Winning over the last three weeks was fun. Now the Wildcats will need to start a new streak.
Kansas State played a sluggish first half of basketball against BYU in Provo Saturday night and never quite recovered, falling 80-65.
The Wildcats (13-12, 7-7 Big 12) looked like their December selves in the first half, getting outhustled, out-muscled, and out-executed on both ends of the floor as the Cougars (16-8, 8-6) forged a commanding 40-22 lead at intermission.
K-State made three 3-point buckets to knot the score at 9-all with 16:14 to play in the period. But a 17-3 run gave the BYU a 14-point advantage before the midpoint of the half. Though the Wildcats played even with the Cougars and were within 12 (32-20) with 7:43 remaining, they would not score over the next 6:30, letting the margin grow even though BYU was no picture of efficiency over that same period.
The Cougars stretched their lead to 22 points, 49-27, before the first media timeout of the second half, and it looked as if the home team would continue pulling away. The Cats finally locked down defensively and spread scoring opportunities around to get back within 8, at 53-45, with 10:48 remaining.
That left plenty of time to keep chipping away. Instead, BYU staged a 14-4 run to put the game out of reach again, 67-49 with 5:34 remaining.
The Cats fouled to extend the game and even got back within 10 on a Max Jones layup that made the score 75-65 with 40 seconds to play. But it was too little, too late.
The Wildcats’ six-game winning streak came to an end, and they fell into a tie with TCU for 8th in the Big 12.
After shooting a frigid 9-33 (27%) from the floor in the first half, the Cats made 16-28 in the second (57%) and wound up 25-61 (41%) for the game. After making only 1 of 19 3-point attempts against Arizona in the midweek game, they connected on 6 of 21 (28.6%) against BYU.
K-State got out-rebounded 41-31 and made only 9 of 17 free throw attempts, as BYU outscored the Wildcats 20-9 at the line.
Perhaps the biggest factor in the game was K-State’s inability to defend the lane, especially in the first half. The Cats were outscored 24-10 in the paint before intermission, and 40-30 for the game.
Dug McDaniel continued his ascendency, scoring 22 points on 9-16 shooting. He also had 2 assists, 2 steals, and only 2 turnovers while handling point guard duties against a physical team on the road.
Nobody else rose to the occasion. Brendan Hausen made 3 of 8 three-point attempts and all three of his free throws to join McDaniel in double-figures with 12. CJ Jones scored 9. No other Wildcat eclipsed 6 points.
BYU’s Richie Saunders only shot 5-13, but he knocked down two 3-point attempts and 5-6 free throws for 17 points, and he grabbed 14 rebounds to lead the Cougars in both categories.
Keita Keiba had 11 rebounds and 5 blocks for BYU.
NEXT GAME
K-State will remain in the beehive state and try to find the formula that led to six straight wins when they tip off against Utah Monday at 8:00. The game will air on ESPN2.