Jayhawks hoping to halt three-game losing streak to Kansas State in Bramlage
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- Kansas aims to end three-game Bramlage losing streak when it visits K-State.
- K-State’s P.J. Haggerty averages 23.4 ppg and gets downhill to the line.
- Darryn Peterson sprained an ankle and won’t be 100%; KU must be gritty.
Bill Self says he’ll remind his Kansas basketball players that the Jayhawks have lost three consecutive games inside Kansas State’s Bramlage Coliseum over the past three seasons.
“The message will certainly be talked about that we have certainly labored when we’ve gone over there and left out of there disappointed and sad,” Self, KU’s 23rd-year head coach, said Thursday at a news conference in advance of Saturday’s Sunflower Showdown. “And obviously we don’t want that to happen a fourth time.”
Tipoff between the No. 19-ranked Jayhawks (14-5, 4-2 Big 12) and Wildcats (10-9, 1-5) is 7 p.m. in Manhattan, with a live telecast on FOX.
“I actually think it is for us probably as good a home court that we’ll play in our league,” Self said. “And we haven’t performed as well as we would hope. But I also think they’ve had a lot to do with that, especially the last couple of years.”
Self’s KU teams have won 14 games and dropped eight in the Little Apple. Overall, Self has a 38-9 record versus K-State as KU’s coach. KSU’s Jerome Tang is 3-3 as head coach against KU.
“Is it a hard venue? Yes,” Self said. “I also think people can get a little bit confused on how hard it is to win at certain places when you’re playing a rival team. And that is certainly the case when we play K-State.
“They’ll play at a high level on Saturday, and should. And we should have to play at a high level in order to have success. So that’s the way it should be in games like this.”
K-State has a prolific scorer in P.J. Haggerty, a 6-foot-4 junior transfer from Memphis who has averaged 23.4 points and 5.2 rebounds in 19 games.
He scored 34 points on 15-of-29 shooting (1-4 from 3-point range and 3-6 from the free-throw line) with seven rebounds, four assists and two steals in Tuesday’s 81-78 home win over Utah. It was K-State’s first win in league play after opening 0-5.
“I think he can score as well as anybody in the country. What’s he averaging, over 23?” Self said. “We’re very familiar with him, starting out at Tulsa (2023-24) and then, of course, went to Memphis (2024-25).”
Haggerty also played one year at TCU (2022-23).
“He can score and he can get to spots that are different than what most guards can get to,” Self said, “because he’ll score beyond the arc (26-of-71 from 3-point range, 36.6%). But where he’s so effective is getting the ball downhill and getting to the free throw line and everything.”
Haggerty is 100-of-140 from the free-throw line (71.4%).
“Yes we’ll have to come up with a way to minimize him doing the things he wants to do if possible,” Self said. “Utah didn’t do a bad job. He still got up, what, 29 shots? He’s going to get to his spot even when you don’t want him to, more than you want him to.
“The biggest thing is you can’t let those other guys have big nights because he’s going to get points. You can do a great job on him in holding to 20. You can do a great job holding him to 15. Or you can do an average job and he can still get 30, just depending on how hard you have to make him work. But he can still score.”
Haggerty has 86 assists against 73 turnovers with 21 steals. K-State’s second leading scorer, Abdi Bashir Jr., who averages 13.2 points a game, is out four to six weeks following foot surgery. David Castillo, a 6-1 sophomore guard who was recruited some by KU, averages 11.8 points. He scored 20 points against Utah on 7-of-12 shooting (6-of-9 from deep).
For the year, he’s 38-of-97 from 3-point range (39.2%).
Senior guard Nate Johnson averages 11.6 points a game. He’s 38-of-93 from beyond the arc (40.9%). Senior forward Khamari McGriff averages 10.2 points and 4.3 rebounds per contest.
KU’s leading scorer, Darryn Peterson, who sprained an ankle in the second half Tuesday at Colorado but was able to finish the game, “won’t be 100% for a while,” Self said earlier this week, expressing hope the freshman guard won’t miss any games.
If the Jayhawks are to win and take a 5-2 record into a contest against BYU a week from Saturday at Allen Fieldhouse, the Jayhawks must bust their losing streak at Bramlage.
“They’re going to come to play, obviously, as they have … they’ve gotten us a couple times the past few years,” said KU sophomore guard Jamari McDowell. “We’re going to for sure try to not let that happen. They’re a great team and they had a great home win against Utah the other day and they can shoot the ball lights-out, so it’s going to be tough. Honestly, (the) message to the team and my teammates, ‘Just be you,’ and we’ll be all right.”
KU has won three Big 12 games in a row after a 1-2 start to league play. KU won 75-69 Tuesday at Colorado after losing at UCF and West Virginia in its first two league road contests.
“We’ve got to just be gritty,” McDowell said. “And I feel like we’ve got to be grittier. Our last game, it was slow and it was ugly. We grinded it out. We got it done, but we’ve got to be grittier and tougher for sure. We have to have that mindset early in the game. We definitely need to come out and be greedy.”
Of Peterson’s availability, McDowell said Thursday: “I just saw him in the locker room. He seemed to be in high spirits and cool. I’ll talk to him, ask ‘How are you feeling?’ But he’s fine.”
The 6-5 McDowell averages 4.2 points a game in 17.6 minutes per night (he’s 19-of-43 from deep for 44.2%). He said he enjoys playing in the same backcourt as McDonald’s All-American Peterson, a likely top-three pick in the 2026 NBA Draft.
“Well, from a personal standpoint, I have never played with a player like him. He’s good,” McDowell said. “So that was definitely an adjustment. I think that was an adjustment for everybody because I don’t think any of us have honestly played with anybody like him. So in practice, getting those reps and mixing the groups … over time I feel like we’re finally starting to get it to click a little bit.
“There’s still times where we’re stagnant, especially on offense. But other than that I think it’s just a time thing. You’ve got to spend time with people to know them.”
This story was originally published January 23, 2026 at 6:30 AM.
