Bearcats Blitz Wildcats With 16 Threes in 91–62 Rout

K-State fans put a thumbs down gesture with brown bags on their heads. Courtesy: Paige Mueller

A K-State basketball player drives towards the goal and jumps for a layup. Courtesy: Paige Mueller

A K-State basketball player dribbles the ball down the court. Courtesy: Paige Mueller

A K-State basketball player shoots the ball for a layup. Courtesy: Paige Mueller

The Kansas State Wildcats and Cincinnati Bearcats met up in Bramlage Coliseum on Wednesday night for just the second time. K-State still saw absences from Elias Rapique, Abdi Bashir Jr, Mobi Ikegwuruka, and Andrej Kostic. Kostic has been the only player on that list to appear in a February game.

1st Half

Cincinnati came out aggressively in the first half on both ends of the floor, knocking down early perimeter shots and pushing the pace in transition. Jalen Celestine led the Bearcats with 16 points, with Baba Miller and Jizzle James also in double digits. The main contributor in the first half for the Cats was PJ Haggerty with 11 points, and David Castillo hitting back to back three’s, ending the half with 8 points.  The Bearcats forced K-State into tough possessions with few open looks. The Wildcats struggled to find consistent offense outside of PJ Haggerty, who kept K-State within reach with several tough finishes at the rim. Still, Cincinnati carried a comfortable lead into halftime after controlling the tempo and winning the battle from beyond the arc, making 9 three’s while shooting 80%, while K-State was just 3-11 from three, shooting only 27%. At the break, K-State was down 53-31.

2nd Half

After carrying a 22-point lead into halftime, K-State came out strong with quick buckets from Haggerty and Castillo, but Cincinnati responded quickly, not letting the Cats gain any momentum. The Bearcats extended the margin to as much as 32 points behind a balanced scoring attack. Cincinnati shot efficiently throughout the night, finishing 50% from the field and a staggering 57.1 % from three-point range (16-of-28) as a team, which kept pressure on K-State’s defense in the second half. Guard’s Jizzle James and PJ Haggerty led all scorers with 24 points, with multiple other Bearcat players contributing in a big way. The game ended with Cincinnati beating K-State 91-62. That’s the largest margin of loss since the 34-point loss to Iowa State on February 1st.  

Looking Ahead:

K-State will try to bounce back in Houston, the number 3 team currently ranked in the nation, on Saturday, February 14th at 3:00 P.M. With the loss to Cincinnati, K-State moves to 10-14 on the season, 1-10 in Big 12 play, and still only having 1 win in the year 2026. Cincinnati will look to continue their 2 game winning streak as they go on to face Utah on Sunday, February 15 at 11:00 A.M. 

In his post game press conference, Jerome Tang called out his team’s effort and performance, characterizing the loss as embarrassing for his program and clearly expressing his displeasure with how his Wildcats played in the blowout defeat.