Why Kansas State basketball’s loss to ASU effectively ends any NCAA Tournament dreams
Any talk of Kansas State earning an at-large berth into the NCAA Tournament can come to an end.
The Wildcats suffered a crippling loss, 66-54, against the Arizona State Sun Devils on Sunday at Bramlage Coliseum.
With the loss, K-State (13-14, 7-9 Big 12) has a losing record with four games remaining in the regular season. Whatever hopes it had for March Madness earlier this month — when it was riding a six-game winning streak — have melted away. Arizona State (13-14, 4-12 Big 12) ended a six-game losing streak against the Wildcats.
K-State was favored 6.5 points but trailed for all but 29 seconds without starting forward Coleman Hawkins in the lineup. He watched from the sideline with a knee injury.
Arizona State got a monster game from an unexpected source. Freshman forward Jayden Quaintance, who missed a pair of free throws in the final seconds during a 71-70 loss to K-State earlier this month in Tempe, was the main reason why his team won.
Quaintance dominated inside and out on his way to 18 points and seven rebounds. The big man was so hot he even drained a pair of 3-pointers.
The Wildcats had a difficult time getting much of anything going on offense. David N’Guessan led K-State with 20 points, but he had to carry the team on his shoulders as few of his teammates could find the bottom of the net.
CJ Jones scored 10 points. It was a painfully quiet afternoon for the rest of the roster.
Next up for K-State is a road game against UCF on Wednesday.
Until then, here are takeaways from Sunday’s action:
The Wildcats missed Coleman Hawkins
K-State had to play this game without Coleman Hawkins. The senior forward limped off the court with a knee injury following a loss at Utah earlier in the week and wasn’t healthy enough to play.
That put the Wildcats at a disadvantage, even though Arizona State was also without one of its starters after Bobby Hurley dismissed guard BJ Freeman from the team.
Fans learned just how valuable Hawkins can be for K-State.
The Illinois transfer had started all 26 of K-State’s games leading up to Sunday, so playing without him was an adjustment. Jerome Tang switched up his starting lineup to include guard CJ Jones instead of Hawkins. That gave the Wildcats a four-guard look that featured plenty of speed and shooters. But K-State was low on height and passing without Hawkins.
Tang tried several different lineup combinations throughout the game, but none of them allowed K-State to find a groove.
Hawkins’ absence was far from the only reason why the Wildcats lost, but they certainly looked bad on offense without him. He is an excellent passer, and K-State did not move the ball crisply without him.
K-State averaged 0.844 points per possession and only shot 33% from the field and 19% from 3-point range.
After the game, Tang said Hawkins was “not close” to playing. It may be a while before he is healthy enough to return to action.
K-State hasn’t won a game all season when trailing at halftime
All fourteen of K-State’s losses have something on common. The Wildcats trailed at halftime in every single one of them, including Sunday’s game when they fell behind 34-28 after the opening 20 minutes.
This seemed like a golden opportunity for that to end, especially when K-State closed out the first half strong and entered the locker room with momentum.
But it wasn’t to be.
Arizona State scored the first seven points of the second half and pulled ahead by as many as 21.
This game felt over midway through the second half.
It’s hard to say exactly what that trend suggests about this K-State team. But it doesn’t reflect well on Tang or his coaching staff. When things have gone against them, they have been unable to make adjustments and lead K-State to come-from-behind victories.
This was a wasted opportunity for K-State’s reserve forwards
Ugonna Onyenso was viewed as a big-time transfer when K-State landed the 7-footer from Kentucky.
Mobi Ikegwuruka has been an impressive energy player off the bench this season.
A few other K-State big men have shown promise in limited minutes during their college careers.
But none of them took advantage of a game without Hawkins. Onyeno and Ikegwuruka figured to see an increase in action against the Sun Devils as Tang looked for extra help on the inside. They both got chances to show off their skills, but none of them took advantage of the moment.
Onyenso had two points and six rebounds. Ikegwuruka had two points and seven rebounds.
They could have proven to their coaches and fans that they might deserve more playing time. But the opposite occurred. No one stepped up in the absence of Hawkins.
It is concerning for K-State in both the short and long term that no one was able to produce in that type of situation.
This story was originally published February 23, 2025 at 5:12 PM with the headline "Why Kansas State basketball’s loss to ASU effectively ends any NCAA Tournament dreams."