Rechsteiner’s 26 Carries K-State Past Creighton, 89-82

Tuesday, November 10

Manhattan, Kan.

8 p.m. CT

Kansas State University

2-1,0-0Big 12

Creighton

2-1,0-0Big East

Team	1	2	F
Creighton	40	42	82
Kansas St.	40	49	89

K-State Men’s Basketball vs Creighton, Tuesday, November 10th, Bramlage Coliseum, Manhattan, KS Final Score: KSU 88, Creighton 82

Nov 11, 2026 | Men's Basketball

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

The senior equaled his career-high of 26 points for the second straight game.

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Senior Brandon Rechsteiner equaled his career-high of 26 points for the second consecutive game to pace four Wildcats in double figures, as Kansas State used a late 20-5 lead to defeat Creighton, 89-82, on Tuesday night before 6,820 fans at Bramlage Coliseum.

Rechsteiner, who first set his career-best with 26 points vs. CSUN on Friday night, was joined in double figures by fifth year Jaden Schutt (14 points), junior Isaiah Abraham (12 points) and sophomore Matt Gilhool (11 points). Abraham nearly notched his first career double-double with a career-high 9 rebounds, while senior Brock Vice dished out a career-best 6 assists.

Rechsteiner, who posted his fourth career 20-point game, finished 9-of-16 from the field, including 6-of-12 from 3-point range, to go with 5 rebounds, 4 assists and a steal in 32 minutes.

With the score knotted at 55-all with 15:06 to play, Rechsteiner scored eight of his 26 points during a pivotal 20-5 run that gave the Wildcats (2-1) a 75-60 lead with just over 9 minutes to play. Five different players contributed points during the run, including 5 by Gilhool, 3 by Vice and 2 each by Abraham and fifth year Dez Lindsay.

Creighton (2-1), which won its first 2 games by an average of 21.5 points, responded with 12 straight points to cut the deficit to 75-72, prompting a timeout by K-State head coach Casey Alexander with just over 6 minutes remaining.

However, Rechsteiner came through in the clutch again, knocking down his sixth 3-pointer of the game followed by two free throws from Vice that sent the Wildcats to the final media timeout ahead 80-72 with 3:57 to play. A 3-pointer by senior BJ Davis gave the Bluejays a chance at 81-77 before an Alexander timeout with 2:26 left but a Vice 3-point play ignited a run of 7 straight points that put the game away at 88-77 with 45.6 seconds.

The teams combined for 27 made 3-point field goals, including 14 by K-State, while they also combined for 36 turnovers. The Bluejays converted 22 turnovers into 30 points compared to 21 points off 14 turnovers by the Wildcats.

K-State connected on 56.6 percent (30-of-53) from the field, including 46.7 percent (14-of-30) from 3-point range, while making 15 of its 17 attempts (88.2 percent) from the line. Creighton shot 41.8 percent (28-of-67), including 34.2 percent (13-of-38) from beyond the arc.

Davis paced three Bluejays in double figures with 25 points on 9-of-20 shooting, including 6-of-14 from 3-point range, while fellow senior transfer Wes Enis chipped in 18 points. Fifth year Brody Robinson, who became eligible just hours before tipoff, had 10 points off the bench.

HEAD COACH CASEY ALEXANDER
On how it feels to get a win tonight…
"Yeah, great. You know, a little taste of what we can be, right? And so, really happy for our players. It was a fun game. Really high-level plays made, in my opinion. And thought our guys did a great job of making them when they had to."

On Brandon Rechsteiner…
"Yeah, he's a lot of fun to watch, but he gets it honestly. You know, he works for it, really puts in the time. I've known him for a long time. I knew that he was a confident kid and a tough kid and a winner. Just does things that allow him to win. And so, I'm not really surprised. I mean, he's playing great, but I'm not really surprised. I mean, that's why we brought him here. I told him I wanted him to come to K-State and play 30 minutes a game and start at point guard and be our leading scorer. So glad it's working out that way so far."

On defensive stops in the second half…
"I mean, some of it was because they weren't getting so much in transition like they did in the first half. You know, we were able to get ourselves set, and we scored it at a good clip, which also allows you to get yourself set. And so, I thought we fought really hard, you know, they had to work a lot harder for their buckets. We changed things up a lot, we subbed a lot, we mixed defenses a little bit. So I just thought the overall readiness and awareness for our players on the defensive end was very good."

On Timo Malovec playing…
"It was just great having him out there. You know, he provides a lot of versatility for me. Substitution patterns. He allows us to stay bigger. He allows Isaiah Abraham to guard perimeter players, which is what his primary strength is, and so you know he's not 100% by any stretch, but he's worked really hard. I give him a ton of credit, Luke Sauber, our trainer, a ton of credit. Like they work around the clock for months, trying to do everything they could to get him back as fast as possible. So it's great to have him out there. I knew we couldn't allow him to play tired, so he was in and out, in and out, and he knew that going into the game. But just his presence was good for us. He's unusually poised for a guy that you know is relatively new to college basketball, and that helps us"

On the first 10 to 11 minutes of the second half…
"Well, we were pretty good most of the night when we didn't turn it over, you know. And then the turnovers make you a little timid. You're not really playing on edge offensively. But I felt like we just kind of cut loose a little bit in the second half. We got a lot, and we literally got more cutting, which helped us a ton. We got more feet in the paint with those kinds of cuts and paint touches with the ball, and so that part was good. I think we were 16, I can look I guess, but 16-for-23 from two for the game from two point field goals, and that's a good number. That's a really good number. We need that kind of efficiency. It's very important to our success overall on the offensive end."

On the turnovers…
"Oh, it's a little bit of everything, and it's been problematic for us, even in practice against ourselves when we're not facing pressure. You know, we just have to find a way to value the ball more. It's a team problem. It's not a personal problem or a position problem, it's a team problem. We got to do a better job of slowing ourselves down. Just making simple plays, even at the expense of you know what we could get offensively. So it's just an epidemic right now, and they're [Creighton] good. I mean, they [Creighton] forced 41 turnovers in their first two games, and they really want to get out in pressure. And so we knew it was going to be. We worked on it, we talked about it. We cautioned them, but we didn't execute that part of the game plan very well."

On Brandon Rechsteiner's 3-pointer to stop the 12-0 run…
"I mean he's just a gamer, you know. But that would imply that he just shows up when it's on the line, and that's like I said, that's not the truth. I mean he just wants to be in those moments. He's a veteran player, he's been around the block. He's kind of relishing the opportunity to have some freedom and be the guy, and he's taking advantage of it."

On what beating a team like Creighton can do moving forward…
"Yeah, I mean, it shows us that we can beat good teams. I felt like we bounced back on Friday. I was equally as impressed and proud of that. Even though CSUN may not end up being the quality at the end of the year that Creighton is, but thought both games they rose to the occasion. They were ready to go, they put in the work, they were prepared. They played hard and found ways to win, so I mean, I think it says a lot. You know, we again, win or lose, I've said it several times, we know our margin is small, and so we just have to continue to get a little closer to perfect every time that we play. But with enough good guys out there, we can make some things happen."

On Brandon Rechsteiner being a coach on the court…
"I mean, his qualities I really like, and that's why I wanted him to be here. I mean, I just really value guys like that. I mean, his shooting ability is one thing, you know. But he wins when he plays games. People want to be on his team. People trust what he's going to do. He makes mistakes, made plenty of them today, right? But yes, that's what I want to win with guys like him, and he's not the only one we have. You know, he stands out the most because he's dynamic in what he's been doing, shooting the ball. But we've got several guys that would fit that mold. What Isaiah Abraham is doing has really been important to our success, he had seven defensive rebounds in the first half. He almost has a double double. He gets some big buckets. He does a lot of the dirty work defensively that nobody sees except for mom and dad back home in D.C. And you know, so he's been and he's playing a ton of minutes. So there's a lot of guys out there like that."

On his substitution pattern…
"I've got a good idea of how I want it to go on the front end. I think every coach does, but you know the game dictates who, what, when and where. You know because you don't, you don't know how we're going to play, how they're going to play, what the foul trouble situation is. You know who's playing great, who's not playing great. So that's always how you're going to adapt from the game from moment to moment. But I go into the game with a pretty good idea of what I want to do and try to get as close to that as I can. But it's very inexact science, you know, if we could decide when the whistle blows, that would be helpful. But sometimes they get stuck out there for a long time."