Senior Coleman Hawkins and junior Dug McDaniel combined for 37 points, as Kansas State put together its best all-around performance of the season to earn a 70-67 win over No. 16/17 Cincinnati in the Big 12 opener for both teams on Monday night before 9,970 fans at Bramlage Coliseum.
Although Hawkins and McDaniel were the headliners with 20 and 17 points, respectively, several Wildcats came up clutch in the waning minutes to help snap a 3-game losing streak and earn their first victory over the Bearcats (10-2, 0-1 Big 12) since the 1958 NCAA Tournament. The victory gave K-State at least one ranked win at Bramlage Coliseum for the 18th consecutive season.
K-State (7-5, 1-0 Big 12) led by as many as 9 points in the second half before Cincinnati used an 8-2 run to tie the game at 56-all with 5:31 to play. Senior David N’Guessan, who was the third Wildcat in double figures with 13 points, responded with an old-fashioned 3-point play to give the home team a 59-56 lead at the final media timeout with less than 4 minutes remaining.
However, the Wildcats couldn’t shake the Bearcats as they pulled to within one possession several times in the last few minutes.
Leading 63-61 with just over a minute to play, senior Max Jones drove to the basket and converted on a turnaround jumper to extend the lead to 4 points. After UC answered to pull within 65-63 on the next possession with 27 seconds, Hawkins made the first free throw before missing the second. However, Jones was there to grab the offensive rebound and tip it out to junior C.J. Jones, who gave K-State a 68-63 lead with a pair of free throws with 20 seconds left.
Following a basket from the Bearcats with 8 seconds, C.J. Jones converted on 2 more free throws for a 70-65 lead before Texas transfer Dillon Mitchell scored the final points on a putback with 1 second left.
The victory snapped an 8-game losing streak to Cincinnati, which was making its first visit to Manhattan since the 1967.
Hit subscribe on our YouTube channel!
Jerome Tang
Coleman Hawkins, Max Jones & Dug McDaniel
