K-State Defeats Utah 81-78 – Yahoo Sports

The Kansas State Wildcats got 71 points from its starting guards to beat Utah 81-78 Tuesday night in Bramlage Coliseum.

Without the services of Abdi Bashir Jr. and Khamari McGriff, who both missed the game with injuries, the Wildcats (10-9, 1-5 Big 12) had to rely on P.J. Haggerty, David Castillo, and Nate Johnson to carry the scoring load. Their effort, along with 10 points from the supporting cast, proved just barely enough to beat the Utes (9-10, 1-5).

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Castillo did his best Abdi impression early on, scoring 11 of the Cats’ first 13, canning 5 of his 7 three-point attempts, and pouring in 17 points by halftime. Johnson joined in the early fun, making 3 of 4 from deep and scoring 15 in the first period. They finished the game with 20 and 17, respectively.

The second half featured P.J. doing P.J. things, setting up defenders and getting short-range jumpers and floaters to drop. He scored 28 of his game-high 34 in the second half. The only player other than Haggerty, Castillo, or Johnson, to score after halftime was Taj Manning, who took a nice high-low pass down the lane from Johnson for an easy lay-up.

The Cats shot 31-62 (50%) from the floor, including 12-23 (52.2%) from outside the arc. They committed only 10 turnovers and scored a robust 1.209 points per possession.

Though K-State led by as many as 10 in the first half, the Wildcats could never bury the Utes because (stop me if you’ve heard this before), they gave up far too many easy shots and second-chance points. Utah exploited defensive switches and help in the lane for many layups and stick-backs. They scored 40 points in the paint.

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Utah missed a three-point attempt at the buzzer to fall one shot short of 50% themselves, finishing 32-65 from the floor. They were only 8-23 (34.8%) from outside, but they kept pace by winning the second-chance battle 12-6 and earning a 14-8 advantage in points off turnovers.

The Wildcats could neither stop nor slow Utah’s Terrence Brown, who dropped in 33…

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Publish date : 2026-01-21 05:07:00

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