Kansas State men’s basketball’s calamitous season came to a close on Tuesday night in Kansas City as No. 10 seed BYU pulled away in the second half for a 105-91 win in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament at T-Mobile Center.
The 15-seeded Wildcats finished the season 12-20 and 3-15 during regular-season Big 12 play. It marked the seventh and final game for interim head coach Matthew Driscoll, who finishes with a 2-5 record after Jerome Tang’s firing.
“Really proud of the fact that we didn’t quit,” Driscoll said. “We never quit during this whole tumultuous situation. We were probably the most resilient team in the Big 12, bar none. We’ve been through everything you could possibly think of — injury, illness and attrition. And attrition, being Coach (Tang).
“To our guys’ credit, they could have just opted out and quit. So there’s a lot to be said about this team and what they did. And I’m super proud to be the person that’s temporarily in charge of them.”
K-State kept pace for much of the night behind a strong offensive performance from P.J. Haggerty, but BYU freshman star AJ Dybantsa proved too much to contain. Dybantsa poured in a game-high 40 points as the Cougars used a late second-half surge to create separation and close out the victory.
Haggety’s 27 points marked his 23rd 20-point game of the season, which is the second-most in school history and the most since Michael Beasley’s school-record 26 in 2007-08.
