COLUMBIA, Mo. – Junior
P.J. Haggerty paced all scorers with a game-high 23 factors and 6 assists whereas senior
Nate Johnson added 14 factors, as Kansas State opened exhibition play with a 100-91 loss at Missouri on Friday night time at Mizzou Arena.
Haggerty scored his 23 factors on 8-of-14 subject objectives, together with 2-of-4 from 3-point vary, and 5-of-7 free throws to go together with his game-high 6 assists, 2 rebounds and a pair of steals in 25 minutes. Johnson made 5-of-11 photographs, together with 2-of-5 from lengthy vary, to go along with a team-high 6 rebounds.
Four Tigers scored in double figures, together with 16 factors every from junior
Anthony Robinson II and graduate
Jayden Stone, as the house group linked on 54.8 % (34-of-62) from the sector with 54 factors within the paint and 29 fast-break factors. Missouri returns 3 starters and seven lettermen from one of the vital potent offenses within the nation, rating ninth nationally at 83.6 factors per recreation.
The Wildcats shot practically 50 % from the sector (49.3 %; 33-of-67), whereas getting 44 factors within the paint and 35 factors from their bench, as head coach
Jerome Tang used a platoon-type system for a lot of the primary half. Nine different gamers scored no less than 5 factors, together with 7 factors from junior
Elias Rapieque and freshman
Andrej Kostic.
Haggerty, Johnson and Rapieque have been joined within the beginning lineup by junior
Abdi Bashir Jr. and senior
Khamari McGriff, taking part in the primary 3 minutes earlier than being changed by sophomore
David Castillo, senior
C.J. Jones, Kostic, sophomore
Mobi Ikegwuruka and junior
Dorin Buca for the subsequent 3 minutes. The platooning went on each 3 minutes till the unique starters got here again in on the 8:43 mark within the midst of a 14-0 run by the Tigers.
Robinson scored 11 of his 16 factors through the pivotal 14-0 run by which Missouri took management of the sport. The Tigers flipped a 16-10 deficit right into a 24-16 lead earlier than a timeout by Ok-State head coach
Jerome Tang with 8:43 to play earlier than halftime. The lead grew to 46-32 with 2:10 remaining earlier than the Wildcats closed to 47-39 on the break on a layup by Haggerty.
Ok-State twice closed to inside 6 factors within the early second of the second half, together with 63-57 on a 3-pointer by Johnson and 65-59 on a pair of free throws by Johnson. However, the explosive Tigers scored 17 of the subsequent 21 factors to take a commanding 82-63 lead with 8:16 to play. Six totally different gamers scored through the run, together with 5 factors from sophomore
Annor Boateng and 4 factors from senior switch
Shawn Phillips Jr.
The Wildcats scored the final 7 factors, together with a layup by Buca, a 3-pointer from junior
Taj Manning and a pair of free throws from Jones.
Joining Robinson and Stone in double figures have been Phillips, who had a double-double of 14 factors and a game-high 10 rebounds, and Boateng, who 15 factors off the bench.
The Tigers additionally took benefit of their alternatives on the free throw line, changing on 26-of-34 makes an attempt, whereas the Wildcats made 15-of-21 makes an attempt.
Ok-State concludes exhibition play on Friday, Oct. 31 when the Wildcats play host to Division II Newman at Bramlage Coliseum for a 7 p.m., CT tip. Tickets can be found by calling the Ok-State Athletics Ticket Office at (800) 221.CATS or on-line at
kstatesports.com/tickets.
HEAD COACH JEROME TANG Opening assertion… “First of all, I want to thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, for the opportunity I have to be the head coach at Kansas State. And man, more importantly, get to live life with this group of guys. We got a terrific group of young men who work really, really hard. And they do a great job of serving each other. And so, as a coach, I’m real proud of that. Thankful to (head coach) Dennis (Gates) for allowing us to come here and do this. In games like this, you wish, we could play more minutes, so you can see more guys do things. And normally it’s a closed scrimmage, and we would play 50 minutes, and more guys would be out on the floor. But, you know, to get a road environment, you know, with TV and refs and timeouts, it was really good. We did not treat it like a real game. I mean, obviously we wanted to win, and the competitor in us comes out. I told the guys we had a full practice yesterday, which we wouldn’t normally do the day before a game. And, then we treated this like another practice. And there was a set rotation and time that we were going to sub. This is great for college basketball. Dennis does a great job, and they’re going to be really good. And I think we had a chance to be a really good team, too, and the things that we need to improve on were exposed, and the guys recognized it. And I’m excited to get back to practice.”
On what he discovered from his group tonight… “We foul too much, and our transition defense sucks and those are two effort things that can improve. I like our guys. I’ve liked him from the very beginning, like their approach. I feel PJ Haggerty is the best point guard in the country and wanted to limit his minutes. I wanted to limit Nate’s (Johnson) minutes, and, then see some of the other guys and how they would respond. I saw some good things. This was a terrific opportunity for us, and so thankful that Dennis was willing to do it.”
On the defensive struggles… “You guys saw it. They had 29 fast break points like, fast break points like, and we will count transition points differently than they count fast break points. So, I think it’s going to be closer to 40 transition points that we gave up and then we fouled them way too much. They shot 34 free throws. And so, we’ve got to correct that, but our approach this summer bringing in coach Driscoll and him, you know, taking over the offense and new terminology and different things from the start of the summer, that’s all we’ve worked on. We didn’t start working on our defense until right before the start of official practice. And so, it takes time to build a chemistry that you want defensively.”
On teaching alongside Matthew Driscoll once more… “It’s fun living life with this dude. You know him, Billy P (
Bill Peterson) and the rest of the guys. It’s just fun living life with them. They make me a better man, a better husband, a better father. And I just love being around them.”
On the efficiency of the worldwide gamers… “We’ve been trying to tell them how physical college basketball is. They got to watch some games. They watched the Oklahoma State-Auburn game, and they came back and said, ‘Oh, man, you guys were right. It is physical.’ But now to actually be out there, I think was good. It’s gonna take a little time for them to adjust. We called something, and it’s our terminology for and Andrej was like, ‘Oh, I didn’t know what that meant.’ And it’s like a very common phrase for Americans, right? And, you know, so it’s just all those little things that we learn. And, you know, one time the ball is bouncing on a free throw, and Dre (Andrej) actually tried to go up and tip it because you can do that in Europe, and so, you know, I was like, ‘Whoa, can’t do that.’ So, it’s been real cool learning experience for them. I’m sure at times it’s frustrating for them but they’re just gonna keep getting better. They’re great kids and talented, and they care.”
On Exavier Wilson attending to play in entrance of his household… “He was excited about coming home and getting to see his family, and so that was cool. I was glad I was able to get him out there. He’s been terrific. He’s got a wonderful family, and thankful that for this opportunity. Because I don’t know how many times we’re gonna get to play in front of him in his hometown. So that’s pretty special.”
BEYOND THE BOXSCORE - This was the primary time Ok-State and Missouri have met in an exhibition recreation after taking part in 237 instances between 1907 and 2018, principally as convention opponents within the Missouri Valley, Big Six, Big Seven, Big Eight and Big 12 Conferences.
- The colleges will meet once more for an exhibition recreation at Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan, Kan., previous to the 2026-27 common season.
- Ok-State is now 75-22 all-time in exhibition play, together with 10-8 on the street.
- Junior P.J. Haggerty led all scorers with 23 factors on 8-of-14 subject objectives, together with 2-of-4 from 3-point vary, and 5-of-7 free throws to go along with a game-high 6 assists.
- Senior Nate Johnson additionally registered double figures with 14 factors on 5-of-11 subject objectives, together with 2-of-5 from 3-point vary, and 2-of-3 free throws to go along with a team-high 6 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal.
- Ok-State began a lineup of junior P.J. Haggerty, senior Nate Johnson, junior Abdi Bashir Jr., junior Elias Rapieque and senior Khamari McGriff.
How to comply with the ‘Cats: For full info on Ok-State males’s basketball, go to www.kstatesports.com and comply with the group’s social media channels on X, Instagram and Facebook.