jerome Tang said to K-State Athletics. “This was our first road game and one lesson I haven’t taught our guys yet is when the crowd gets louder you play slower, and we played faster and that allowed them to get going. It was just a lesson we haven’t taught them yet and that’s on me. Once they got that lead, there was never any score pressure after that.”

The Wildcats got 21 points from guard Brendan Hausen, including six made 3-pointers in the first half, taking a 39-35 lead at the break The 21 first-half points tied for the sixth-most in a first half in school history.

“He was able to get some separation in the first half,” Tang said. “There was some good action for him. In the second half, they just sat on top of him. We, as a staff, need to come up with some things to help him in those situations. He was 6-of-8 from 3 in the first half and he attempted just 2 (3-pointers) in the second half and that’s just poor coaching by me.”

The junior sharpshooter from Villanova finished with a career-high 27 points in his return to a Big East venue. 

Seniors David N’Guessan and Coleman Hawkins added 15 and 11 points, respectively. Hawkins narrowly missed a double-double with a team-high 9 rebounds to go with a game-best 4 steals.

“We are learning something new every game with these guys,” Tang said. “I love their competitiveness. There are some areas where we need to improve, and this game exposed some of those weaknesses. We will get back to the gym and keep getting better.”