Senior Coleman Hawkins and junior Dug McDaniel combined for 37 points, as Kansas State put together its best all-around performance of the season to earn a 70-67 win over No. 16/17 Cincinnati in the Big 12 opener for both teams on Monday night before 9,970 fans at Bramlage Coliseum.

Although Hawkins and McDaniel were the headliners with 20 and 17 points, respectively, several Wildcats came up clutch in the waning minutes to help snap a 3-game losing streak and earn their first victory over the Bearcats (10-2, 0-1 Big 12) since the 1958 NCAA Tournament. The victory gave K-State at least one ranked win at Bramlage Coliseum for the 18th consecutive season.

The Wildcats (7-5, 1-0 Big 12) are now 3-0 in Big 12 openers under head coach Jerome Tang.

K-State led by as many as 9 points in the second half before Cincinnati used an 8-2 run to tie the game at 56-all with 5:31 to play. Senior David N’Guessan, who was the third Wildcat in double figures with 13 points, responded with an old-fashioned 3-point play to give the home team a 59-56 lead at the final media timeout with less than 4 minutes remaining.

However, the Wildcats couldn’t shake the Bearcats as they pulled to within one possession several times in the last few minutes.

Leading 63-61 with just over a minute to play, senior Max Jones drove to the basket and converted on a turnaround jumper to extend the lead to 4 points. After UC answered to pull within 65-63 on the next possession with 27 seconds, Hawkins made the first free throw before missing the second. However, Jones was there to grab the offensive rebound and tip it out to junior C.J. Jones, who gave K-State a 68-63 lead with a pair of free throws with 20 seconds left.

Following a basket from the Bearcats with 8 seconds, C.J. Jones converted on 2 more free throws for a 70-65 lead before UC’s Dillon Mitchell scored the final points on a putback with 1 second left.

The 70 points were the most scored against Cincinnati this season, which entered the game ranking ninth in the NCAA in scoring defense (58.5 ppg.).

Hawkins led the way with game-highs in points (20), rebounds (10) and steals (4), as he recorded his eighth career double-double and his second in a Wildcat uniform. It was his eighth career 20-point game and his first at K-State.

McDaniel fell one point shy of his season-high with 17 points on 7-of-13 field goals in his second start of the season, while N’Guessan recorded double figure points for the 11th time in 12 games with 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting to go with 7 rebounds.

For the game, K-State shot 43.6 percent (24-of-55) from the field, including 52 percent (13-of-25) in the second half, while the Wildcats made 16 of 20 attempts from the free throw line. The defense turned the Bearcats over 15 times, resulting in a 15-8 advantage in points off turnovers.

Cincinnati connected on 46.7 percent (28-of-60), including 36 points in the paint. Three players scored in double figures, including a team-high 18 points from junior Dan Skillings Jr. Transfer Dillon Mitchell had a double-double with 15 points and a game-high 11 rebounds, while sophomore Jizzle James added 11 points and a team-high 4 assists.

The victory snapped an 8-game losing streak to the Bearcats, which was making its first visit to Manhattan since the 1967.

K-State begins a 2-game road swing on Saturday afternoon, as the Wildcats travel to Fort Worth, Texas to take on TCU (7-5, 0-1 Big 12) at Schollmaier Arena. The game will tip off at 3 p.m., CT on CBS Sports Network.

HEAD COACH JEROME TANG
Opening statement… 
“First of all, I want to thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Obviously, when you’re putting something new together, and you think you have the answers, and you figure out that you don’t. Sometimes, losses and struggles can affect your identity. And over the Christmas break and last few days, God’s just like reestablished to me that my identity is not caught up in winning games and losing games, but in what we’re pouring into these young men that’s lasting for eternity. And our guys have been resilient, they have persevered and kept moving forward and our staff did a really good job of trying to simplify the game and to help them and they did a really good job of buying into the scouting report. But we can’t not give the credit to our fans who showed up tonight, they were incredible and that home court advantage, man is it an easy plus 10, and so without them, we don’t win tonight. So, God gets the glory, our fans get the praise. Our players got to enjoy the win, but move on, because in this league [Big 12], as soon as you relax and you think you got things figured out, then here comes another ranked team. And the Cincinnati team, I’ve said it since media day, and I said it earlier, that I think they’re the most underrated team in the country, whatever their rank is, is too low. We’re blessed tonight, because we got to play at home and our guys were really locked in and so I’m very, very proud of them.”

On K-State’s energy after Christmas break…
“They were begging to be able to come back on the 27th and so we had told them, put up two wins playing Wichita State and Drake and you come back on the 27th. Well, obviously that didn’t happen. Our staff said ‘Coach, if we give them this extra day, they’ll know we care more about them than we care about basketball.’ So, we did that. I’m thankful we did, not just for them, I was not ready to come back, so I am thankful for that extra day.”

On starting the Big 12 Conference with a win…
“Big 12 opener, second game, any game. Yeah, it’s just like winning is hard, right, winning is hard. And so, anytime you can get one and anytime you get to play in front of your crowd, that’s huge. And it’s the Big 12, right? And so, our guys, I believe they’re going to be excited and hopefully the plan is to build on what we did tonight. So, I don’t see us losing focus or relaxing. We just won, 7-5, we don’t have time to relax. And we’ll enjoy tonight, but we’ll get back after it tomorrow.”

FIRST HALF
Both teams started 0-of-3 from the field before a jumper by senior Coleman Hawkins opened the scoring more than 2 minutes into the game. Two free throws by junior Dug McDaniel gave K-State a 4-0 lead before a 3-pointer from Texas transfer Dillon Mitchell gave Cincinnati its first field goal. However, the Wildcats expanded their lead to 9-3 on a layup by McDaniel and a 3-pointer from Hawkins to force UC head coach Wes Miller to call his first timeout at the 15:34 mark.

McDaniel knocked down a 3-pointer out of the timeout to push the lead to 12-3 but the Bearcats scored 6 straight points to cut the deficit to one possession with 12:46 to play. A jumper by senior Max Jones answered the run with a jumper to give the Wildcats some cushion at 14-9, as he became the first Wildcat outside of Hawkins and McDaniel to score in the game.

Back-to-back baskets by McDaniel and Hawkins extended the lead to 18-11 before a layup and another Mitchell 3-pointer closed UC to within 18-17. The Wildcats led 22-18 before the Bearcats used a 9-4 run to grab their first lead on a 3-pointer by junior Dan Skillings Jr. at the 2:34 mark.

Following timeout by head coach Jerome Tang, Hawkins finished off a strong first half with a 3-pointer and a driving layup that helped K-State take a 31-29 lead into the halftime break.

UC connected on 48 percent (12-of-25) from the field, but 8 turnovers led to 11 K-State points. The Wildcats shot just 36.7 percent (11-of-30) but did convert on 6-of-7 attempts from the free throw line. Hawkins led all scorers with 12 points to go with 5 rebounds and 2 steals.

SECOND HALF
Cincinnati scored the first points of the second half to tie the game at 31-all before McDaniel used a personal 6-0 run to give K-State a 37-31 lead and forced a timeout by Miller at the 16:37 mark. Skillings answered with another 3-pointer out of the timeout but back-to-back 3-pointers by juniors Brendan Hausen and C.J. Jones pushed the Wildcats to their largest lead at 43-34.

Two 3-pointers keyed Cincinnati during a 9-4 run that cut the deficit to 47-43 right before the third media timeout at the 11:46 mark. However, a layup by N’Guessan and another 3-pointer from Hawkins pushed K-State back out 52-45 near the midpoint of the second half.

A 9-2 run by the Bearcats tied the game at 56-all with 5:31 to play before N’Guessan converted on an old-fashioned 3-point play to pull the Wildcats ahead 59-56 at the final media timeout with less than 4 minutes to play. The teams traded points over the next few possessions, as K-State called a full timeout with 1:05 to play, leading 63-61.

Out of the timeout, Max Jones drove the lane and knocked down a turnaround jumper to give the Wildcats a 65-61 lead. Following another Bearcats’ basket, a key sequence came following a missed free throw by Hawkins. After making the first one, he was short on the second one and Max Jones was able to tip the rebound out to C.J. Jones, who was able to corral the pass and get fouled. He made both free throws to give the Wildcats a 68-63 with 18.7 seconds left.

C.J. Jones finished off the scoring with 2 more free throws for a 70-65 lead with 7.6 seconds remaining before the Bearcats scoring the final basket on a tip-in with 1.1 seconds.

K-State shot 52 percent (13-of-25) in the second half, as N’Guessan and C.J. Jones led a balanced attack with 9 points each.

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE

• K-State snapped an 8-game losing streak to Cincinnati, as the Bearcats now lead the all-time series, 8-2… This was the first win by the Wildcats since an 83-80 double-overtime in the 1958 NCAA Tournament on March 14, 1958… This was also the first win in 3 meetings in Manhattan, including the first-ever matchup at Bramlage Coliseum.
• K-State is now 57-55 all-time in conference openers dating back to the Missouri Valley Conference era in 1914, including 39-20 at home… The Wildcats are 13-16 in Big 12 openers, including 9-5 at Bramlage Coliseum.
• Head coach Jerome Tang is now 3-0 in Big 12 openers.
• K-State is now 436-149 all-time at Bramlage Coliseum, including 175-119 in league play.
• K-State is now 134-297 all-time vs. Top 25 opponents, including 9-5 vs. the AP No. 16 team.
• K-State is now 51-73 vs. Top 25 teams at Bramlage Coliseum, including 47-70 vs. ranked Big 12 opponents.
• K-State used a starting lineup of junior Dug McDaniel, junior Brendan Hausen, senior Max Jones, senior Coleman Hawkins and senior David N’Guessan for the second time and the first time since the LSU game (11/14/24)… Hausen, M. Jones, Hawkins and N’Guessan have now started the first 12 games.
• Hawkins now has 94 career starts (Illinois/K-State), M. Jones now has 93 career starts (Tampa/Cal State Fullerton/K-State), N’Guessan now has 51 career starts (all at K-State) and McDaniel now has 54 career starts (Michigan/K-State).
• All 12 of Hausen’s career starts have come at K-State.

TEAM NOTES

• K-State scored its 70 points on 43.6 percent (24-of-55) shooting, including 30 percent (6-of-20) from 3-point range, while making 80 percent (16-of-20) from the free throw line.
• The 70 points were the most allowed by Cincinnati this season.
• K-State forced Cincinnati into 15 turnovers, converting those into 15 points.
• Cincinnati had a 36-30 advantage on the glass with 10 offensive rebounds resulting in 10-8 edge in second-chance points.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES

• Three Wildcats scored in double figures, including 20 points from senior Coleman Hawkins, 17 points from junior Dug McDaniel and 13 points from senior David N’Guessan.
• Hawkins scored his 20 points on 7-of-13 field goals, including 3-of-5 from 3-point range, and 3-of-4 free throws to go with 10 rebounds, 4 steals and 3 assists in 36 minutes… It was his eighth career 20-point game and his first as a Wildcat… He now has 51 career double-digit scoring games, including 6 at K-State… Hawkins also collected his eighth career double-double, including his second at K-State.
• McDaniel scored his 17 points on 7-of-13 field goals, including 1-of-4 from 3-point range, and 2-of-3 free throws to go with 2 assists and 2 rebounds in 33 minutes… He now has 43 career double-digit scoring games, including 6 at K-State.
• N’Guessan scored his 13 points on 5-of-8 field goals and 3-of-5 free throws to go with 7 rebounds… It was his 36 career double-digit scoring games, including his team-leading 11 this season.