Missouri Holds Off K-State Late in Exhibition Action - Kansas State University Athletics

Friday, October 23

Manhattan, Kan.

7 p.m. CT

Kansas State University

0-0,0-0Big 12

Missouri

0-0,0-0SEC

Team	1	2	F
Missouri	27	44	71
Kansas St.	32	35	67

Oct 24, 2026 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Final Stats (.pdf)Postgame Quotes (.pdf)Highlights Casey Alexander Press Conference Player Press Conference Photo Gallery Photo Gallery

The Wildcats nearly battled back from a 14-point deficit in the second half.

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas State nearly fought back from a 14-point second half, closing the deficit to one possession several times in the final minute, before falling to a talented Missouri squad, 71-67, on Friday night before 6,800 fans at Bramlage Coliseum.

McDonald's All-American Jason Crowe Jr. led the Tigers with a game-high 21 points to go with 5 assists, while three Wildcats scored in double figures led by fifth year Jaden Schutt and sophomore Montana Wheeler. Senior Brandon Rechsteiner added 11 points to go with team-highs in both rebounds (8) and assists (5).

The Tigers scored the first 13 points of the second half to quickly erase a 5-point halftime deficit to the Wildcats, who were playing their first game under head coach Casey Alexander and 13 news players. The lead ballooned to 14 points at 61-47 with 6:38 remaining after an 11-1 run that was capped by a 3-pointer freshman Toni Bryant. However, the new-look Wildcats wouldn't go away, slowly chipping away behind the play of Rechsteiner, Wheeler and junior Isaiah Abraham, who accounted for the team's last 20 points.

Rechsteiner answered the Bryant 3-pointer right before a K-State timeout with 6:04 to play. He added another 3-pointer following jumpers from Wheeler and Abraham that cut the lead to 63-57, forcing a Missouri timeout with 2:44 remaining. Following a pair of Crowe free throws, Rechsteiner had a layup to go with two free throws from Wheeler that made it 65-61. The teams traded free throws before a steal and layup by Abraham closed to one possession at 67-65 with 27 seconds.

Fifth year Dez Lindsay forced a bad pass by sophomore Bryson Tiller on the next possession but Tiller recovered to block Abraham's layup with 17 seconds. Tiller grabbed the defensive board and fed it to senior Kennard Davis Jr., who converted on a layup on the other end to put the Tigers up 69-65 with 13 seconds. Abraham's dunk with 5 seconds pulled the Wildcats to within 69-67 but two free throws from Crowe with 2.3 seconds provided the final points.

Neither team shot 40 percent from the field, as K-State shot 39.3 percent (24-of-61) from the field, including 26.5 percent (9-of-34) from 3-point range, while making 10 of 11 free throws, while Missouri connected on just 35.4 percent (23-of-65), including 27.6 percent (8-of-29) from long range. Both teams had 28 points in the paint, while the Tigers held advantages in points off turnovers (17-16) and second-chance points (12-7).

K-State had an impressive start to the game as Schutt, sophomore Matt Gilhool and Abraham all had 3-pointers to help the Wildcats jump out to a 9-0 lead. Missouri slowly chipped away at the lead to tie the game at 11-all. A 4-point play by Schutt and two free throws by senior Brock Vice broke the tie as they built as much as a 7-point three times in the first half before heading to the locker room ahead 32-27 at the break.

HEAD COACH CASEY ALEXANDER
On what he liked from today's performance…
"I thought we did a lot of good things with the way that we started the game, not just because we made some shots, but I felt like we were dialed in on both ends of the floor pretty well. Probably most pleased with the attention to detail in the scouting report defensively. I thought when we were set and ready, and didn't make a mistake with coverage or matchups or something like that. They executed the game plan really well. Got a lot of bodies in gaps. Did a nice job there, the numbers would reflect that, if you're just looking at percentages. I think we had 14 deflections in the first half, which is a good number for us. So, I didn't plan to play as much zone as we did, but I thought we were pretty good with that. Obviously, we didn't rebound there, which is a challenge anytime you're playing zone, especially with guys that size and kind of recklessness of going to get it. But I thought overall, I was glad to get a number of possessions out of it there."

On the fight until the team showed till the end…
"I love that. I love the way we stuck with it, and that was really an emphasis before the game, regardless of circumstance. I mean, we're in the infancy of this whole thing, and so the most important part of today was how close can we get to the full 40 minutes, regardless of who's out there, what the score is, what the circumstances are, and I applaud our guys a lot for staying with it and giving ourselves a chance. I mean, we got the steal and we got a chance to tie it or take the lead, and didn't get a good shot off. But I was really proud of how they stayed with it. That's what's so great about these opportunities is we had a lot of circumstances throughout the game that you just can't find until you get in the game, you can't practice a lot of those things. So, I was glad and proud of how they responded in some tough moments."

On the early minutes of the second half…
"We really just lost our edge. I felt like it unraveled a lot, not a little bit. We had a couple of real casual turnovers, led to some easy baskets, got them going, and it was just a train wreck on both ends for about five minutes right there. We had a couple of good looks during that time that we didn't make, but the turnovers that led to easy baskets just put us on our heels. We lost confidence offensively, we quit moving. So I was really disappointed with how we started there. We know our margins are really small. You can't have a five minute set up like that. We gave up 27 [points] in the first half, and I think they had 14 [points] in like the first five minutes of the second half or something like that."

On playing a tough team in preseason…
"I think we learned a lot, and I think we battled. I liked our physicality. I liked what we were trying to do. I'm disappointed that offensively we kind of gave in as much as we did. Their length hurt us. They switched a lot of screens, which is typical for teams that play us. But I thought we settled way too much. We made those first three threes, and then all of a sudden it was like, man, my turn, my turn, and that's not the formula. By our count, we had 23 shots in the game that were subpar, not to the standard that we need. We scored five points on those 23 shots. That's a lot of possessions, and then you have 10 turnovers in the second half. Those are hard numbers to overcome. But we did a good job staying with it and giving ourselves a chance."

On the first thing to fix heading into future play…
"We're not off tomorrow or Sunday, and then we play Monday. We'll be smart about how we handle things as far as their bodies are concerned but we're moving on. You play to win every time, but the first thing I told them in the locker room was, I have zero concern about what just happened, other than what we can learn from it, good and bad. And so, we'll start that tomorrow and give ourselves the best chance to be ready on Monday, and that game won't matter either when it's all said and done. And so, we'll see how good we can be between now and November 3."

On playing in Bramlage for the first time…
"I thought it was great. I appreciate the students. I thought they were great throughout. We got a little taste of what it can be. I know there's a lot more out there, and I told our team to be appreciative of that. The ones that were here, and if we give them a reason to come, I'm very confident they'll be here. The rest of them will be here."

On the rotational decisions over the game…
"The game kind of dictates where you have to go rotationally. And JT Rock hadn't practiced in eight, nine days, at 3o'clock today, I would have said no chance he could play, but he wanted to give it a go. He gave us some minutes. He wasn't himself by any stretch, but I didn't feel comfortable putting back out there in the second half. We don't have Timo [Malovec], [Matt Gilhool] was in foul trouble, and so we were really limited on the front line. So we had to play a lot smaller than I anticipated. But those guys did a good job. That's kind of what got us back in the game, gave us a little bit of energy, but that's a game by game scenario."

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE

This was the just second time K-State and Missouri have met in an exhibition game after playing 237 times between 1907 and 2018, mostly as conference opponents in the Missouri Valley, Big Six, Big Seven, Big Eight and Big 12 Conferences.
K-State has a 76-23 all-time record in exhibition games, including a 59-10 record at home and 53-10 at Bramlage Coliseum.
Three Wildcats scored in double figures, including 12 points each fifth-year Jaden Schutt and sophomore Montana Wheeler and 11 points from senior Brandon Rechsteiner. Rechsteiner led the team in both rebounds (8) and assists (5).
K-State started a lineup of senior Brandon Rechsteiner, fifth year Jaden Schutt, junior Isaiah Abraham, sophomore Matt Gilhool and senior Brock Vice.

UP NEXT

K-State plays its second and final exhibition on Monday when the Wildcats travel to Grand Island, Neb., to take on Nebraska at 6:30 p.m., CT at the BigIron Events Center. It will be broadcast on Nebraska Public Television and Big Ten Network Plus (link).
The game is being dubbed the Greg Sharpe Scholarship Game. The two schools' communications departments are collaborating on a student-led radio broadcast to raise money for the Greg Sharpe Sports Broadcasting Scholarship Fund. Sharpe served as the play-by-play voice for both schools before succumbing to cancer in 2025.

How to follow the 'Cats: For complete information on K-State men's basketball, visit www.kstatesports.com and follow the team's social media channels on X, Instagram and Facebook.