MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas State earned the first win of the Casey Alexander era with a barrage of 3-point field goals, as the Wildcats knocked down 17 triples, including 11 in a first half when they built as much as a 28-point lead, en route to a 95-78 win over CSUN on Friday night before 7,012 fans at Bramlage Coliseum.
The 17 made 3-pointers are the fourth-most by a Wildcat team in single-game, while the 11 in the first half tied for the third-most in any half. Both were the most since the team connected on 19 vs. Mississippi Valley on Dec. 8, 2025, including 13 in the first half. The Wildcats’ 41 attempts from beyond the arc were also a school record, surpassing the 40 vs. UAPB in 2024.
Seven different Wildcats recorded at least one 3-pointer, including 6 by senior Brandon Rechsteiner, who led all scorers with 26 points. Four others – freshman Jaylen Alexander, sophomore Matt Gilhool, fifth year Jaden Schutt and senior Brock Vice – had at least two treys.
Rechsteiner was joined in double figures by sophomores Matt Gilhool and Montana Wheeler, who each had 12 points. It was the first double-digit scoring game of Gilhool’s career. Schutt added 9 points, while junior Isaiah Abraham, Alexander and Vice each chipped in 8 points. Behind its 3-point success, K-State (1-1) raced out to a 57-29 advantage at the half and led by as many as 31 points (62-31) early in the second half before a pesky CSUN team (0-2) cut the lead to 87-73 with 3:38 remaining. However, a sixth 3-pointer from Rechsteiner thwarted any further momentum as he and Wheeler added layups for a 94-75 lead with 1:48 to play.
K-State shot nearly 50 percent from the field, hitting on 49.2 percent (31-of-63) of its field goals, including 41.5 percent (17-of-41) from beyond the arc. CSUN hit on 38.8 percent (26-of-67) of its shots, rebounding from a dismal first half (27.8 percent; 10-of-36) to make 51.6 percent (16-of-31) in the second half. Both teams had 17 turnovers.
Junior Mikah Ballew led four Matadors in double figures with 23 points, including 15 in second half.
HEAD COACH CASEY ALEXANDER
On what goes well when things go right and vice versa…
“So much of playing well, and it doesn’t always happen this way, but so much of playing well is just your approach. And I felt like we were really dialed in in the first half for most of it, and it showed. Teams play better when they have an edge about them when the scouting reports matter, and doing your job matters, and effort matters. It’s just amazing how much better you play, and so we saw that in the first half. Second half, we definitely were not as good, and I thought [CSUN] became themselves a lot more. I give them a lot of credit. I mean, they play recklessly on offense, and it’s hard to guard. And they just started getting some momentum and fetching rebounds, and we couldn’t get out of our own way after that.”
On the full line change at the beginning of the second half… “We had a first play call that we didn’t run right, and then there was another thing or two that happened just really fast that I felt like was subpar, and we’re just not going to do it. I think we talk about it all the time, and getting those things right. A shot may not go in or they may make a tough run, but we’ve got some things that we can control, and we’re trying to minimize those as best we can. And I just saw that snowballing way too fast.”
On what was fixed defensively tonight compared to opening night…
“It’s a completely different scouting report emphasis because they’re so [Josiah] Davis heavy and him trying to get paint touches and put so much pressure on the defense. I thought we did a tremendous job on him. He dominates games with scoring or his assists, and I don’t think he got his first field goal until really late in the game. And you know, we forced seven turnovers, and so that was a real key for us to build that margin, not letting him get going early. Guys that were guarding him really battled.”
On Brandon Rechsteiner’s hot first half…
“He probably had a heat check moment or two in there that I wasn’t a big fan of. But at the same time, you gotta let a guy with that much potential and the guy that’s playing really well have a little bit of freedom. And so, I’m not surprised at all. We’re gonna see that a lot. He’s going to be guarded better, but we’re going to see many games where he tends to carry us because of his ability to make shots.”
On how proud he was about the response from the players after the last couple of days…
“I really give them a lot of credit. We practiced hard Wednesday and Thursday. They came with the right attitude. I have not had an issue with their readiness, their being receptive to us and what we’re asking them to do. I think they’re really well connected, and I trust their effort. I don’t think their effort in the second half today was ‘we’re not trying hard.’ It was more of a mental, have an edge about you, really be dialed in. That allows you to get more things right and play hard. They’ve been great with togetherness and team and stuff like that. So I’m not surprised that they bounce back.”
On Montana Wheeler and Jaylen Alexander…
FIRST HALF
The team battled through five lead changes and two ties before a 3-pointer from senior Brandon Rechsteiner keyed an 18-6 run that gave K-State a 29-17 lead just after the midway point. Five different players scored in the run, including 6 points by sophomore Matt Gilhool. The lead grew to 20 points (42-22) after an 8-0 run by the Wildcats that forced a timeout by CSUN head coach Andy Newman with 5:04 remaining before halftime.
The timeout did little to halt K-State’s momentum, as the Wildcat run extended to 18-2 after a 3-pointer from fifth year Jaden Schutt for a 52-24 lead with 2:39 left. Fifth year Dez Lindsay put an exclamation point on the half with the 11th made 3-pointer at the buzzer that extended it to 57-29. The 11 3-point makes tied for the third-most in a half in school history.
The Wildcats connected on 54.3 percent (19-of-35) from the field, including 50 percent (11-of-22) from 3-point range, while the Matadors made just 27.8 percent (10-of-36) of their field goals, including 12.5 percent (2-of-16) from beyond the arc.
Rechsteiner led all scorers with 19 points, while sophomore Montana Wheeler added 10.
