Wildcats end skid: Takeaways from Kansas State’s basketball victory against Utah

The Wildcats defeated the Utah Utes 81-78 in a back-and-forth basketball game for their first conference victory of the season Tuesday at Bramlage Coliseum. It didn’t come easily. K-State had to …

Kansas State’s losing streak is over.

The Wildcats defeated the Utah Utes 81-78 in a back-and-forth basketball game for their first conference victory of the season Tuesday at Bramlage Coliseum.

It didn’t come easily. K-State had to survive nine lead changes and a late charge from Utah. But its defense forced Utah to miss six of its final seven shots in crunch time.

For that reason, and others, K-State (10-9, 1-5 Big 12) is no longer all alone in last place of the league standings. It is now tied with Utah (9-10, 1-5 Big 12) at the bottom of the table.

PJ Haggerty led the way for K-State with 34 points. He was at his best in the second half, as he came up with multiple important clutch buckets down the stretch. His big plays were enough for the Wildcats to hold off the Utes, who got 33 points from Terrence Brown.

This was a big win for the Wildcats, and it showed when Brown missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer. K-State head coach Jerome Tang sprinted to the student section and danced like he has after many other notable victories during his tenure in Manhattan. Players also raised their arms and then celebrated with their supporters.

“Shout out to the fans and the student section,” Haggerty said. “Keep coming to the games and just keep believing in us.”

K-State began conference play with five straight defeats. Now it can think about starting a winning streak.

“We have got to keep moving forward,” Tang said, “but I was very happy with the win.”

Up next for K-State is a home game against rival Kansas on Saturday.

Until then, here are takeaways from Tuesday’s action:

A fun scoring battle between PJ Haggerty, Terrence Brown

Jerome Tang made sure to share a few words with Utah guard Terence Brown during the postgame handshake line.

He felt the need to compliment Brown on a big game, even though he was on the opposing sideline.

Brown led the charge for Utah with 33 points on 24 attempts. He made shots from the perimeter and attacked the rim to give K-State’s defense problems. And he nearly outdueled PJ Haggerty. Had Brown’s final 3-point attempt of the night found the bottom of the net, fans would have seen overtime.

But Haggerty and K-State prevailed in a battle of elite scorers.

Haggerty scored 34 points on 29 shots to go along with eight rebounds and four assists. He was at his best in the second half, as he scored 28 of his points when things mattered the most.

Utah tried a variety of defenses and double teams to get the ball out of his hands in the final minutes, but Haggerty kept finding ways to score. He was responsible for all but seven of K-State’s points after halftime.

David Castillo said the offensive strategy was easy late in the game.

“Give him the ball,” he said.

That confidence helped fuel Haggerty as the game went on.

“My teammates trusted me to take those shots,” Haggerty said. “They tell me, just take shots and they will live or die with me. I took good shots, they went in and we came out with the win.”

Maybe David Castillo should start all the time

Sophomore guard David Castillo won the respect of Tang and his K-State teammates when he volunteered to come off the bench earlier this season.

He was viewed as a team-first player when he suggested that he could help the Wildcats in that role because they were lacking bench scorers. His theory even paid off initially after he moved to the bench and knocked down shots when his team needed a boost.

But he has been in a bit of a slump lately.

Returning to the starting lineup for the first time since early December seemed to bring out the best in Castillo. He came out red-hot and scored 17 points in the first half. There were a few times in the early going when he was outscoring the Utes all by himself.

He finished the day with 20 points

It seems likely that injuries will thrust him back into the starting lineup full-time moving forward. That could be a good thing for him, even though he viewed himself as an ideal sixth man earlier this season.

“I’m fine with whatever,” Castillo said. “I’m going to do whatever the team needs.”

Kansas State played this game without three usual starters

The Wildcats were not at full strength when they took the floor against Utah.

In fact, they were down four players. Three of them are typically in the starting lineup.

Abdi Bashir and Khamari McGriff were the biggest two absences.

Bashir is the team’s top outside shooter. He was unable to play after the CBS Sports Network broadcast crew announced that he had surgery to repair a stress fracture in his foot. He will be out indefinitely as he recovers. The Monmouth transfer was averaging 11.3 points per game.

McGriff was also a notable loss. The starting forward was deemed a game-time decision, but he watched from the bench in street clothes. He was averaging 10.3 points and 4.2 rebounds.

Elias Rapieque and Mobi Ikegwuruka also both missed this game for undisclosed reasons. Rapieque has been out for three straight games. Ikegwuruka has been out for four.

Without them, the Wildcats used a starting lineup that featured Dorin Buca at center, Castillo at guard and Taj Manning at forward along with usual starters Haggerty and Nate Johnson.

“It’s next man up,” Haggerty said. “(Castillo) hit six 3-pointers. (Andrej Kostic) came in and made some shots. So did CJ (Jones). We have got everybody just doing their role and just playing a big part in our team.”

Source: Utah News