Kansas State walked into Saturday with a real opportunity to turn its season around against No. 13 Texas Tech. Instead, the Wildcats suffered another Big 12 loss, falling to the Red Raiders 100-72.
What looked like a promising late-season turnaround after the win over Baylor quickly unraveled.
Kansas State men’s basketball right back at bottom of Big 12 after loss to Texas Tech
Saturday’s loss to Texas Tech showed why Kansas State basketball remains at the bottom of the Big 12 standings — the same position the Wildcats have occupied since conference play began in early January.
Several things didn’t work for Kansas State against Texas Tech, but it wasn’t all negative. Three Wildcats finished in double figures: P.J. Haggerty led the way with 17 points, Nate Johnson added 15, and Taj Manning logged 10.
The balanced scoring between Johnson and Haggerty is showing progress. It marked the second straight game in which the pair combined for 40 or more points, and was also the 16th consecutive in which Haggerty led Kansas State in scoring, though he finished with 17 points, seven shy of his season average.
Khamari McGriff, David Castillo, and Andrej Kostic each added eight points. Like in the win over Baylor, Kansas State didn’t run its entire offense through Haggerty. Even in defeat, that more balanced approach could benefit Kansas State basketball down the stretch of Big 12 play.
JT Toppin’s absence for Texas Tech basketball made little impact
After Texas Tech’s 72-67 loss to Arizona State, it was announced that Big 12 Player of the Year frontrunner JT Toppin tore his ACL and would miss the rest of the season. Even without their star forward against Kansas State, the Red Raiders didn’t slow down.
Before the injury, Toppin appeared in 25 games, averaging 21.8 points and 10.8 rebounds for Texas Tech basketball. In their first game without him, three Red Raiders posted similar stat lines.
Donovan Atwell and Christian Anderson each scored 20 or more points, while all five Texas Tech starters finished in double figures. Lejuan Watts and Luke Bamgboye each added six rebounds and two steals.
Texas Tech reached the 100-point mark for the second time in Big 12 play, overwhelming Kansas State on the offensive end. When the Red Raiders hit the century mark, it leaves little to no room for opponents to respond.
Kansas State struggles defending the three-point line
Earlier this season against Cincinnati, Kansas State allowed nine of its first 11 three-point attempts to fall in what became a 29-point loss. Against Texas Tech on the road, the issue resurfaced.
The Red Raiders knocked down eight of their 18 first-half attempts from beyond the arc, shooting nearly 15% better than Kansas State from three in the opening half. Texas Tech added five more three-pointers in the second half and finished the game shooting 54.8% from the field.
Six of those triples belonged to Atwell – his highest total from beyond the arc since the win over Colorado.
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