Three takeaways as Kansas State’s basketball winning streak comes to an end at BYU
Kansas State’s winning streak has finally come to an end.
It died with an 80-65 loss against the BYU Cougars on Saturday at Marriott Center in a game that felt out of reach for the Wildcats early.
“I feel like we needed that game to humble ourselves,” K-State point guard Dug McDaniel said. “It was a learning experience. From the jump, they just wanted it more than us.”
Many of the things that went so well for Jerome Tang’s team over the past few weeks went poorly for them in this game.
After reeling off six straight wins with impressive play on both ends of the court, the Wildcats suddenly seemed sloppy and a step slow against the Cougars.
K-State did not get balanced scoring from its starting lineup, it did not play strong defense and the Cougars made the Wildcats pay with a physical style of basketball that they could not match.
“I want to give all credit to the BYU staff and their players,” Tang said. “They kicked our butts tonight. They were a better team, they were a more physical team and they were a more assertive team. They were just all around better than we were tonight, and they get all the credit for that win.”
McDaniel led K-State with 22 points, but he didn’t get much help on offense from his teammates. Brendan Hausen (12 points) was the only other K-State player who finished in double figures as the Wildcats totaled 25 field goals on just six assists, compared to 27 on 18 from the Cougars.
K-State did not move the ball as crisp as normal and relied heavily on one-on-one matchups for points.
This loss will damper K-State’s odds of reaching the NCAA Tournament. The Wildcats (13-12, 7-7 Big 12) will need to finish the regular season strong to make up for this setback. The Cougars (17-8, 8-6 Big 12) enhanced their odds of reaching March Madness thanks to 17 points from Richie Saunders and 16 from Dallin Hall. Overall, 10 Cougars scored in the game.
Next up for K-State is another road game against Utah on Monday.
Until then, here are some takeaways from Saturday’s action:
Coleman Hawkins is in a slump
Coleman Hawkins has been such an important player for K-State of late that he led the team in minutes during its six-game winning streak.
He almost never came off the court: Jerome Tang left him on the floor for 213 (of a possible 240) minutes in that stretch.
His versatility as a 6-foot-10 forward who can shoot, pass and defend is a big reason why the Wildcats are still dreaming of a trip to the NCAA Tournament. But he has been in a slump over the past two games.
Hawkins scored six points against BYU and was a complete non-factor in the first half. This performance came after he only posted six points and two rebounds last time out against Arizona.
He is no longer as involved with the offense as he was once, and his defensive play has also dipped.
K-State is at its best when McDaniel and Hawkins are able to put up big numbers at the same time. That hasn’t happened in the past two games.
Still, Tang defended his play afterward.
“This is a team game, so it’s not one guy,” Tang said. “Everybody picks each other up. He gets a lot of attention. But even if Coleman’s stats were a little bit better, I don’t know that it would have mattered tonight. I thought he did everything we needed him to do to help us beat Arizona at home. This is not about one guy, whether he played well or didn’t play well. As a team, we didn’t play well tonight.”
Jerome Tang made the most out of his technical foul
It is rare for Tang to get assessed a technical foul.
The K-State basketball coach has earned a few during his three-year stint with the Wildcats. But they have been few and far between. Of those, only one or two were intentional coaching actions on his part.
But it sure seemed like he wanted to get a technical foul early in the second half of this game when he marched onto the court during a timeout and argued a no-call with officials. He stomped his feet and pointed to two different spots on the court where a foul could have been called against the Cougars.
Tang picked up a technical foul immediately.
BYU was leading 49-29 at the time, and the Cougars were awarded a pair of free throws to add to that lead. After one make, the score was 50-29 and BYU was in complete control.
But Tang’s technical foul had a positive impact on the game for the Wildcats. They responded with a 16-3 run to make the score 53-45 with 10:48 remaining.
Believe it or not, there was a 4-minute stretch in the second half where everything went K-State’s way. Six of its points during that time came on free throws.
To be fair, Tang said he was not trying to pick up a technical foul.
“I wish I was that smart,” Tang said. “I would have done it earlier.”
BYU fought back with a run of its own and won handily. But the game was in doubt with 10 minutes to go thanks to a savvy coaching move by Tang, intentional or not.
K-State needs to bounce back for its NCAA Tournament hopes
There is no shame in losing a basketball game to BYU at Marriott Center.
The Cougars are a quality team and benefit from one of the best homecourt advantages in the country. BYU has gone 12-2 inside this building this season.
But it will be considered a disappointment for K-State if it doesn’t walk away from its road trip to Utah without at least one victory.
K-State will take on the Utah Utes on Monday in Salt Lake City, and that suddenly feels like a must-win game.
The Wildcats played their way onto the NCAA Tournament bubble by winning six straight games against strong opponents over the past few weeks. But they will fall out of the March Madness conversation if they go on a losing streak of any kind.
They understand the situation. But they are not panicking.
“Guys are still together,” Hausen said. “We’re the same team that just went on that run. Basketball is a game of runs. We have got to stay together because we have a quick turnaround. But we’re fine.”
K-State’s margin for error is small, to say the least, as it chases an at-large berth into the NCAA Tournament. Fourteen losses is usually the cutoff for consideration. The Wildcats are currently sitting at 13-12. They may need to win five of their final six games to give them a shot at playing their way into the field.
It can be done. But the road gets much more difficult without a bounce-back win against Utah. Pressure is on K-State to respond positively after this loss.
This story was originally published February 15, 2025 at 10:26 PM with the headline "Three takeaways as Kansas State’s basketball winning streak comes to an end at BYU."