AUSTIN, Texas – Senior Dylan Disu led all scorers with a game-high 20 points, including 6 big points in the final 36 seconds, as Texas held off a late Kansas State rally to post a 62-56 win on Monday night before 10,905 fans at the Moody Center.
On a night when it could never get in rhythm offensively, K-State (15-11, 5-8 Big 12) was able to rally from a 12-point deficit with 3:21 to play behind a 10-2 run that closed the deficit to 56-52 with 50 seconds left. The run included a rare 4-point play from junior Arthur Kaluma, along with baskets from seniors Will McNair Jr. and Tylor Perry and a pair of free throws from junior Cam Carter.
Missed free throws by sophomore Chendall Weaver gave the Wildcats a chance to close to within a possession, but Perry’s driving layup missed, and Disu grabbed the rebound and was fouled with 36 seconds. He nailed both free throws to extend the lead to 58-52. After a missed layup by senior David N’Guessan, Disu snagged another rebound before being fouled, making both attempts for a 60-52 advantage with 30 seconds. He capped his night with a dunk in the last 15 seconds.
The loss was the seventh in the last 8 outings for K-State, including the third in a row since knocking off No. 4/4 Kansas in overtime on Feb. 5. It also continued its struggles on the road where the Wildcats have lost 6 in a row after starting the season with back-to-back road wins at LSU and West Virginia.
Kaluma paced three Wildcats in double figures with 17 points to go with a team-tying 7 rebounds, 2 assists and a block, while Perry and N’Guessan added 13 and 12 points, respectively. N’Guessan, who has scored in double figures in consecutive Big 12 games, also posted 7 rebounds. Perry finished with game-highs in both assists (4) and steals (3).
Disu was only Longhorn to score in double figures, finishing 5-of-11 from the field and 10-of-11 from the free throw line to go with 8 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 assists in 30 minutes. The other seven Longhorns who saw action scored, including 9 points from junior Tyrese Hunter and 8 points each from sophomore Dillon Mitchell and fifth-year Max Abmas. Mitchell also grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.
Neither team shot 40 percent from the field, as the squads combined to go 8-of-38 from 3-point range.
Texas finished the night shooting 36.2 percent (21-of-58) from the field, including 15.8 percent (3-of-19) from 3-point range, while the Longhorns made 70.8 percent (17-of-24) from the line.
K-State connected on 35.7 percent (20-of-56) of its field goals, including 26.3 percent (5-of-19) from 3-point range, and 68.8 percent (11-of-16) from the free throw line.
The teams shot an identical 32.3 percent (10-of-31) from the field in the first half, including a combined 3-of-22 from 3-point range, as Texas held a 27-22 lead at the break.
A 3-pointer by Perry and layup by N’Guessan got K-State to within 33-31 early in the second half, forcing a timeout by head coach Rodney Terry with 14:15 to play. Texas responded with 7 straight points to push its advantage to 40-31 at the media timeout with just under 12 minutes remaining.
The lead grew to double figures, including 54-42 after a Flagrant 2 was called on freshman Dai Dai Ames attempting to block a dunk by Weaver with 3:21 to play. Ames was ejected on the play.
This will be the last regular season meeting between the schools as conference opponents with Texas departing for the SEC in 2024-25. They are not scheduled to meet again this season after playing home-and-home every year since 2012-13.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Despite a poor start offensively, K-State kept it close in the early going with its defensive effort, trailing just 8-7 at the 13:29 mark. However, consecutive 3-pointers by Texas created some separation at 14-7 right before the second media timeout with 11:47 to play. The Wildcats started 3-of-14 from the field, including 1-of-6 from 3-point range.
Back-to-back baskets by senior David N’Guessan and junior Cam Carter cut the deficit to 14-11, but sophomore Dillon Mitchell followed with consecutive baskets, including a dunk, to push the lead to 18-11 and force a timeout by head coach Jerome Tang at the 8:29 mark.
The Wildcats scored 7 of the next 11 points to pull within 22-18 right before the final media timeout at the 3:21 mark but senior Will McNair Jr. fouled junior Tyrese Hunter on a 3-pointer and he connected on all 3 free throws to push the lead back out to 25-18.
The teams combined for just 6 points the rest of the half, as Texas took a 27-22 lead into the halftime break. Neither team shot the ball well, hitting on the same exact percentage (32.3) from the field, while combining to go 3-of-22 from beyond the arc. The Longhorns’ Dylan Disu led all scorers with 8 points, while N’Guessan paced the Wildcats with 7 points.
The early part of the second half mirrored the final few minutes of the first half, as the teams combined for 6 points before the first media timeout for Texas to lead 31-24. A 3-pointer by senior Tylor Perry sparked a 5-0 run that cut the deficit to 33-31 and forced a Longhorn timeout at the 14:15 mark.
The timeout seemed to work for Texas, as the home team responded with 7 straight points to push the lead back out to 40-31 at the second media timeout at the 11:58 mark. The Wildcats got to within 7 points after a second 3-pointer by Perry and free throw by N’Guessan, but the Longhorns quickly responded with consecutive baskets to go up double figures at 46-35 with 8:10 remaining.
A 3-pointer by Kaluma and a layup by N’Guessan once again got K-State to within striking distance at 48-42, but Texas responded with 6 straight points, including free throws by Weaver on the Flagrant 2 foul by freshman Dai Dai Ames, to go ahead 54-42 with 3:21 to play.
On the next possession, Kaluma was able to ignite a 10-2 run with rare 4-point play that closed the gap to 56-52 with 50 seconds. After missed free throws by Weaver, the Wildcats got the chance to close to within a possession, but Perry was unable to connect on a layup. Disu got the rebound for the first of 4 consecutive free throw makes to push the game out of reach.
HEAD COACH JEROME TANG
On the game…
“First of all, I want to thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Because, you know, in the midst of struggles and tough times, it’s easy to thank God during the times when things are going well, in the midst of the struggles of the tough time, I see a team that’s getting better, like guys who have grit and the resilience about them. And they keep improving. And I was so proud of the effort when you hold a team, they had 62 (points). But really, they had 55 points because we had to foul at the end. And when you hold a team to 55 points that means your players gave you an effort that was worthy of a win. And we as a staff, we need do a better job of giving them some more help. We have stretches in games where we don’t get good looks. And we have to correct that. But the effort, the resilience, the toughness of our team, I’m so proud of them. I’m so thankful to be their coach, and hats off to Texas, because we both had quick turnarounds. And they responded in a great way.”
On facing a desperate team fighting for the NCAA Tournament…
“We are both in the same situation. Two desperate teams. They responded the way a team coached by Rodney Terry and his staff are supposed to respond. They got really good players over there. They came out and found a way to win the game.”
On his team’s comeback after the Flagrant 2 foul…
“I’m proud of the effort that the guys gave. Dai Dai (Ames) is a freshman. He’s got to learn how and when he can make a play. He had no intention of trying to hurt (Chendall) Weaver, so I hope everything’s okay with him. I just feel like we do a good job at the end of the games in executing. So it wasn’t that they responded to their teammate, we just do a good job at the end of games of giving ourselves a chance to win. And we’ve done it all year long.”
On what Texas did defensively to affect the offense…
“How about their length at the rim? I don’t know how many blocks they credited them for. But it seemed like they had more than five blocks. Their length at the rim causes problems. They did a good job of denying our guards the ball. And so, we couldn’t really run sets. We had to go make plays.”
On the lack of a third scorer…
“It’s nice to have three options. And we’re struggling to find a third one, not for lack of effort, you know, shots just aren’t going in for Cam. He’s been our leading scorer all year long. He’s in a little struggle right now. But he’s working, and he’ll come out of it. Games like this come down to one or two plays. You can find them in the middle of the game where we could have executed better.”
TEAM NOTES
- K-State (15-11, 5-8 Big 12) dropped its sixth straight road game on Monday night, as Texas posted a 62-56 win at the Moody Center.
- K-State is now 3-8 away from home, including a 2-6 mark in true road games.
- K-State has now lost 7 of their last 8 games after a 4-1 start to conference play.
- K-State still leads the all-time series with Texas, 24-23, in the final regular season matchup as conference opponents… The Longhorns now lead the series, 12-11, in games played in Austin, snapping a 2-game losing streak… Texas has won 8 of the last 11 meetings.
- K-State scored its 56 points on 35.7 percent (20-of-56) shooting, including 26.3 percent (5-of-19) from 3-point range, and 68.8 percent (11-of-16) from the free throw line.
- Texas held a 42-39 rebounding advantage, including 10 offensive boards that led to a 13-11 edge in second-chance points.
- K-State turned the ball over 13 times compared to 9 for Texas, however, the points off turnovers were tied at 13 apiece.
- K-State used a starting lineup of senior Tylor Perry, freshman Dai Dai Ames, junior Cam Carter, junior Arthur Kaluma and redshirt sophomore Jerrell Colbert… It marked the fifth straight game using this lineup and just the fifth different lineup this season… Carter has now started all 62 games in his K-State career… Carter and Perry have started all 26 games… Kaluma earned his 24th start… It was the eighth start for Ames and the fifth career start for Colbert.
PLAYER NOTES
- Three Wildcats scored in double figures led by 17 points from junior Arthur Kaluma… He was joined in double figures by seniors Tylor Perry (13 points) and David N’Guessan (12 points).
- Kaluma scored his 17 points on 5-of-17 field goals and 5-of-5 free throws to go with a team-tying 7 rebounds, 2 assists and a block in 37 minutes… He has now scored in double figures in 62 career games, including 22 this season.
- Perry scored his 13 points on 5-of-13 field goals, including 3-of-8 from 3-point range, to go with team-highs in both assists (4) and steals (3) in 39 minutes… He now has 76 career double-digit scoring games, including 19 this season.
- N’Guessan scored his 12 points on 5-of-8 field goals and 2-of-7 free throws to go with a team-tying 7 rebounds in 33 minutes… He has now scored in double figures in 20 career games, including 9 this season.
UP NEXT
K-State returns to the action on Saturday afternoon, as the Wildcats host No. 25/21 BYU (18-8, 6-6 Big 12) for the first time at Bramlage Coliseum at 1 p.m., CT on Big 12 Now.
