On Saturday afternoon in Manhattan, Kansas, two Big 12 teams clashed in an exciting matchup.
Jerome Tang and the Kansas State Wildcats welcomed Bill Self and the Kansas Jayhawks to Bramlage Coliseum for the 12th game of the Big 12 regular season. The Wildcats started out hot early and took it to the Jayhawks. They maintained a commanding lead through the second half and earned their fifth straight win.
With that, here are the top three takeaways from Kansas State’s 81-73 win over the Jayhawks.
Dug McDaniel
It’s a little crazy to say out loud: after starting 1-6 in conference play, the Wildcats have evened out their wins and losses.
Who’s responsible? Dug McDaniel.
Kansas State’s starting five all deserve credit for their triumphant comeback, but the man running the show is Michigan transfer Dug McDaniel. The former Wolverine took down Kansas in the Sunflower Showdown with an incredible stat line of 15 points, 11 assists, and six rebounds.
He was joined in double figures by David N’Guessan with 20 points and seven rebounds, Coleman Hawkins with 12 points, eight assists, and five rebounds, and Max Jones with 12 points, four rebounds, and two assists.
No Defense
While Kansas hasn’t been great on offense over the last few games, on Saturday, that wasn’t the issue for Bill Self’s squad. The team entered the game as the fifth-best defense in the country in terms of efficiency metrics, but they were absolutely crushed by K-State’s offense.
The group allowed the Wildcats to shoot 50% from the field and 40.7% from three while only committing nine turnovers. Despite the stat sheet looking relatively comparable for the pair of in-state rivals, the Jayhawks didn’t provide a single moment in the second half that felt like they had clawed back into the game.
They head back to Allen Fieldhouse to take on Colorado next on Tuesday, February 11th, where they will attempt to get back on track against one of the Big 12’s worst offenses.
Related: Is Kansas Basketball Losing Its Mystique?
Tournament Talk
Folks… it’s time to start a narrative.
Kansas State is in contention for the NCAA Tournament after their unprobable comeback. The group was dead on arrival, dropping nine out of 10 games during their rocky start. Since then, the team looks like one of the hottest teams in America and has screamed back with three Top 25 wins, and the most consecutive wins in the Jerome Tang era.
While ESPN’s Joe Lunardi did not have the Wildcats on his radar for a potential bubble team heading into Saturday’s game, the team should be up there with UCF, Cincinnati, and Arizona State sooner rather than later.
They turn around to host No. 20 Arizona on Tuesday at Bramlage Coliseum.
