Kansas State senior forward Coleman Hawkins saved his best game as a Wildcat for the Big 12 Tournament, scoring a season-high 26 points in a 71-66 win over Arizona State in the Wildcats’ Big 12 Tournament.

“I feel like I wasn’t very good at all [against Iowa State] offensively and didn’t play very confident at all,” Hawkins said to K-State Athletics. “I just went out there and played and didn’t really think too much. I just shot the ball confidently.”

Hawkins was efficient in the outing as he shot 10-17 from the floor and 4-9 from beyond the 3-point line. Hawkins added eight rebounds, too, in his 38 minutes of game action.

Other double-digit scorers for K-State included Dug McDaniel with 14 points and guards Max Jones and Brendan Hausen each with 10. 

K-State started off hot from three as the Wildcats made their first five attempts and blew open an early 17-4 lead. 

“Early on we were able to get good looks and our guys pulled up and made them,” head coach Jerome Tang said. 

However, Arizona State didn’t quit and fought back to tie the game at 21. 

Arizona State was short-handed, without center Jayden Quaintance, and only had seven scholarship players available in the game. One of those seven included guard Adam Miller, who was returning from injury but ended up having to leave the game in the second half due to another injury.

Being short-handed started to show as the Wildcats answered with a run before half, and at the break, K-State led 38-31. Hawkins led the way with 19 first-half points. 

In the second half, K-State controlled its lead and even extended it out to a 14-point lead at one point. 

The Sun Devils refused to quit, though, and had another run in them to cut the lead down back to single digits. The game stayed in the single digits the rest of the way, but the ‘Cats always were able to hold a multi-possession lead.

“When it became a grinder, we were able to play a grinder game, so I was proud of our guys for that,” Tang said.

The closest score was 66-62, with 1:46 left to go in the game. The Wildcats answered with a jumper by guard Brendan Hausen to take a six-point lead. 

The Sun Devils seemed worn down but cut the deficit to four points with a bucket on their next possession.

With 36 seconds, McDaniel found a rolling forward David N’Guessan, who finished through contact for an and-one. N’Guessan made the free throw, which gave K-State a seven-point lead and iced the game. 

N’Guessan, who was an honorable mention All-Big 12 performer, was held quiet most of the night due to his foul trouble. However, the K-State senior made a big play when it mattered and could be fresh for a potential tournament run.

“Some might look at it as a bad thing, but we looked at it as a blessing in disguise because he will be fresh for tomorrow,” McDaniel said. “We have his back when he goes down.”

K-State was able to hold on late and escaped with the 71-66 win. The first win under the belt can sometimes be the biggest and give this team confidence moving forward.

K-State meets Baylor with a chance to get back at the Bears for a road loss in January. In that game, K-State held a double-digit second-half lead but saw it slip away.

“If there is anyone in the country who could do what our task is to do, it’s us,” Hawkins said. “I feel very comfortable with this group, and we can beat anyone in this conference.”

Tip-off is at 6 p.m. with a spot in the quarterfinals against Texas Tech on the line.