Hawkins’ 26 points lead K-State past Arizona State, 71-66 in Big 12 Tournament

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - Led by Coleman Hawkins, the Kansas State Wildcats got their postseason started with a 71-66 victory over Arizona State in the First Round of the Big 12 Tournament.

K-State entered the week knowing it needs a five-game run and to cut down the nets Saturday to claim the Big 12′s automatic bid in the NCAA Tournament. They got one game down in that grand quest with a win over that KSU led for the majority of the contest.

Hawkins, a fifth-year forward for the Wildcats, led the way with 26 points on 10-for-17 shooting from the floor.

In a first half that featured several significant scoring runs, it was K-State that started fast, grabbing a 15-4 lead in the game’s first five minutes. Hawkins was an instrumental part of that early K-State lead, knocking down his first three 3-point attempts as the Wildcats opened by making four of their five attempts from deep.

“It’s a make-or-miss game,” K-State head coach Jerome Tang said. “We made shots, but when it became a grinder we were able to do that.”

Hawkins’ scoring output was his highest of the season and was four points shy of his career high at Illinois. It was the first time he’d scored in double figures since Feb. 8.

“I thought I needed to make up for my poor performance against Iowa State,” Hawkins said of a 4-point performance on Saturday against the Cyclones on Senior Day. “I didn’t play very good at all, I didn’t play confidently. Today, I took my knee brace off and felt a little bit more free. Went out there and didn’t really think too much and shot the ball confidently.

“I’ve been a part of tournament teams that have won the tournament so I want to go out there and be aggressive.”

Junior guard Brendan Hausen, who scored 10 points on 4-for-6 shooting, commended Hawkins for his effort despite the injury.

“I know what he’s dealing with and it’s obviously not a comfortable pain for him,” Hausen said, “but that guy is putting it all on the line for us. That’s awesome to see especially here down the stretch. He shot the ball extremely well tonight and he’s capable of doing that. He’s such an asset to our team because he’s such a great passer and decision maker and he can make shots.

“Whenever he is knocking down shots and he’s a scorer we’re dangerous.”

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When Arizona State cut the deficit to 4 with under a minute to play, K-State answered with a 3-point play on a layup and a foul drawn by senior forward David N’Guessan. The fifth-year forward from the Netherlands made a critical play despite spending much of the night glued to the Wildcats bench due to foul trouble.

“We look at it as a blessing in disguise,” K-State guard Dug McDaniel said of N’Guessan’s foul trouble, which limited him to just 17 minutes of action. “He’ll be fresh for tomorrow.”

Blue Valley Northwest grad Alston Mason had a team-high 17 points for Arizona State, along with 2 rebounds and 3 assists in the loss, ending his collegiate career. That concluded a year for Mason that saw the Sun Devils go 13-19 and win just four Big 12 games after he transferred to Arizona State following a year at Oklahoma and two years at Missouri State.

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After ASU opened with a 6-for-15 shooting performance from beyond the arc in the first half, the Sun Devils shot 1-for-11 in the second half from deep.

“I think we limited their catch-and-shoot 3s and had them have to take dribble 3s. That was part of the scouting report so the guys did a good job with that,” Tang said, “and part of it is they just missed shots. That happens sometimes.”

K-State improves to 16-16 and advances to the Second Round of the Big 12 Tournament. With the win, K-State will take on No. 7 seed Baylor Wednesday at 6 p.m. CT.

It’ll be the second time Tang matches up with his former boss, Scott Drew. The Wildcats lost to the Bears 70-62 in late January.

“I know Scott really well but there’s only a couple guys on that team that I recruited,” Tang said. “This is about K-State and trying to win a basketball game and that’s what we’ll do tomorrow.”

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