MANHATTAN, Kan. (KSNT) – Kansas State men’s basketball picked up a win against in-state rival Wichita State Saturday, and the Wildcats stayed home Tuesday for a matchup with Abilene Christian.
K-State got the better of the two Wildcat schools, defeating Abilene 81-64.
Abilene started out hot with K-State lagging, getting to a 23-10 lead over K-State. This had to do with six three-pointers from Abilene in the first 12 minutes.
K-State slowly started to creep back. A 12-2 scoring run highlights by the Kansas State defense gave K-State its first lead of the game since 2-0 at 35-34, which K-State took to halftime.
Kansas State started to run offensively in the second half. K-State began the second on a 17-7 run, but it was the defense shining through.
“At halftime our staff did a great job at adjustments,” head coach Jerome Tang said. “Credit Abilene Christian for coming out with a really good gameplan. They made six threes in the first 12 minutes. We held them to one three in the last 28 minutes. Those are adjustments that the staff made, so credit my staff, absolutely love those guys.”
K-State kept up with the scoring, and never let Abilene back in it. Through a full 40 minutes, Kansas State finished with an 81-64 win.
David N’Guessan led K-State in scoring with 23 points off the bench. Markquis Nowell finished with 15 points and 12 assists, Nae’Qwan Tomlin and Keyontae Johnson added 12 points.
With the win, K-State moves to 8-1. They play Incarnate Word at home on Sunday.