MANHATTAN, Kan. – Seniors Khamari McGriff and Nate Johnson had memorable last games in Bramlage Coliseum, as the duo combined for 34 points to carry a Kansas State team playing without leading scoring P.J. Haggerty to a 65-63 win over West Virginia on Tuesday night.
With the win, K-State (12-18, 3-14 Big 12) snapped a 3-game losing streak while clinching the No. 15 seed at next week’s Phillips 66 Big 12 Tournament, which is slated for 6 p.m., CT on Tuesday, March 10 in Kansas City. The win was the fifth straight over the Mountaineers at home and allowed the Wildcats to end their home schedule with a winning record at 10-8.
Both seniors had memorable performances in their last home games, as McGriff had a game-tying 18 points on 6-of-9 field goals and 6-of-8 free throws to go with 7 rebounds and 2 blocks, while Johnson posted an impressive stat line of 16 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists and 5 steals.
Fellow senior C.J. Jones, who started in place of Haggerty, also performed well in his last game at Bramlage Coliseum, as he added 8 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists in a season-high 37 minutes. Junior Taj Manning and freshman Andrej Kostic chipped in 8 points each.
K-State, which built as much as a 19-point lead (57-38) on the strength of a season-best 21-0 run in the second half, had to fight off a staff challenge from West Virginia (17-13, 8-9 Big 12), which entered the game fighting for its NCAA Tournament lives.
The Mountaineers used an 11-0 run to close the deficit to 57-49 with 4:20 to play then continued to whittle away at the lead with 9 of the next 13 points to get within a possession at 61-58 with 48 seconds remaining. However, with a chance to tie, Jones stole the ball from senior Honor Huff with 19 seconds left before getting it to Johnson, who was fouled with 17.6 seconds remaining.
Johnson knocked down both free throws to extend the lead to 63-58. After a tip-in by graduate Chance Moore made it 63-60 with 7.7 seconds, McGriff was fouled on the inbounds pass and calmly hit both free throws to clinch the game at 65-60 with 7 seconds. Huff made a 3-pointer at the buzzer for the final margin of victory at 65-63.
Moore led four Mountaineers in double figures with a game-tying 18 points off the bench on 6-of-7 field goals and 5-of-9 free throws to go with 14 points from senior Brenen Lorient, 12 points from freshman DJ Thomas and 11 points from Huff.
K-State narrowly outshot WVU, 40.8 percent (20-of-49) to 39.3 percent (24-of-61), as the Wildcats won for the first time this season (1-14) when scoring less than 80 points. They also won the points off turnovers battle, 20-11, despite posting 3 more turnovers (16-13) than the Mountaineers.
Neither team was particularly sharp to start the game, as it took nearly 3 minutes for the first points and more than 4 minutes for the first field goal. WVU used a 10-0 run to take as much as a 7-point lead in the first half before K-State closed to within 26-23 at the break.
It was the second win for interim head coach Matthew Driscoll, who was named to the position on Feb. 15. He is now 2-3 in the role, including 1-0 in his first matchup vs. WVU.
INTERIM HEAD COACH MATTHEW DRISCOLL
On the 21-0 K-State run…
“I really felt like, as the guys started to play, they really had to figure out how to play without P.J. (Haggerty), because that’s the first time all season long, we played without him for a sustained period. And I thought we were really sloppy. I thought we looked a little disheveled. And then we called a timeout. We ended the first half scoring six of our last eight possessions, so I really felt comfortable. And I know that sounds bizarre, with 23 points, but I really felt comfortable, like we figured out how to play without P.J. a little bit, and what that’s going to look like. So, I had a good feeling that the second half was going to be much better. And it was, you know, we forced them to call a timeout when it was 31- 31 and then we continued with a 17-0 run on top of the four to make it 21-0. And so, when you get that lead, like you did against Baylor as well, too, and you get that kind of a big lead for this team, they’ve just struggled finishing. They’ve struggled doing certain things down the stretch, but they’ve always remained resilient. And so just like against Baylor, they cut it to eight, maybe seven, whatever it was, even though they cut it, it didn’t really matter, because they were very confident. We made some unfortunate plays; we threw some passes we shouldn’t have thrown. We could have, I tell you, one of the greatest plays, and when David Castillo missed the three on the right 45 because we had worked the whole shot clock down, and he took it with like, three seconds, if he buries it, it’s probably a dagger, it’s probably game over. But he missed it, but at least we used the entire shot clock. And so, I was really, really proud of the fact that we stepped up and made free throws. Khamari [McGriff] obviously, Nate [Johnson] split, I think, but Khamari made the two down the stretch, which allowed us to seal the victory and give them credit. I mean, they [West Virginia] were fighting for a lot tonight, a lot, like, you don’t want to have a bad loss, you know, you don’t want to have that. And they were fighting for a lot, and we told them, like, Ross [Hodge] can really coach. He’s part of that Grant McCasland tree and like, so they weren’t going to stop. And this is very similar to their place, except it was only a four-point game at their place. So, it was a heck of a fight. Khamari didn’t play there, P.J. didn’t play here. So, we really haven’t been at full strength for a while. So, I was just really proud of their resiliency.”
On C.J. Jones stepping up…
“Just super, super proud of the fact that he’s stuck with it like I think there could have been some times this year, based on what you just said, where he could have maybe cashed it in, you know, and maybe try to figure out what’s next. But when I talked to him privately and said, ‘Hey, here’s what we’re thinking,’ he was very, very, very positive about it. And the thing about C.J. is, so last night, I sent a cryptic text to the staff, I said, ‘Hey, just out of curiosity, who would you guys prefer to start’ and of course, I’m getting all these questions. I’m like, ‘Just answer my question.’ And one of the things that was brought back to me was, when you watch the film of C.J., he’s a very willing giver-upper. He gives it up in transition, he gives it up when he goes to the rim. And I know he took the most shots tonight, I know that sounds convoluted a little bit, but he’s a really, really good giver-upper. And so, we thought, because of that and his ability to play with he has pace to him. You know, we weren’t, they asked me, like, ‘Are you going to slow down? Are you going to–’ put no, no, we’re not doing that. We’re going to try to play with as much pace as we can. And I’m telling you guys right now, and I haven’t watched a video, I believe the pressure that we put on the rim is going to be the difference in the game. We put pressure on the rim with a pass, we put pressure on the room with the dribble, we made more free throws than they attempted. Like we put pressure on the rim tonight and so C.J. was part of that, and obviously he cramped up a little bit playing 37 minutes, and Andrej played the most minutes he’s ever played. Dorin [Buca] came out and warmed up and said, ‘Coach, I want to try.’ So, here’s a guy like, give him credit, right? He had a big-time block with his left hand right in front of the bench. I thought that three were going in. Actually, it looked good from my vantage point. But my point is, these guys don’t want to quit, like they want to play. And so that’s very encouraging.”
On the extra effort tonight…
“Yeah, I tell you what we know, we have a little grit to us at times. We maybe haven’t put it together for 40 minutes, but I do think we do have some grit to us. And I think it showed to your point. I think we had, I think we forced six turnovers, maybe part of that 20-0, 21-0 run. I think we might have forced six turnovers. A couple of them were, you know, breakaways, or we call them pick sixes, and the ability to get on and make a play. I know Nate had one, Khamari had one, and maybe, maybe Nate got fouled on one. But I love our aggression. We had, what, eight steals tonight, and we forced them, and they don’t usually turn the ball over. They’re really, really good. And what we did at the three-point line, because we just got, like, 3s beat you. And what we did with [Honor] Huff and [Treysen] Eaglestaff, like the way in which we guarded them, they made four attempts. That’s the biggest thing we talked about, it wasn’t so much that they didn’t make any but we held them to four attempts, and they had to turn it into 2s. Now it’s 26-23 and bada-bing bada-boom, free throws. We made some 3s, and now we got a chance. And so, I love the way we did that in the way C.J. did. I love P.J. and Abdi on the bench too. I thought they were, like, they said some really, really cool things down the stretch, like they said some really cool things to the guys about what to do and just basically relaxed. And the other thing is, in this, this gets overlooked, and that’s the problem about being in his chair. Our staff was phenomenal. What changes to make, what subs to make, when to put Khamari back in, when to put Andrej back in, when to let him. Let’s just roll the dice, because C.J. was ready. But I’m like, C.J., we’re rolling the dice with this group, like this group’s flowing, and he understood that. And so, our staff did a really, really good job. Because the staff could have panicked too, you know, as much as maybe I was pissed off, or as much as I was, whatever, they did a great job of, like, staying the course is what I like to say. And I’m really proud of the staff, because I think that helped the players.
On playing without P.J. Haggerty…
“I think first and foremost. I don’t know if you guys notice it, but when you play with P.J., sometimes when you play with such a great score three years in a row, plus 20 at three different schools, never been done before. In college basketball, you get a little bit of awe, and you get a little bit of this, and now you’re watching a little bit more, and then all of a sudden, maybe the ball finds you, and whatever. And so I think that was the most critical thing tonight for our guys is, like, he ain’t out there, so somebody else has got to take that on. Nate, I thought, did a really nice job. I thought David did a really nice job. So the other night, I don’t know if you remember, we set that flare screen the other night against TCU for Andrej, and he took one dribble, and then he gave up his dribble, and I got on him really hard. That’s what people don’t understand. Like, you know, I had a freshman ask me, ‘Coach, why are you coaching me so hard?’ And I said, ‘Because I don’t want to coach you next year. I want you to know and then I want when the new guys come in, I want you to coach the new guys. So if I let things go to think, oh, you’re just a freshman, well then I got to coach you next year if it doesn’t get better.’ And I coached Andrej really hard, and tonight he took that extra dribble, he bumped that dude off him, and he banked that little four foot layup off the glass. And so I thought we had a lot of growth in different areas, which is really important. And when P.J., to your point, is not playing, like you can’t just be standing there, now you’re moving a little bit more. Six out of eight possessions and 21-0 run, like you’re moving a little bit more, and you’re sharing it. You’re burning, you’re getting things at the rim, you’re getting kicked out 3s. We didn’t make them all, but that puts pressure on them. But when you shoot 25 free throws, you have a chance. And so I really loved how the guys figured it out and then were able to defend the whole night. I mean, we defend our glasses.”
FIRST HALF
It took nearly 3 minutes for the game’s first points, as West Virginia freshman DJ Thomas made 1-of-2 free throws before senior Khamari McGriff made both free throws on the next possession. The first field goal came more than 4 minutes into the game on a layup by graduate Chance Moore before a jumper by senior Nate Johnson at the 15:27 mark.
A 3-pointer by freshman Andrej Kostic gave K-State an 8-5 before WVU ran off 10 straight points to go ahead 15-8 with 8:10 before halftime. A layup by sophomore David Castillo on the next possession ended a near 7-minute scoring drought. A 3-pointer by senior C.J. Jones and a layup by McGriff closed the deficit to 17-15 at 5:32 mark before the Mountaineers answered back with 5 straight to go ahead 22-15. A second 3-pointer by Kostic made 22-18 at the final media timeout.
The teams went back and forth over the last few minutes before Jones connected on his second 3-pointer to close the Wildcats to within 26-23 at the break. Neither team shot the ball very well with WVU hitting on 35.7 percent (10-of-28) compared to 30.8 percent (8-of-26) from K-State.
Thomas and Moore had 10 points each to lead the scoring.
SECOND HALF
WVU scored the first points of the second half before K-State rattled off 6 of the next 9 points – all coming from McGriff – to tie the game at 31-all and force a timeout from head coach Ross Hodge at the 16:31 mark. A free throw by junior Taj Manning continued the momentum, as the Wildcats ran off 21 straight points to go ahead 48-31 with less than 11 minutes remaining.
The teams traded baskets over the next few minutes, as a pair of free throws by McGriff gave K-State a 57-38 lead with 7:29 left. However, WVU strung together 11 straight points to cut the deficit to 57-49 at the 4:20 mark. A 3-pointer by Johnson ended the drought before a layup by senior Treysen Eaglestaff made it 60-51 at the final media timeout with 2:49 to play.
The Mountaineers continued to press, scoring 7 of the next 8 points, to close to within 61-58 with 48 seconds left. However, Jones stole the ball from Huff with a chance to tie before Johnson canned a pair of free throws with 17.6 seconds left for a 63-58 lead. After a basket by Chance with 7.7 seconds remaining, McGriff was fouled on the inbounds pass before making 2 free throws for a 65-60 lead. Huff made a 3-pointer at the buzzer for the final margin.
McGriff led all scorers with 14 points.
BEYOND THE BOXSCORE
- K-State snapped a 3-game losing streak with a 65-63 win over West Virginia.
- K-State played without junior P.J. Haggerty for the first time this season.
- It marked the fifth straight game for interim head coach Matthew Driscoll, who is now 2-3 with the Wildcats… He is now 276-344 as a head coach, including 1-0 vs. West Virginia.
- K-State won its fifth straight vs. West Virginia at home to split the season series… WVU still leads the all-time series, 17-14, including 16-13 in the Big 12 era.
- K-State ends its home schedule with a winning record at 10-8, including 3-6 in Big 12 play.
- K-State used a starting lineup of senior Nate Johnson, senior C.J. Jones, sophomore David Castillo, junior Taj Manning and senior Khamari McGriff… This is the first time using this lineup and the seventh different lineup used this season.
- Johnson has now started all 30 games.
- Johnson now has 90 career starts (Akron/K-State), Jones now has 60 career starts (UIC/K-State), McGriff now has 68 career starts (UNC Wilmington/K-State), Castillo and Manning now have 16 career starts each.
TEAM NOTES
- K-State scored its 65 points on 40.8 percent (20-of-49) shooting, including 30 percent (6-of-20) from 3-point range, while hitting on 76 percent (19-of-25) from free throw line.
- K-State won for the first time this season when scoring less than 80 points (1-14).
- K-State made six 3-pointers on the night to extend its school-record to 281 on the season.
- K-State held a 20-11 edge on points off turnovers despite 3 more turnovers (16-13).
- West Virginia out-scored K-State, 36-24, in the paint.
- West Virginia held a 35-34 edge on the glass with a 14-9 different on second-chance points.
- K-State trailed 26-23 at the half and is now 2-16 on the season when trailing at the break.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
- Two Wildcats scored in double figures, including a game-tying 18 points from senior Khamari McGriff and 16 points from senior Nate Johnson.
- McGriff scored his 18 points on 6-of-9 field goals and 6-of-8 free throws with 7 rebounds, 2 blocks and a steal in 30 minutes… It marked his 10th double-digit scoring game of the season and his first since Jan. 17.
- Johnson scored his 16 points on 4-of-9 field goals, including 1-of-2 from 3-point range, and 7-of-10 free throws to go with team-highs in rebounds (9), assists (7) and steal (5) in more than 38 minutes… He has now scored in double figures in 60 career games, including 20 this season.
WHAT’S NEXT
K-State ends the regular season on Saturday afternoon when the Wildcats travel to play No. 14/15 Kansas (21-9, 11-6 Big 12). Tip is set for 1:07 p.m., CT on CBS Sports. The Jayhawks won the first meeting, 86-62, on Jan. 24 at Bramlage Coliseum. Kansas is looking to sweep the season series for the first time since 2022. It has won 19 consecutive games in the series at Allen Fieldhouse.
