K-State Shakes Off Start to Dominate UNCG, 93-64

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas State erupted for 60 points in the second half to shake off a one-point halftime deficit, as the Wildcats opened the 2025-26 season with a 93-64 win over UNC Greensboro on Tuesday night before 7,765 fans at Bramlage Coliseum.

Three Wildcats scored in double figures, including a pair of 20-point performances from junior P.J. Haggerty (27 points) and senior Nate Johnson, who narrowly missed the school's first recorded triple-double, with 22 points and game-highs of 9 rebounds and 9 assists. Junior Abdi Bashir Jr. scored all 16 of his points in the second half, hitting on 6-of-7 field goals, including 4-of-5 from 3.

It marked the first time in nearly 18 years that a pair of Wildcats each went over 20 points in an opener and the first since Michael Beasley and Blake Young went for 32 and 22 points, respectively, against Sacramento State on Nov. 9, 2007.

Down 34-33 at the half, the Wildcats (1-0) came out of the locker room a different team, scoring 22 of the first 31 points to take a 12-point lead and force a timeout by UNCG head coach Mike Jones at the 13:25 mark. Unfortunately for the Spartans, the timeout only slowed the Wildcats' momentum as they rattled off 15 straight points – all on 3-pointers from Bashir and Johnson – to go ahead 70-45 with under 10 minutes to play. The lead grew to as many 32 points (89-57) after Haggerty's last points of the night with 3:12 left.

K-State shot just over 50 percent (34-of-67) from the field, including 59.5 percent (22-of-37) in the second half, while hitting on 51.9 percent (14-of-27) from 3-point range. Eleven of the Wildcats' 14 makes from beyond the arc came after halftime. The 14 3-pointers tie for the seventh-most in any game, while the 11 in the second half tie for the second-most in any half.

The 60-point second half marked just the 11^th time that the Wildcats have scored 60 or more points in any half, as it ties for the ninth-most points in any half and are the most since a 63-point second half against UAPB on Dec. 1, 2024.

UNCG (0-1) led by as many as 10 points in the first half before K-State closed to within one at the break. The Spartans were led by graduate Justin Neely, who had 15 points to go with a team-high 9 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals in 32 minutes. Freshman Lilian Marville added 14 points in his college debut, while junior Domas Kauzonas chipped in 10 points.

KEY PLAYER(S)
Johnson was just one rebound and assist short of the school's first triple-double in his debut, as he poured in 22 points on 8-of-11 field goals, including 6-of-7 from 3-point range, to go with game-highs in both assists (9) and rebounds (9). His 6 made 3-pointers were a career-high and the most by any Wildcat in a season opener in at least 23 seasons.

Haggerty led the way with 27 points, connecting on 10-of-20 field goals and 6-of-7 free throws to go with 3 assists, 2 rebounds, 1 steal and a block in 32 minutes. It was the most points in a debut since Michael Beasley scored 32 points against Sacramento State on Nov. 9, 2007.

KEY MOMENT(S)
K-State scored 15 points before the first media timeout to seize control of the game. Bashir gave the Wildcats the lead for good on his first 3-pointer to break a 40-all tie before a layup by Haggerty and a 3-pointer by freshman Andrej Kostic pushed the lead to 48-42 with 15:38 remaining.

After a basket by the Spartans closed the gap to 55-45 with just over 13 minutes left, the Wildcats scored 15 straight points, all coming from 3-pointers from Bashir and Johnson, to push the lead to 25 points (70-45) with 9:39 to play.

KEY STATS
K-State scored its 60 points in the second half on 59.5 percent (22-of-37) shooting, including 64.7 percent (11-of-17) from 3-point range. The Wildcats outscored the Spartans, 18-10 in the paint, 10-3 in second-chance points, 14-2 in fast-break points and 14-0 from the bench.

In contrast, UNCG made just 9 of 26 field goals (34.6 percent) in the second half, including 3 of 11 (27.3 percent) from 3-point range, with 9 turnovers.

HEAD COACH JEROME TANG
Opening statement…
"It's such a blessing to do what I do here with these guys and have such a great athletic director like Gene Taylor. I just want to thank my Lord and Savior for this and I'm just so proud of the guys. It's funny, I didn't expect them to be as tight early, but you could see it, they were a little tight. We had some turnovers, and some things that we did, some things that we hadn't necessarily shown for a long time, and then they settled down. I thought C.J. [Jones], in the game early, brought great energy, length, and caused some turnovers and was able to get out and do some things. Then at halftime, staff made some great adjustments, and the guys responded and relaxed, and then we made shots. And when you start making shots, it solves all kinds of problems. So blessed, thankful for the win and ready to move on."

On calling a timeout after 10 minutes and what he told the guys…
"Yeah, I don't know if there's anything that I said as much just to get them to relax. I just thought we were tight and pressed. We knew going in that [UNC Greensboro head coach] Mike [Jones] does such a great job with his team and they do a great job of guarding that first action, they do a great job in the second action, but if we could get them to the third action, then every defense breaks down, and we didn't allow ourselves to get to that. We just told them to play together. I think we had eight turnovers at the 10-minute mark. Most of the buckets we scored were unassisted. You're not playing good basketball if you're scoring a bunch of unassisted buckets, it's a lot of one-on-one. We didn't want to do that."

On running four guards in the second half…
"Yeah, having four guards on the floor and them not being able to clog up. We had the two bigs in a particular group and they were able to not only drop ball screens, but also have another guy at the rim, and we were just eating up space. It's just hard. It was hard on the four guards, which made them have to spread a little bit more. When they didn't, we made shots, and then when we made shots, then it made them spread more then it opened up driving lanes. When you can play four guards and still rebound and defend, that makes you really hard to guard."

On Nate Johnson being one rebound and one assist away from the triple double…
"Yeah, they told me. I told them one time to switch him on the free throw line, to take the bottom spot so he could get his tenth rebound. He said, "Coach, don't worry about it," so he's just such a terrific kid. He just wants to win, and Nate has the ability to dominate on both ends of the floor all of the time. That's up to us as coaches to help him learn how to do that and inspire him to do it all of the time."

On Nate Johnson's overall performance tonight…
"He did a lot of everything.. He was like a plus 47 when he was on the floor. It probably wasn't a very good sub by me, having him on the bench during one stretch there. Nate, P.J. [Haggerty], Abdi [Bashir Jr.] are really good guards. When C.J. gets in his rhythm and figures out his spots, [we think] how do we fit him in offensively? I wanted him to be a little bit more aggressive than he was, but it was fine. Andrej [Kostic] had five rebounds today. We have six guards that can play, but obviously, Nate and P.J., they add a different dimension to it."

On P.J. Haggerty's debut K-State performance…
"It's nice to have a guy who can go get a shot at any time. P.J. wants to be a point guard. Point guards are judged, just like pitchers, on wins and losses, and that's what's going to be judged. Not if he scores 27, not if he does this. Did we win, did we lose? Is he leading us and helping us get better? He's going to continue to learn how to manage the game a little bit differently. I thought there were sometimes where he forced some things that he didn't need to. My evaluation of his game is not on the stat sheet; it's on the film. He told on himself today, 'Did you see how fast he got out in transition?' He's fast. So, I now can require him to run that fast back on defense all the time."

On what Mobi Ikegwuruka brings with his energy…
"That's the thing we needed. I felt like we needed just a little more energy, some more rebounding, him starting, then it was also to challenge Elias [Rapieque]to be a better rebounder. There's something about sitting on the bench that inspires guys to do a little bit more. Mobi's energy is great. Now, we have to get him to have disciplined energy, so he doesn't pick up the dumb fouls where he doesn't put himself out of position. But our forwards are going to make huge jumps over the next few weeks because they're going to get to play, figure out their spots and we're going to learn how to use them a little bit better. But, I thought, how many passes did they bobble, how many lob passes we should have caught and dunked, that's what's going to get better. Their improvement is going to be the thing that I'm looking at the most over the next few weeks."

On the defensive improvement following the first two exhibition games…
"We put them in the bonus in the first half, with 14 minutes to go, so we have to guard without fouling. I will chalk that up to the nervous energy of the first game. I thought they got the bonus before we did in the second half. Those are some things I'm looking at, as well as our fouls and see how we can clean some of those up, especially fouls on shots. I don't mind sometimes fouling, but you don't want to foul them where they go, and get to shoot free throws. [We'll] make them take the ball out of bounds, but I thought our switching was better, communication was better, transition defense for the most part was better and then our shot selection helps that. We had better floor balance because of shot selection but the communication and the chemistry on defense is going to take time. I've seen improvements over the three games, so I'm excited about that."

FIRST HALF
Nerves showed in the early going, as the teams were plagued by turnovers and poor shooting. With the score knotted at 8-all, UNCG used an 11-1 run to go ahead 19-9, forcing a timeout by Tang. The Wildcats pulled to within 22-17 on a 3-pointer by Johnson and a layup by Rapieque, but the Spartans responded with a layup and a pair of free throws to push back ahead 26-17.

K-State got a little momentum going with 5 straight points, including back-to-back buckets from Haggerty, forcing a timeout by UNCG at the 5:18 mark. After buckets by the Spartans pushed their lead to 30-24, a 3-pointer by Kostic ignited a 7-0 run that gave the Wildcats their first lead at 31-30. However, UNCG ended the half with a 34-33 lead with 2 of the last 3 baskets.

Haggerty led all scorers with 13 points, while Johnson had 8 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists.

SECOND HALF
K-State had a strong start to the second half, as the Wildcats outscored the Spartans, 15-8, before the first media timeout to take a 48-42 lead. Five different players scored in the opening moments, including 3-pointers from Bashir, Johnson and Kostic. The hot start continued after a UNCG free throw, as a second 3-pointer by Bashir started a string of 7 straight points to extend the lead to 55-43 and force a timeout by Spartan coach Mike Jones.

After a basket cut the deficit to 10 points, the Wildcats ran off 15 straight points, all on 3-pointers from Bashir and Johnson, to go ahead 70-45 with less than 10 minutes to play. The lead grew to as many as 32 points (89-57) after Haggerty's final points with 3:12 remaining.

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE

K-State is now 95-27 all-time in season openers, including an 83-10 mark at home and a 31-3 mark at Bramlage Coliseum.
K-State has now won 20 of its last 23 season openers.
K-State is now 40-9 under head coach Jerome Tang at Bramlage Coliseum.
K-State is now 3-1 under Tang in season openers, including 3-0 when opening at home.
K-State used a starting lineup of junior P.J. Haggerty, senior Nate Johnson, junior Abdi Bashir Jr., junior Mobi Ikegwuruka and senior Khamari McGriff… It marked the first career starts at K-State for all 5… It was the first career games at K-State for Bashir, Haggerty, Johnson and McGriff.
Haggerty now has 67 career starts (Tulsa/Memphis/K-State), N. Johnson now has 61 career starts (Akron/K-State), McGriff now has 43 career starts (UNC Wilmington/K-State) and Bashir now has 33 career starts (Monmouth/K-State).
It was Ikegwuruka's first career start after playing in 24 games at K-State last season.
Juniors Dorin Buca and Elias Rapieque were the first subs of the game.
Two other Wildcats – Andrej Kostic and Stephen Osei – saw their first action.
12 of the team's 14 players saw action.

TEAM NOTES

K-State scored its 93 points on 50.7 percent (34-of-67) shooting, including 51.9 percent (14-of-27) from 3-point range, and had 22 assists on 34 made field goals.
The 93 points equaled the most by a Jerome Tang-team in a season opener (93 vs. UTRGV (11/7/22) and were the most since scoring 98 vs. Southern Utah on Nov. 14, 2014.
The 60-point second half marked the 11^th time that a Wildcat team has scored 60 or more points in a half… It tied for the ninth-most points in any half.
K-State's 14 made 3-point field goals tie six others for the seventh-most in a game in school history and the most since hitting 21 vs. UAPB (12/1/24)… Five different players had at least one triple, including 6 by Nate Johnson and 4 by Abdi Bashir Jr.
The 11 made 3-pointers in the second half tied for the second-most in any half and were the most since also making 11 vs. UAPB (12/1/24).
K-State outscored UNCG across the board, including 21-17 in points off turnovers, 34-28 in the paint, 14-10 in second-chance points, 26-8 in fast-break points and 21-10 off the bench.
K-State held a 42-31 rebounding margin, including 11 offensive rebounds.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES

Three Wildcats scored in double figures, including a game-high 27 points from junior P.J. Haggerty, 22 points from senior Nate Johnson and 16 points from junior Abdi Bashir Jr.
It marked the first time since 2007 that a pair of Wildcats each scored 20 or more points in an opener and the first since Michael Beasley and Blake Young vs. Sacramento State.
Haggerty scored his 27 points on 10-of-20 field goals, including 1-of-4 from 3-point range, and 6-of-7 free throws… He has now scored in double figures in 65 of 73 games in college, including 26 games of 25 or more points.
Johnson scored his 22 points on 8-of-11 field goals, including 6-of-7 from 3-point range, for sixth career 20-point game… He has now scored in double figures in 41 career games… His 6 made 3-pointers were a career-high… He was one rebound and one assist shy of a triple-double with game-highs of 9 rebounds and 9 assists.
Bashir scored his 16 points, all in the second half, on 6-of-11 field goals, including 4-of-8 from 3-point range… He has now scored in double figures in 37 of 67 games in college.
Freshman Andrej Kostic scored 9 points in his debut, hitting on 2-of-7 field goals, both from 3-point range, to go with a 3-of-4 effort from the line and 5 rebounds in 17 minutes.
Senior C.J. Jones recorded a career-high 7 rebounds to go with 2 assists and 2 steals.
Junior Elias Rapieque was solid in his first game as a Wildcat, scoring 5 points to go with 4 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 blocks in 21 minutes.

WHAT'S NEXT
K-State continues its homestand to open the 2025-26 season on Saturday night when the Wildcats play host to Bellarmine (0-1) at Bramlage Coliseum. Tip is set for 7 p.m., CT and will air on ESPN+ as well as the K-State Sports Network. Tickets are available one at kstatesports.com/tickets, by calling (800) 221.CATS and in-person at the Athletic Ticket Office in Bramlage Coliseum.

Next Event

Team Stats

P.J. Haggerty

Nate Johnson

Abdi Bashir Jr.

Andrej Kostic

Players Mentioned

Abdi Bashir Jr.

Dorin Buca

P.J. Haggerty

Mobi Ikegwuruka

Nate Johnson

C.J. Jones

Andrej Kostic

Khamari McGriff

Stephen Osei

Elias Rapieque

Players Mentioned

Abdi Bashir Jr.

Dorin Buca

P.J. Haggerty

Mobi Ikegwuruka

Nate Johnson

C.J. Jones

Andrej Kostic

Khamari McGriff

Stephen Osei

Elias Rapieque

Kansas State University Athletics