MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas State battled back from a 16-point deficit to close to within one possession numerous times in the second half, but UCF had an answer to every rally en route to posting an 82-73 win on Wednesday night before 7,033 fans at Bramlage Coliseum.
After trailing as many as 16 points in the first half, including 12 at the half, K-State (9-8, 0-4 Big 12) showed some desperation out of break, closing to 57-56 at the 11:18 mark after a layup from junior P.J. Haggerty, who scored 18 of his game-high 23 points in the second half.
UCF (14-2, 3-1 Big 12) responded with consecutive 3-pointers from graduate Themus Fulks and junior Jordan Burks to push back ahead 63-56 near the midway point. After consecutive layups from junior Taj Manning got K-State to within 63-60, senior Riley Kugel connected on a 3-point play to once again put some distance between the teams with 8:50 remaining.
Haggerty split a pair of free throws to close the deficit to 68-65, but a tip-in from junior Chris Johnson and a layup from Kugel put the Knights up 72-65, forcing a timeout from head coach Jerome Tang with 5:14 to play. Another 3-point play from Haggerty gave the Wildcats’ one last opportunity at 72-68, but Johnson came through with a big 3-pointer to again answer the rally. From there, they got no closer than 5 points, as the Knights salted it away at the free throw line.
The loss dropped K-State to 0-4 in Big 12 play for the first time since 2021-22.
UCF connected on 52.5 percent (32-of-61) of its field goals, including better than 50 percent in each half, while hitting on 46.7 percent (7-of-15) from beyond the arc. Four players scored in double figures, including 19 from Kugel, 18 from senior Jamichael Stillwell and a points/assist double-double from Fulks with 13 points and a game-high 12 assists.
Haggerty was joined in double figures by 15 points from senior Khamari McGriff, 12 points from junior Abdi Bashir Jr. and a new career-high 10 points from junior Taj Manning. Senior Nate Johnson tied a career-high with 10 assists to go with 7 points, 6 rebounds and 3 steals.
K-State rebounded to shoot 54.5 percent (18-of-33) from the field in the second half after making just 34.4 percent (11-of-32) in the first half. For the game, the Wildcats hit on 44.6 percent (29-of-65), including just 20 percent (6-of-30) from 3-point range.
The win was the first in 3 tries for UCF at Bramlage Coliseum.
HEAD COACH JEROME TANG
Opening statement…
“First of all, thankful, blessed to do what I do, this calling of coaching is not for the faint of heart, especially in this league. Three days ago, I probably couldn’t tell you guys that we were close, but tonight, we’re close. We had enough. I know we’re missing two guys [Elias Rapieque, Mobi Ikegwuruka], and I’m sorry, please don’t ask me any questions. I’m not allowed to talk about why they weren’t here for HIPAA reasons. We had enough, we just didn’t deliver right, like we had opportunities and we didn’t take advantage of it. We started the game the first eight minutes, had eight turnovers, and a couple of shots that might as well have been turnovers and so they got to get out in transition. When you dig yourself in a hole, it’s just hard. In the second half, we were better, but we couldn’t get a stop, and that’s why we got to keep grinding. A great thing is that we got a lot of games ahead of us. We got to develop more of a desperation. I just watched games yesterday and watched games today. The most desperate teams win, there’s a bunch of teams in our situation, and they were all more desperate than their opponent, and were able to get wins, and we didn’t start the game, we didn’t play the whole game more desperate than them. There were certain times that we did, but there’s times that we didn’t, and so we just had to develop a greater desperation to change this thing, and we were moving in that direction, and we will get there.”
On if he has any indication to the slow conference play start…
“If I do know those reasons, man, I’d bottle it and sell it, I felt like, the way we practice, we worked on the things I felt like coaches addressed it where we needed to. We didn’t, and for whatever reason, we will keep flipping rocks to figure it out and go, but, yeah, I don’t have an answer for that.”
On if it was more UCF’s defense or rather the execution of the offense…
“They pressured us. I mean, they crawled up on us. They pressured us. They blew every handoff, and we didn’t play with poise and force early. Like they sped us up, so we shot contested layups instead of staying on two feet and stopping and pivoting and finding the next pass. I mean, I think we had eight turnovers, four assists on five made buckets, and in the second half, we end up with 25 assists on 28 made buckets or something like that. So, you’re like the second half, we played with more poise and more force on our drive and found the next person, whereas in the first half, their pressure sped us up, especially early in the game.”
On how the team is handling these losses…
“I don’t know. I hope they’re pissed off. I hope they are, like when we went through earlier in the year, like they came in and they were like, ‘Okay coach, tell us what we need to do.’ You could tell they were very coachable at that time. Like, they didn’t think they had the answers, hopefully, with these four losses, they’ll come back in and they say, ‘Okay, coach, we don’t have the answers, you got to help us,’ because we’re giving them what they need. They just have to go out and have to execute it. At some point in time, it falls on their shoulders to do it. We don’t browbeat our guys, you know, we love them up. They know they’re loved now; we got to be better at the business of basketball. We have to play basketball better. That’s just the challenge, that’s what they signed up for, you know? All of them want to play after college and in some shape or form if you want to do that, you have to keep getting better every day. It doesn’t matter if you’re playing 30 minutes right now, or you’re not playing at all every day. You have got to come to practice and get better, right? There’s something you want to do later on, every one of us as coaches, there’s something that we want to accomplish, right, we have to keep getting better. So that’s the mindset I believe our guys are going to have, and we start Oklahoma State tonight. Like, how you rehab, how you eat, how you sleep, you know tomorrow morning, when we stretch, get a lift, whatever it is, you know, it starts right away. Whether you win or lose, it has to start right away, because it can turn quickly. You can go from losing four to winning six. Some teams that are 3-1 right now can be 3-7. Teams that are 1-4 right now can end up being 5-4. I told you guys before the Big 12, I said, you looked at our first five games, we could play well and be 1-5, or we can play well and be 5-1. That’s just the league that we’re in, right, and how it is so we have to keep getting better. Our staff is excited, when we have a bunch of resilient dudes on our staff that are going to keep grinding, and I believe we have that in our players.”
FIRST HALF
The teams went back and forth over the first few minutes before UCF rattled off 7 straight points to go ahead 16-10 and force a timeout by head coach Jerome Tang at the 13:51 mark. The run grew to 11-0 as the Knights went ahead 20-10 at the second media timeout with 11:35 to play.
A 3-pointer by sophomore David Castillo finally ended the nearly 5-minute scoring drought, but UCF responded with 9 of the next 12 points to go ahead 29-16 at the third media timeout with 7:44 before halftime. The run continued out of the timeout, as the Knights scored 7 of the next 11 points to go out ahead 36-20 at the 5:15 mark.
A layup by junior Taj Manning sparked an 8-2 run by the Wildcats, as they closed to within 38-28 to force a timeout by UCF head coach Johnny Dawkins at the 2:42 mark. However, the Knights ended the half with 4 straight points to go ahead 42-28 at the break.
UCF connected on 52.9 percent (18-of-34) from the field, including 40 percent (4-of-10) from 3-point range, and made both free throws. K-State was held to just 34.4 percent (11-of-32) shooting, including 21.1 percent (4-of-19) from long range, made 2-of-4 free throws.
Riley Kugel led all scorers with 10 points, while Khamari McGriff had 8 points for K-State.
SECOND HALF
K-State had a spark to start the second half, scoring 9 of the first 12 points to close the deficit to 45-39. After consecutive baskets by the Knights, the Wildcats responded with 13 of the next 19 points to get within 55-52 after a 3-point play by junior P.J. Haggerty at the under-12 timeout.
Back-to-back baskets by McGriff and Haggerty pulled K-State to within 57-56, but UCF responded with consecutive 3-pointers to extend the lead to 63-56 and force a timeout by head coach Jerome Tang at the 10:17 mark. Junior Taj Manning scored on consecutive possessions to once again get the Wildcats to within 63-60, but a 3-point play by the Knights pushed it to 66-60 with 8:50 to play.
Down 68-65 after Haggerty split a pair of free throws, K-State had two opportunities to tie or close to within one point, but both shots missed and UCF was able to get a tip-in from Chris Johnson and a layup from Kugel to go back ahead 72-65 with 5:22 to play.
Out of a timeout, the Wildcats responded with a 3-point play from Haggerty before Johnson answered back with 3-pointer right before the last media timeout. After a basket by Nate Johnson made 77-72 with 1:31 remaining, the Knights were able to salt away the game from the free throw line en route to an 82-73 win.
Haggerty led all scorers in the second half with 18 points.
BEYOND THE BOXSCORE
- K-State dropped its fourth straight game to open Big 12 with an 82-73 loss to UCF.
- K-State is 0-4 in Big 12 play for the first time since 2021-22.
- K-State still leads the all-time series, 3-2, with UCF winning for the first time in 3 tries in Manhattan… The Knights lead the series, 2-1, in the Big 12 era.
- K-State is now 46-13 at Bramlage Coliseum under head coach Jerome Tang, including 21-9 in Big 12 play.
- K-State used a starting lineup of junior P.J. Haggerty, senior Nate Johnson, junior Abdi Bashir Jr., junior Taj Manning and senior Khamari McGriff… This is the second time using this lineup with the Wildcats posting a 0-2 mark in those games.
- Bashir, Haggerty, Johnson and McGriff have now started all 17 games.
- Haggerty now has 83 career starts (Tulsa/Memphis/K-State), N. Johnson now has 77 career starts (Akron/K-State), McGriff now has 59 career starts (UNC Wilmington/K-State) and Bashir now has 49 career starts (Monmouth/K-State)… Manning now has 3 career starts.
TEAM NOTES
- K-State scored its 73 points on 44.6 percent (29-of-65) shooting, including 20 percent (6-of-30) from 3-point range, while hitting on 60 percent (9-of-15) from the free throw line.
- K-State had 25 assists to 29 field goals, including 14 on 18 field goals in the second half.
- K-State held slight advantages in points in the paint (44-40), points off turnovers (10-8) and fast-break points (15-14).
- K-State posted a 35-34 advantage on the glass, winning the rebounding battle for the first time in Big 12 play.
- K-State trailed 42-28 at halftime and is now 1-7 this season and 18-38 under head coach Jerome Tang when trailing at the break.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
- Four Wildcats scored in double figures, including a game-high 23 points from junior P.J. Haggerty… Senior Khamari McGriff (15 points), junior Abdi Bashir Jr. (12 points) and junior Taj Manning (10 points) also registered double digits.
- Haggerty scored his 23 points on 9-of-18 field goals and 5-of-8 free throws to go with 5 rebounds and 5 assists in 36 minutes… He has now scored in double figures in 81 of 89 career games in college, including all 17 games this season… He has 55 games of 20 or more points in his career, including 12 this season.
- McGriff scored his 15 points on 7-of-9 field goals and 1-of-2 free throws to go with 5 rebounds and an assist in 33 minutes… He has now scored in double figures in 31 games in college, including 8 this season.
- Bashir scored his 12 points on 4-of-13 field goals (all from 3-point range) to go with 4 assists and 2 rebounds in 26 minutes… He has now scored in double figures in 49 career games, including 13 times this season… His 4 3-pointers gave him 62 for the season.
- Manning scored his 10 points on 5-of-9 field goals with a team-high 7 rebounds and 3 assists in 32 minutes… It marked his first career double-digit scoring game.
WHAT’S NEXT
K-State returns to the road on Saturday night, as the Wildcats travel to Stillwater, Okla., to take on Oklahoma State (13-4, 1-3 Big 12) at 9 p.m., CT on CBS Sports Network. OSU leads the series, 35-26 at Gallagher-Iba Arena with wins in 5 of the last 6 matchups, including a 79-66 win last season.
