It took some brilliant defensive basketball in the first half, 41 points from BYU’s bench players and the first double-double in Richie Saunders’ stellar career, but Kansas State’s impressive winning streak, that included wins over Big 12 powers Kansas, Iowa State and Arizona, has finally been stopped.
The Cougars put together arguably their best all-around first half of the season and held on from there to take a 80-65 win over the Wildcats in front of 17,228 at the Marriott Center Saturday.
“It was awesome. … It was really just a fun half to play in,” said Saunders, who had 17 points and 14 rebounds in 31 minutes. “It showed what we can do when we play together.”
After the Cougars (17-8, 8-6) took a 40-22 lead into the break, the second half wasn’t nearly as pretty from their perspective, but it was rewarding nevertheless as coach Kevin Young’s team picked up a Quad 2 victory and got two games above .500 in league play with six contests remaining.
In that second half, it was fitting that a reserve — former starting point guard Dallin Hall — led the way. He scored 14 of his 16 points in the final 20 minutes, with three assists, three rebounds and just one turnover in 23 minutes.
BYU’s bench outscored Kansas State’s bench 41-13 as KSU coach Jerome Tang went with an eight-player rotation. Eleven different Cougars played eight minutes or more.
“We set the tone really well with our defensive execution coming out to start the first half. We did some really good things against a team that is challenging to guard, given their different combinations,” Young said. “In the second half, I thought Dallin really put us on his shoulders.”
Dug McDaniel of Kansas State led all scorers with 22 points on 9 of 16 shooting, but the Cougars cooled off Coleman Hawkins, who had just six points on 2 of 9 shooting.
Hawkins was instrumental in helping K-State 73-70 on Tuesday.
But BYU’s switching defenses befuddled the visitors, particularly in the first half. Another of KSU’s top scorers, David N’Guessan, was held to six points as well.
“I want to give all the credit to the BYU staff and their players. They kicked our butts tonight. They were the better team, they were the more physical team, they were the more assertive team,” Tang said. “They were just all around better than us tonight.”
Beside the bench scoring, the tell-tale stat was assists. The Cougars assisted on 18 of their 27 buckets, while the Wildcats assisted on only six of their 25 field goals.
“That means they made us play one-on-one,” Tang said. “… As a team we didn’t play well tonight.”
In building their six-game winning streak, which made them the hottest team in the country coming into the Marriott Center, the Wildcats “probably had more assisted buckets and we played better defense,” Tang said. “Our defense has been really good, for the most part. Tonight, their speed and their physicality took over.”
After that outstanding first half — which we will get to later — the Cougars struggled a bit out of the gates in the second half after former BYU center Jake Shoff, who died in a car accident last week, was honored at halftime.
BYU scored on four straight possessions, however, to move out to a 49-27 lead.
Then Tang picked up a technical foul, and, wouldn’t you know it? The whistles started going Kansas State’s way. The Wildcats went on an 18-4 run to trim BYU’s lead 10.
“Man, I wish I was that smart,” Tang said when he was asked if he got the technical foul for strategic reasons.
It was also a strong game for Keba Keita, who had nine points, 11 rebounds and five blocked shots — the most in the Marriott Center since Matt Haarms had six against St. Mary’s in 2021 — in 18 minutes.
Fouss Traore added 11 points and four rebounds in 12 minutes, but Young went with junior Mihailo Boskovic down the stretch. The Serbian had just two points in 16 minutes but helped spread the floor and was effective nevertheless, Young said.
“We have a lot of guys who could start. Honestly, it makes my job harder, and I thought that is where the game got a little wonky in the second half. I couldn’t find the right combination of guys,” Young said.
“Ultimately we ended up doing that, but it shows the maturity of our group to be able to allow us to do that. Some games it is necessary, some games it is not.”
In the first half, BYU’s shot selection was left wanting a bit, but its defense was superb. Every Cougar played well in the first half, but especially Keita, who had seven points and eight rebounds and blocked three shots in 10 minutes.
Then Traore spelled the big guy and immediately went to work inside, notching 10 points and four rebounds.
Meanwhile, Egor Demin had the offense purring, dishing out five assists. The Cougars shot 48% in the first half, and out rebounded the visitors 25-17.
Defensively, BYU was just as good. Kansas State shot just 27% (9 of 33) and struggled to find a rhythm against Young’s ever-switching defenses.
BYU scored 11 points off six Kansas State turnovers in the first half. The Wildcats scored just two points in the last 7:43 of the half, as N’Guessan made a rebound basket.
Saunders had 10 of his points in the first half, although the Cougars didn’t shoot the ball particularly well, going just 3 of 14 (21%) from deep in the first 20 minutes.
Kansas State made its first three 3-point attempts in the half, then missed its next nine.
“I feel like we knew the stage we were walking onto,” Saunders said, referencing K-State’s six-game winning streak.
That stage gets even bigger on Tuesday, as No. 17 Kansas comes to Provo for the first time ever. The Jayhawks (17-8, 8-6) will be spitting nails after losing 74-67 to Utah on Saturday night in Salt Lake City.