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Second-Half Run Lifts K-State Past MVSU, 74-56

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BOX SCORE

MANHATTAN, Kan. (KStateSports.com) – Kansas State shook off a disappointing first half with a 16-3 run out of halftime, as the Wildcats ended their season-opening 4-game homestand with a 74-56 win over Mississippi Valley State on Tuesday night before 8,416 fans at Bramlage Coliseum.

On night when its 3-point shooting was off, K-State (3-1) used rebounding and free throw shooting to flip a 2-point halftime lead into an 18-point victory over Mississippi Valley State (1-4). The Wildcats held a 45-28 advantage on the glass, scoring nearly half their points in the paint (36), while converting on an impressive 25 of 27 attempts from the free throw line.

The 92.6 free throw percentage was the second highest in a game all-time on a minimum of 20 attempts and the highest since connecting on 93.9 percent (31-of-33) at Texas on Jan. 3, 2023.

Junior center Ugonna Onyenso paced three Wildcats in double figures with a career-high 16 points on 6-of-7 field goals and 4-of-4 free throws, while junior C.J. Jones and senior David N’Guessan added 12 and 10 points, respectively. Senior Coleman Hawkins made up for a poor offensive night with a career-tying 13 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals.

K-State’s offensive struggles started from the tip, as the Wildcats opened the game 1-of-7 from the field, including 0-of-5 from 3-point range. However, they turned their attention to their size advantage in the middle with Onyenso, who scored 8 points in a 12-0 run.

The lead grew to 21-7 after the first made 3-pointer from freshman David Castillo, but the Delta Devils outscored the Wildcats, 16-2, over the next few minutes to tie the game at 23-all with 30.3 seconds left before halftime. Following a timeout, Castillo converted on a baseline jumper with 1.7 seconds to give K-State a 25-23 lead at the break.

MVSU would tie the game just seconds into the second half before a 3-pointer from junior Brendan Hausen ignited a 10-0 run that pulled K-State ahead at 35-25. The lead grew to 13 (41-28) after consecutive baskets by C.J. Jones then reached 16 (50-34) after a rare 4-point play from Hausen.

Back-to-back layups by sophomore Macaleab Rich and N’Guessan extended the lead to its largest at 62-43 right before the media timeout with 6:45 to play.

The Delta Devils scored 9 in a row to once again get within 10 points at 62-52 with 4:38 to play before Hawkins’ first field goal make of the game started a 9-0 run that pushed the Wildcats back out at 71-52 with 1:56 to play. Junior Max Jones (3 points) and N’Guessan (4 points) finished off the run.

K-State rebounded to shoot 44.8 percent (13-of-29) in the second half after managing to hit just 28.6 percent (10-of-35) in the first half. They finished the game at 35.9 percent (23-of-64), including 13.0 percent (3-of-23) from 3-point range, which were both season lows.

Onyenso’s 16 points eclipsed his previous career-high of 13 against Florida in January 2024 in just 12 minutes of action. Jones’ 12 points came on 2-of-5 field goals and 8-of-9 free throws to go with 4 rebounds and 3 assists, while N’Guessan scored in double figures for the fourth straight game to open the season with 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting and 2-of-2 free throws.

Hawkins, who scored just 2 points on 1-of-11 shooting, was stellar in every other aspect of the game, leading the Wildcats in rebounding (13), assists (4) and steals (3) in 32 minutes. It marked his first double-digit rebounding game of his K-State career.

Mississippi Valley State scored its 56 points on 37.7 percent (20-of-53) shooting from the field, including 42.1 percent (8-of-19) from the 3-point range. The Delta Devils had a pair of double-digit scorers in junior Arthur Tate (16 points) and junior Antonio Sisk (15 points).

K-State treks out of the continental U.S., this weekend, as the Wildcats travel to St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands to participate in the Paradise Jam at the UVI Sports & Fitness Center from Friday to Monday, Nov. 22-25. The team will take on George Washington (4-0) on Friday, Nov. 22 at 7 p.m., CT. All games of the tournament can be seen on ESPN+.

HEAD COACH JEROME TANG
Opening statement… 
“First of all, I just want to thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and the blessing of what I get to do every single day. And not every day does it feel like a blessing. It’s like our business has changed, and there’s just different things as coaches we have to deal with. But at the heart of it, we’re dealing with young men, right? And we get to impact their lives. And yesterday, I got to go see one of our GA’s [graduate assistants], T-Money [Tez Dumars] get baptized. And, it was just so powerful to hear his message and the impact that our staff has had on his life. It just lets you know like you’re doing it for this. This is why you do it, not the wins and the losses on the scoreboard, but the wins in life and the things that matter for eternity. So just really, really blessed. Tonight, we worked on a couple things the last few days, and I thought we executed those things, there and then. So, we have a building block to move forward from. And so, I’m excited about that. Was very, very pleased with the execution of the things that we worked on.”

On what makes Ugonna Onyenso special…
“He is seven feet tall, and he can run with decent hands and a great personality. It’s hard to teach that size. And I thought that his teammates did a really good job of finding him, because he ran early and established position. That’s something we’ve been on to him about, because he’s capable and so I was happy to see him reward tonight.”

On coaching Ugonna Onyenso… 
“His personality profile says don’t be over emotional when giving him information. So that’s a challenge for me, because I can be a little passionate. And so I have to learn how to go from one player to the next. Just remember I gotta say certain things a certain way to him, because he really wants to do what we want him to do. Sometimes the message gets lost in the emotion, and so I have to do a better job of that.”

On what Coleman Hawkins has been lacking… 
“Well, what was lacking is rebounding, and he did it today, and so I’m fine. Brendan [Hausen] was 0-6 from three. Coleman missed some layups. They’re gonna make those, right? They’re gonna do that because he’s a good basketball player. I see him doing it in practice all the time. In fact, he shot the ball better this week than he had up onto that point beforehand. So, his missed layups were all right, not all right, but it didn’t bother me, because he got us thirteen rebounds and seven or more offensive rebounds, and he hadn’t done that all year long, so it’s been a point of emphasis. And so he’s gonna be alright. He still got assists for us to still make good plays. He had more deflections than anybody else, so I’m okay with it. I’m glad he cares. And crazy thing about it, he does, like really, really cares. And he’s really, really intelligent, so he’s gonna keep working to figure the thing out, but he’s going to make shots.”

On creating better matchups…
“Just as a staff, we’re trying to figure it out. I don’t know who the five guys that play the best together are, yet. I think I do, but it didn’t pan out tonight. So, we’re still trying to figure it out. And so sometimes I just, I gotta play this guy more, just to see what he can really do in this environment. I gotta maybe not play this guy so somebody else can play. And it’s not that somebody did something wrong or anything like that, which we just really are trying to figure it out. It’s gonna take us a little while, but none of that matters if we don’t have the staples right. The meat and potatoes, the transition defense. So, they have to play five on five, limit them to one shot, boxing out and defensive rebounding and then getting second chance shots on the other end. None of the other stuff matters if we don’t do those things. So that’s what I got to get everybody to buy into and then we can figure out the other stuff.”

FIRST HALF
K-State shook off a slow start offensively by going inside against MVSU, as a dunk by junior Ugonna Onyenso started a 12-0 run that gave the Wildcats a 12-2 lead right before the second media timeout at the 11:39 mark. Onyenso had 8 points in the pivotal run.

The Delta Devils scored 5 quick points, including their first 3-pointer, to close the deficit to 12-7 before the Wildcats responded with 9 straight points capped by a 3-pointer from freshman David Castillo. Castillo’s triple was the first after the team missed their first 10 attempts.

The alternating run continued as MVSU scored 16 of the next 18 points, including 8 in a row, to tie the game at 23-all and force a timeout by head coach Jerome Tang with 30.3 seconds left. The Wildcats were able to execute out of the timeout, as Castillo knocked down a turnaround jumper with 1.7 seconds on the clock to give K-State a 25-23 lead at the halftime break.

K-State shot just 28.6 percent (10-of-35) in the first half, including 7.7 percent (1-of-13) from 3-point range, while making all 4 of its free throw attempts. MVSU fared much better at 34.6 percent (9-of-26), including 41.7 percent (5-of-12) from beyond the arc.

Junior Ugonna Onyenso led the Wildcats with 8 points on 4-of-4 shooting.

SECOND HALF
MVSU tied it at 25-all seconds into the second half before junior Brendan Hausen’s first 3-pointer of the night ignited a 14-3 run that pushed K-State ahead 39-28 at the first media timeout. Six different Wildcats contributed points in the opening run.

The Wildcats continued to push ahead after the timeout with 5 points from junior C.J. Jones, a dunk from Onyenso and a rare 4-point play from Hausen to go ahead 50-34 at the 12:30 mark.

The lead grew to 19 points after layups by sophomore Macaleab Rich and senior David N’Guessan at 62-45 with 6:45 remaining. However, the Delta Devils wouldn’t go away, as they rattled off 9 straight point to close the deficit to 62-52 at the 4:38 mark, forcing a timeout by Tang.

A turnaround jumper by senior Coleman Hawkins – his first of the night – started a 9-0 run that blew the game back open at 71-52 after a pair of free throws by N’Guessan with 1:56 to play.

The Wildcats scored 49 points in the second half on 44.8 percent (13-of-29) shooting and 91.3 percent (21-of-23) shooting from the free throw line.

Jones scored 10 of his 12 points after halftime, while Hausen, N’Guessan and Onyenso each had 8 points.

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE

  • K-State ended its 4-game homestand with a 3-1 record after the 74-56 win.
  • K-State is now 184-57 in non-conference play since 2006-07, including 145-17 at home and 129-14 at Bramlage Coliseum.
  • K-State is now 32-5 under head coach Jerome Tang at Bramlage Coliseum.
  • K-State is now 1-0 vs. Mississippi Valley State and 20-1 all-time vs. SWAC opponents.
  • K-State used a starting lineup of junior C.J. Jones, junior Brendan Hausen, senior Max Jones, senior Coleman Hawkins and senior David N’Guessan for the third time this season… Hausen, M. Jones, Hawkins and N’Guessan have now started the first 4 games.
  • Hawkins now has 86 career starts (Illinois/K-State), M. Jones now has 85 career starts (Tampa/Cal State Fullerton/K-State), C. Jones now has 53 career starts (UIC/K-State) and N’Guessan now has 43 career starts (all at K-State).

TEAM NOTES

  • K-State scored its 74 points on 35.9 percent (23-of-64) shooting, including 13 percent (3-of-23) from 3-point range, and connected on 92.6 percent (25-of-27) from the free throw line.
  • It marked a season-low for both field goal percentage and 3-point field goal percentage.
  • The 92.6 free throw percentage is the second highest in school history on a minimum of 20 attempts and the highest since connecting on 93.9 percent (31-of-33) at Texas on Jan. 3, 2023.
  • K-State scored nearly half its points in the paint (36), while holding the edge in points off turnovers (17-10), second-chance points (17-8), fast-break points (13-2) and bench points (35-24).
  • K-State held a 45-28 rebounding advantage, including 21 offensive rebounds.
  • K-State had just 10 turnovers, marking the third time this season that the Wildcats have had 10 or fewer turnovers in a game.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES

  • Three Wildcats scored in double figures led by a career-high 16 points from junior Ugonna Onyenso, 12 points from junior C.J. Jones and 10 points from senior David N’Guessan… It marked the first career double-digit scoring games for Onyenso and Jones in K-State uniforms, while N’Guessan scored in double figures for the fourth straight game.
  • Onyenso earned his second career double-digit scoring game, as he scored his career-high 16 points on 6-of-7 field goals and 4-of-4 free throws to go with 4 rebounds and a block in just 12 minutes.
  • Jones now has 27 career double-digit scoring games, as he scored his season-high 12 points on 2-of-5 field goals and 8-of-9 free throws to go with 4 rebounds and 3 assists in 27 minutes.
  • N’Guessan now has 29 career double-digit scoring games, including 18 at K-State, after his 10-point performance on 4-of-5 shooting.
  • Senior Coleman Hawkins matched his career-high with 13 rebounds, while adding team-highs in both assists (4) and steals (3) in 32 minutes.
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