Kansas State is on a winning streak after blowout over Oklahoma State. Here are takeaways
This is what a winning streak looks like.
The Kansas State men’s basketball team annihilated Oklahoma State 85-57 on Wednesday at Bramlage Coliseum for its second straight victory in Big 12 play.
It appears that K-State coach Jerome Tang has his team heading in the right direction after a dismal start to the season. The Wildcats (9-11, 3-6 Big 12) had lost nine of 10 games before they beat West Virginia over the weekend. But now they have won back-to-back games by double digits. They are improving.
This game was a perfect example of their upward trajectory. Earlier this month, Oklahoma State (10-10, 2-7 Big 12) whipped K-State by 13. But the Wildcats won the rematch by 28. They have never won a Big 12 game by more under Tang.
Brendan Hausen led the way with 18 points. He drained all five of his shots from 3-point range and allowed the Wildcats to spread the court. Three of his teammates also reached double figures, with Coleman Hawkins scoring 15.
The Wildcats jumped out to a 25-11 lead and never looked back. They have led wire-to-wire in both of their recent wins.
Up next for K-State is a difficult road game against Iowa State on Saturday at Hilton Coliseum.
Until then, here are some takeaways from Wednesday’s action:
The Wildcats are an improving team
No one is going to throw a parade in the streets of downtown Manhattan because K-State put a beatdown on Oklahoma State. The Cowboys are one of the worst teams in the Big 12. They are especially bad on the road, as they are 0-5 in conference away games with all five losses coming by double digits.
That said, this was still an impressive effort for K-State.
It showed how much the team has improved over the past month. In early January, K-State went to Gallagher-Iba Arena and lost badly to Oklahoma State. The Cowboys scored at will against the Wildcats inside and led by 20 before winning 79-66.
Three weeks later, K-State was in total command of the rematch. The Wildcats went from losing big to winning even bigger.
K-State has been on the rise ever since it suffered an embarrassing home to loss to Houston on Jan. 11. It has played like a top 30 team nationally over that time, according to college basketball statistician Bart Torvik, and it has covered the spread in five straight games.
Most importantly, the Wildcats are now on a winning streak. They beat West Virginia 73-60 over the weekend and then followed that up with another convincing win against Oklahoma State.
Improvement can be seen in all areas. Dug McDaniel is shooting more aggressively at point guard, Coleman Hawkins is playing with more confidence and the offense is becoming more efficient. K-State is starting to get balanced scoring from its rotation. Four different players reached double figures against Oklahoma State.
On defense, the Wildcats are beginning to force turnovers and limit open looks.
Those are all good signs for the remainder of the season.
K-State will be a tough team to beat if this type of play continues.
Now K-State knows what it’s like to force turnovers
Turnovers have doomed K-State in many of its losses over the past two seasons. Giving the ball away and allowing teams to score easy points off those mistakes has been an unfortunate calling card for this team.
But that wasn’t the case here.
This was a role reversal.
On Wednesday, the Wildcats found out what it’s like to force a boatload of turnovers and get fast-break buckets. K-State forced Oklahoma State into 21 turnovers and then parlayed those takeaways into 28 points on the other end.
K-State was it best in the first half when if forced Oklahoma State into a whopping 16 turnovers. Those led to 22 points for the Wildcats.
Tang has said many times that it’s nearly impossible to win games when you are on the wrong end of those statistics. The opposite is also true. It’s very hard to lose when those statistics are on your side.
For once, K-State learned how the other half lives. It put itself in that position by playing aggressive defense. Eight different players had at least one steal, while Hawkins, McDaniel and Mobi Ikegwuruka all led the way with three each.
This game was defined by two memorable moments
Oklahoma State coach Steve Lutz hung his head in disbelief after he watched Hawkins drain a turnaround 3-pointer inches away from the visiting bench to give K-State a 21-11 lead in the first half.
Hawkins had the exact opposite reaction. He flashed a look of complete surprise and smiled at the OSU bench to remind the Cowboys that he just beat the shot clock with an absolute prayer of a shot. It also seemed like he was reminding them that they were in for a long night.
Nothing summed up this Big 12 matchup better than that moment.
Everything went right for K-State and Oklahoma State had no answers. Hawkins showed perfect awareness to put up a desperation heave before the shot clock expired and high skill level to make the shot.
But it wasn’t the only memorable moment for the home team.
Tang also called timeout late in the first half after CJ Jones made a pair of free throws. K-State was leading by 20 points and there were only 26 seconds remaining before halftime. So no one would have blamed Tang for simply reminding his team to avoid silly fouls on the final possession. But that’s not what he did.
Instead, he instructed his team to go into a full-court press. That led to a steal at midcourt and K-State was able to go up by 22 when David N’Guessan tipped in a shot at the buzzer.
Dialing up a defensive play to take a 22-point lead was an impressive coaching flex by Tang.
Moments like that showed just how dominant K-State was in this game.
This story was originally published January 29, 2025 at 9:23 PM with the headline "Kansas State is on a winning streak after blowout over Oklahoma State. Here are takeaways."