Kansas State University Athletics
‘We Try to Set the Tone’
Feb 12, 2025 | Men's Basketball, Sports Extra
By: D. Scott Fritchen
Arguably the biggest turnaround story in Division I basketball has taken shape in Manhattan as Kansas State, which lost six straight games, has now won a Big 12 Conference-leading six games in a row after a 73-70 win over No. 13 Arizona at Bramlage Coliseum.
The Wildcats, who beat No. 16 Kansas 81-73 on Saturday, have not lost in 20 days, now own five Top 25 wins — tied with Arizona for most in the Big 12 — and have four Quad 1 victories while their NET seemingly continues to improve nightly.
Once shackled to a 7-11 record, the Wildcats are flying high at 13-11 overall and 7-6 in the Big 12 as they prepare for back-to-back road games at BYU and Utah starting Saturday.
"For every 1,000 men who can handle adversity there's only one that can handle success," said K-State head coach Jerome Tang, who took the Wildcats to the Elite Eight his first season in 2022-23. "We wanted to show that we weren't going to allow all the text messages and everything else that people are saying and all that stuff to impact what we needed to do to keep this thing going. All that stuff just builds arrogance, and God can't stand arrogance or pride.
"We want to be humble and keep working hard and keep realizing that it's all the little things that allows us to have the score the way it's been on the plus side for us."
For another game, it was senior transfer point guard Dug McDaniel leading the way. The 5-foot-11, 175-pound McDaniel had a season-high 24 points, four rebounds, three assists and a career-tying five steals, habitually frustrating Arizona defenders with wicked floating tear-drop shots on a night when 3-pointers were difficult to come by.
K-State shot 45.2% from the floor but shot just 1-for-19 on 3-point attempts. Arizona shot 41.3% but made just 2-of-22 from distance.
Senior forward David N'Guessan had 16 points and seven rebounds before fouling out late in the second half. Senior guard CJ Jones added 10 points.
McDaniel has averaged 15.2 points and 6.6 assists during the six-game winning streak.
"We never gave up," McDaniel said of the Wildcats' ability to pull themselves from near the bottom of the league. "Even though we were losing, you could still tell from the body language and demeanor of the guys that they care. They don't accept losing. We all had to look at ourselves in the mirror to realize we all have to step up individually if we want this team thing to work.
"I think every guy went back and reflected and put their pride to the side, their egos to the side, and did their all for the team. That's been working so far."
The Wildcats' turnaround seemed to impress Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd, whose team saw its six-game winning streak snapped as it dropped to 17-7 and 11-2.
Under Lloyd, Arizona entered the night 27-13 (.675) in true road games, tied with Duke for the best winning percentage in the country since the start of the 2021-22 season by a team in a Power Conference. Arizona also entered the night No. 7 in the NET rankings and No. 10 in KenPom.
"They're fighting for their season," Lloyd said. "They were the little bit more desperate team today. You could see that and feel that. That's what good coaches do. Sometimes it doesn't go as easy as you want early, and you keep fighting. As a coach, you want to hang with it. You want to help your team go through it and come out the other side, and Jerome has done a great job of that."
It actually didn't feel like desperation as much as determination that guided K-State past another ranked opponent. K-State proved gritter and more aggressive on the court. The Wildcats had 14 steals and outscored the league-leaders in points in the paint 46-44.
"Since the turnaround, we've made an emphasis on playing more aggressive," McDaniel said. "Maybe if we don't get the steals, we get the deflections. Just be the more aggressive team. The most aggressive team is always going to win each night. We try to set the tone. We hit first. They're going to counterpunch, but we're not going to fall. We're going to bounce back."
In a game that featured a couple key runs, K-State put together the most devastating of them all in outscoring Arizona 13-0 to end the first half with a 35-29 lead.
Down the stretch of the game, K-State trailed 62-60 when McDaniel took control with six straight points before Mobi Ikegwuruka stole a pass from point guard Jaden Bradley near midcourt, and KJ Lewis fouled him on a vicious dunk that sent teammates celebrating on the bench.
"I kind of knew they were going to pass the ball," Ikegwuruka said. "I thought if I reached out for the ball, I'd probably get it. So, I got the ball, went down, slowed down a little bit, to get him on my back, jumped up and dunked it."
K-State held Arizona to just two field goals over the final 4 minutes, 5 seconds as the Wildcats led by as many as six points on a Brendan Hausen free throw that made it 70-64 with 57 seconds remaining. Arizona got to within 71-70 on a basket by Lewis with 7 seconds to go before Caleb Love fouled Hausen and he sank both free throws for the game's final points.
As for the key to the Wildcats' turnaround?
"We needed time," Tang said. "We needed time, and over the course of time the staff did an unbelievable job connecting with our guys' hearts and our guys did an unbelievable job opening their hearts and minds to what we needed to improve on, and we did a really good job listening to them. They had some thoughts that were very, very valuable.
"This thing isn't about coaching or Xs and Os, it's about players who've decided they wanted to win more than anything else, and whatever was asked or needed they were willing to put forth. Last game we made shots, tonight we didn't and had to guard and not hang our head when the ball didn't go through the hole. They did whatever they needed at the time for us to have a chance to win."
And the K-State Wildcats — not the Arizona Wildcats — continue their winning ways.
"It's a great feeling having everyone buy in and understand the job at hand," McDaniel said. "The job's not finished. We won today, but onto the next."
Arguably the biggest turnaround story in Division I basketball has taken shape in Manhattan as Kansas State, which lost six straight games, has now won a Big 12 Conference-leading six games in a row after a 73-70 win over No. 13 Arizona at Bramlage Coliseum.
The Wildcats, who beat No. 16 Kansas 81-73 on Saturday, have not lost in 20 days, now own five Top 25 wins — tied with Arizona for most in the Big 12 — and have four Quad 1 victories while their NET seemingly continues to improve nightly.
Once shackled to a 7-11 record, the Wildcats are flying high at 13-11 overall and 7-6 in the Big 12 as they prepare for back-to-back road games at BYU and Utah starting Saturday.
"For every 1,000 men who can handle adversity there's only one that can handle success," said K-State head coach Jerome Tang, who took the Wildcats to the Elite Eight his first season in 2022-23. "We wanted to show that we weren't going to allow all the text messages and everything else that people are saying and all that stuff to impact what we needed to do to keep this thing going. All that stuff just builds arrogance, and God can't stand arrogance or pride.
"We want to be humble and keep working hard and keep realizing that it's all the little things that allows us to have the score the way it's been on the plus side for us."
For another game, it was senior transfer point guard Dug McDaniel leading the way. The 5-foot-11, 175-pound McDaniel had a season-high 24 points, four rebounds, three assists and a career-tying five steals, habitually frustrating Arizona defenders with wicked floating tear-drop shots on a night when 3-pointers were difficult to come by.
K-State shot 45.2% from the floor but shot just 1-for-19 on 3-point attempts. Arizona shot 41.3% but made just 2-of-22 from distance.
Senior forward David N'Guessan had 16 points and seven rebounds before fouling out late in the second half. Senior guard CJ Jones added 10 points.
McDaniel has averaged 15.2 points and 6.6 assists during the six-game winning streak.
"We never gave up," McDaniel said of the Wildcats' ability to pull themselves from near the bottom of the league. "Even though we were losing, you could still tell from the body language and demeanor of the guys that they care. They don't accept losing. We all had to look at ourselves in the mirror to realize we all have to step up individually if we want this team thing to work.
"I think every guy went back and reflected and put their pride to the side, their egos to the side, and did their all for the team. That's been working so far."
The Wildcats' turnaround seemed to impress Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd, whose team saw its six-game winning streak snapped as it dropped to 17-7 and 11-2.
Under Lloyd, Arizona entered the night 27-13 (.675) in true road games, tied with Duke for the best winning percentage in the country since the start of the 2021-22 season by a team in a Power Conference. Arizona also entered the night No. 7 in the NET rankings and No. 10 in KenPom.
"They're fighting for their season," Lloyd said. "They were the little bit more desperate team today. You could see that and feel that. That's what good coaches do. Sometimes it doesn't go as easy as you want early, and you keep fighting. As a coach, you want to hang with it. You want to help your team go through it and come out the other side, and Jerome has done a great job of that."
It actually didn't feel like desperation as much as determination that guided K-State past another ranked opponent. K-State proved gritter and more aggressive on the court. The Wildcats had 14 steals and outscored the league-leaders in points in the paint 46-44.
"Since the turnaround, we've made an emphasis on playing more aggressive," McDaniel said. "Maybe if we don't get the steals, we get the deflections. Just be the more aggressive team. The most aggressive team is always going to win each night. We try to set the tone. We hit first. They're going to counterpunch, but we're not going to fall. We're going to bounce back."
In a game that featured a couple key runs, K-State put together the most devastating of them all in outscoring Arizona 13-0 to end the first half with a 35-29 lead.
Down the stretch of the game, K-State trailed 62-60 when McDaniel took control with six straight points before Mobi Ikegwuruka stole a pass from point guard Jaden Bradley near midcourt, and KJ Lewis fouled him on a vicious dunk that sent teammates celebrating on the bench.
"I kind of knew they were going to pass the ball," Ikegwuruka said. "I thought if I reached out for the ball, I'd probably get it. So, I got the ball, went down, slowed down a little bit, to get him on my back, jumped up and dunked it."
K-State held Arizona to just two field goals over the final 4 minutes, 5 seconds as the Wildcats led by as many as six points on a Brendan Hausen free throw that made it 70-64 with 57 seconds remaining. Arizona got to within 71-70 on a basket by Lewis with 7 seconds to go before Caleb Love fouled Hausen and he sank both free throws for the game's final points.
As for the key to the Wildcats' turnaround?
"We needed time," Tang said. "We needed time, and over the course of time the staff did an unbelievable job connecting with our guys' hearts and our guys did an unbelievable job opening their hearts and minds to what we needed to improve on, and we did a really good job listening to them. They had some thoughts that were very, very valuable.
"This thing isn't about coaching or Xs and Os, it's about players who've decided they wanted to win more than anything else, and whatever was asked or needed they were willing to put forth. Last game we made shots, tonight we didn't and had to guard and not hang our head when the ball didn't go through the hole. They did whatever they needed at the time for us to have a chance to win."
And the K-State Wildcats — not the Arizona Wildcats — continue their winning ways.
"It's a great feeling having everyone buy in and understand the job at hand," McDaniel said. "The job's not finished. We won today, but onto the next."
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