K-State Handles Baylor in Driscoll’s Debut

Tuesday, February 17

Manhattan, Kan.

8 p.m. CT

Kansas State University

11-15,2-11Big 12

Baylor

13-13,3-10Big 12

Baylor

Kansas St.

Feb 18, 2026 | Men's Basketball

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

Junior P.J. Haggerty and senior Nate Johnson combined for 67 points in the win.

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Junior P.J. Haggerty and senior Nate Johnson became the first Wildcat duo to each record a 30-point game since 2008, as Kansas State led from start to finish in a 90-74 win in interim coach Matthew Driscoll's debut on Tuesday before 6,789 fans at Bramlage Coliseum.

Haggerty (34 points) and Johnson (33 points) combined for 67 of the Wildcats' 90 points on 26-of-39 (66.7 percent) shooting from the field, including 6-of-10 from 3-point range. They are the first duo to go for 30 or more points since Michael Beasley (44 points) and Bill Walker (31 points) accomplished the feat at Baylor on Feb. 23, 2008.

In addition to his career-high 33 points, Johnson dished out a game-high 9 assists to go with a game-best 6 steals and 5 rebounds in playing nearly 39 minutes. He went 11-of-16 from the field, including 5-of-8 from 3-point range, and made all 6 of his free throws. Haggerty knocked down 15 field goals for the second time this season, as he posted his fifth 30-point game of the season.

The 67 combined points are the fourth-most by two Wildcats in school history, and the most since Beasley and Walker combined for 75, and the second-most by a duo at Bramlage Coliseum behind the 77 by Askia Jones (62 points) and Anthony Beane (15 points) vs. Fresno State in 1994.

The win snapped K-State's 6-game losing streak, as Driscoll defeated his close friend and former boss Scott Drew in their first matchup. Driscoll is just the second interim head coach in school history to win his debut and the first in nearly 20 years when Jimmy Elgas led the Wildcats to a 66-63 win over Iowa State on Feb. 8, 2006 in place of head coach Jim Wooldridge.

All 11 wins by K-State (11-15, 2-11 Big 12) this season have come when scoring 80 or more points.

The Wildcats shot 50 percent or better from the field for the 10^th time this season, connecting on
56.7 percent (34-of-60) from the field, including 47.1 percent (8-of-17) from 3-point range, while hitting on 82.4 percent (14-of-17) from the line.

Johnson set the tone early, knocking down his first three 3-point attempts, to push K-State out to an early lead. Haggerty got into the act with 11 points in a stretch where the Wildcats expanded their lead to 34-21. The Bears scored 13 of the last 20 points to close the deficit to 41-34 at the break.

K-State took control of the game in the first 8 minutes of the second half, as Johnson and Haggerty combined for 15 points, as the Wildcats led 61-40 with 11:44 to play after a 20-6 run. Baylor didn't go away, scoring 17 of the next 22 points to pull to within 66-57. However, the Bears could get no closer, as the Wildcats slowly rebuilt the lead to as many as 18 points down the stretch.

While the offense got a majority of the headlines, it was the defense that propelled the Wildcats to their first victory in nearly a month, as they held the Bears to 40 percent (26-of-70) shooting, including just 12.5 percent (3-of-24) from 3-point range, while forcing 19 turnovers.

Baylor (13-13, 3-10 Big 12) was led by sophomore Isaac Williams IV, who paced four Bears in double figures with 16 points on 6-of-11 field goals to go with 6 assists.

Driscoll earned his first win as a head coach at Bramlage Coliseum after losing three times as the head coach at North Florida.

INTERIM HEAD COACH MATTHEW DRISCOLL
On the emotions postgame…
"First of all, I'm glad that I'm done because there were a lot of them back in the hallway. And then when we started thinking about it again, I really felt bad, because I never shed a tear when this whole thing transpired. I'm really, really weird, I'm an odd dude, I'm just not normal in certain things. And I actually, we did a profile test, and I did the guy text me and said, 'Hey, you know you'll be whatever.' And I say, 'Can you do me a favor, can you help explain to me what showed up on my test of why I'm feeling like this?' And he did. He sent it to me, and he gave me the information that helped me understand how I'm built. It doesn't make me a bad human being; it's just the way I'm built. And so, I had a feeling at the end of this night, no matter the outcome, then it was going to hit me, and it was going to become something a little bit different. So, Coach [Scott], I mean, he's an amazing human being. So it's just coaching against Coach Drew, you know, 16 years at North Florida, they don't ever want to play, because he doesn't want to play his former assistants, you know. And so, you know, there's just so much that came, that came about this second."

On coming out of the tunnel two and a half hours before the game…
"So, I'm a soldier in the army. My daddy said, 'Whatever you do, you do it the way it's supposed to be done, because your last name is on it.' So, my job is to be the Associate Head Coach for Kansas State basketball, and with that come a lot of responsibilities. So, because I moved over, you know, with a title or whatever, I'm not going to stop. And so, when I was a head coach for 16 years [at North Florida], I took a nap, scrambled eggs, toast, wheat toast in a nap with a swaddle blanket. But I didn't nap today, and so, like, that's just how I'm wired. I'm just weird about that stuff, and I'll continue to be that I'm just another coach on the staff and that's my responsibility."

On playing more free tonight…
"So, I had a feeling this question was going to come, and I don't ever want to be in a debate situation. I thought our defense on Saturday was absolutely amazing. The second half, it was 45-45 you know, we didn't do some things quite as well, but I thought our defense tonight set the tone. I thought it led to us playing with some easy situations. I thought our guys put ourselves in positions to be really successful and getting downhill and playing at the rim based on whether they were going to switch or they were not going to switch. And so, I wouldn't say freedom so much, like the word that you're using, I would say that they let their defense dictate their offense, as opposed to letting our offense determine if we're going to discard or not. And that started Saturday at Houston, and so I think it's a carryover from it, and obviously we got to continue to grow through that. So great observation by you, but that's why I think I know."

On if he is excited to be a head coach again…
"So no, not at all. I talked to Josh Eilert, he played here, he went through this process last year at Utah. And so, it's like, you know, if you're intelligent, you're going to go seek some counsel from somebody who's done it. And Josh was great. He really gave me some good insight. It's crazy as everything he said was everything that our staff said and everything that we were doing. So, it was almost like one of those things where it kind of gave you some affirmation, but I don't want it to be the head coach. I didn't come here to be the head coach and, but I understand too that it is my responsibility, right. I have a contract and my responsibility and so sitting in that seat or making those decisions, or all those kinds of things, I can do that. But there's no joy in that at all for me because of why I'm doing it, like there's just no joy for me for that."

On his message to the team tonight…
"First of all, you know, the first thing you'd think about based on the season, the way the season was going, is you would say, okay, now we're really going to see how these guys feel about the coach. And they were unbelievably, just heartbroken and just crushed. And like, these dudes love coach [Tang], because coach is so real. He's so transparent, he's so genuine. And everything that he does and everything he touches, he touches with love, and those guys know that. I mean, he recruited all, I didn't recruit a single [player] I had nothing to do with any of them. And so, like, coach is so vested from that standpoint, and so I'm proud of, at the end of the day, we told them this, I was a fifth grade teacher for four years, and children are the most adaptable, and they handle change better than anybody. 61-year-olds, they don't handle change very well. And these dudes were just so pliable, they handled the change really well. And when they came back Monday, it was like, 'Okay, we're tipping off against Baylor at eight o'clock tomorrow night, here's what we're going to do.' And we told them, we're not going to change, but things are going to be different. We're not going to change, but things are going to be different. Because I told them, if I try to be a coach, which I'm not, I try to be Coach Drew, which I'm not. So, for 16 years, we had oodles of success. I mean, if I was at Florida and not North Florida, and we would have had the records we had, and finished the way we finished, we'd have been to 10 NCAA Tournaments, right? But it's a one bid league, and so I got to be me, and I told them that I'm awkward, I'm a little bit different, but you guys got to accept that and understand that, and that was part of our conversation, right. We're going to do what we do and be who we are, but I got to be me, I can't be someone else, because if I do it's not going to be a good thing."

On Nate Johnson being the primary ball handler tonight…
"So he's been doing that probably for four games, five games, we've kind of taken P.J. [Haggerty] off it a little bit. Because, you know, once you get to late January and February, they call these the dog days, D, A, W, G, and that's a disciplined attitude that wins games. And so, when the dog days come and your body's getting worn down and you're playing those heavy minutes, we thought it was probably in our best interest, the staff, to get him off the ball a little bit more. And some David [Castillo] on the ball, mostly Nate on the ball. And so obviously he's been playing a tremendous six. They have six turnovers tonight, which is a shock, because he's really been doing well with that aspect of it, but, you know, nine assists. And then, you know, Nate. I'm proud of Nate in a lot of ways, but you know, his three-point-shooting. He's really adapted to what I've asked him to adapt to, which is to have your left foot stationary on the catch, no matter what you're doing, make sure your left foot is stationary and it's not stepping sideways, it's down, so you're moving forward, sort of like Martin Luther King [Jr.] said, keep moving forward, right? And so he made those couple shots. And next thing you know, you know, bada bing bada boom, so you're feeling good about yourself. And then he was able to get to the cup, he had some really nice finishes. So, yeah, it was another thing too, is like, we ran a couple of plays, and P.J. said, 'No, let Nate do it and then put me.' If you saw, P.J. was able to get a couple posts up too, we threw the ball over the top to P.J. So, we emptied out the backside a little, guard P.J., such a great, gifted scorer that he's able to hold the guy catch the ball, and they, I think Nate got the assists on those. So, it was a collaboration from the staff. And also, too, it needed to be done so we could give P.J. a little bit of a break."

FIRST HALF
Senior Nate Johnson opened the scoring with a 3-pointer on K-State's first possession, which was the first of 3 consecutive makes from beyond the arc for the guard as the Wildcats took a 17-8 lead into the first media timeout. A 3-pointer by freshman Andrej Kostic pushed it to 20-10 before a 5-0 run by Baylor forced Matthew Driscoll to take his first timeout with 11 minutes to play.

The Wildcats responded to the timeout with 6 of the next 8 points to go ahead 26-17 and prompt a timeout by Scott Drew at the 8:01 mark. A 3-point play by junior P.J. Haggerty gave K-State a 34-21, but Baylor ran off 7 straight points to cut the deficit to 34-28 at the final media timeout. The teams exchanged points before a 3-point play by senior C.J. Jones helped the Wildcats finish the half on a strong note and a 41-34 lead.

Johnson and Haggerty led the way with 16 and 13 points, respectively, as K-State shot 48.5 percent (16-of-33) from the field, including 45.5 percent (5-of-11) from beyond the arc. Baylor hit on 42.9 percent (15-of-35) of its field goals but made just 1 of 12 attempts from 3-point range.

SECOND HALF
K-State enjoyed a strong start to the second half, as pair of free throws by Johnson sparked a 10-2 run, including 8 in a row, that extended the lead to 51-36 and forced Drew to take his second timeout at the 15:30 mark. After a basket by sophomore Cameron Carr, a second 3-pointer from Kostic sparked an 8-2 run that pushed the lead to 59-40 at the second media timeout.

A Kostic free throw gave K-State a 64-44 lead near the midway point before Baylor used a 6-0 run to close the gap to 64-50 and force a timeout by Driscoll at the 9:23 mark. The Bear run continued out of the timeout, as they scored 7 of the next 9 points to close the gap to 66-57. The Wildcats answered with back-to-back baskets from Haggerty before a 3-pointer by senior Dan Skillings Jr. made it 70-60 at the media timeout with 6:51 to play.

A 3-pointer by Haggerty started a run of 8 of the next 12 points for K-State, as the Wildcats led 78-64 with 3:34 to play. From there, the lead never dipped below 12 points and grew to as many as 18 points en route to 90-74 victory.

Haggerty led all scorers with 21 points, while Johnson chipped in 17 points.

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE

K-State snapped a 6-game losing streak with a 90-74 win over Baylor.
This is the first win for interim head coach Matthew Driscoll… This is the first win by an interim head coach since Jimmy Elgas vs. Iowa State on Feb. 8, 2006.
Tonight's win was the 450^th at Bramlage Coliseum.
The series between K-State and Baylor is now tied at 27-all.
K-State is now 8-8 at home this season.
K-State used a starting lineup of junior P.J. Haggerty, senior Nate Johnson, sophomore David Castillo, junior Taj Manning and senior Khamari McGriff… This is the fourth time using this lineup and the sixth different lineup used this season.
Haggerty and Johnson have now started all 26 games.
Haggerty now has 92 career starts (Tulsa/Memphis/K-State), N. Johnson now has 86 career starts (Akron/K-State), McGriff now has 64 career starts (UNC Wilmington/K-State), Castillo and Manning now have 12 career starts each.

TEAM NOTES

K-State scored its 90 points on 56.7 percent (34-of-60) shooting, including 47.1 percent (8-of-17) from 3-point range, while hitting on 82.4 percent (14-of-17) from free throw line.
K-State is now 8-0 this season when scoring 90 or more points.
K-State connected on 50 percent or better for the 10^th time.
K-State scored 23 points off 19 Baylor turnovers.
K-State won the points in the paint, 46-42, and posted a 24-12 edge in fast-break points.
Baylor held a 41-31 advantage on the glass, including 18 offensive rebounds that they converted into a 20-10 edge in second-chance points.
K-State led 41-34 at halftime and is now 10-2 this season when leading at the break.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES

Two Wildcats scored in double figures, including 34 points from junior P.J. Haggerty and 33 points from senior Nate Johnson.
K-State had a pair of 30-point scorers (P.J. Haggerty and Nate Johnson) for the first time since Michael Beasley (44) and Bill Walker (31) at Baylor on Feb. 23, 2008.
Haggerty scored 34 points on 15-of-23 field goals, including 1-of-2 from 3-point range, and 3-of-4 free throws to go with 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals in 38 minutes… It was his fifth 30-point game of the season and the ninth of his career.
Haggerty's 5 30-point games are the fifth-most in a single season and the most since Michael Beasley's school-record 13 in 2007-08.
Haggerty is just 5^th Wildcat to record 20 games of 20 or more points… He has now scored in double figures in 90 of 98 career games, including all 26 games this season.
Johnson scored a career-high 33 points on 11-of-16 field goals, including 5-of-8 from 3-point range, and 6-of-6 free throws to go with 9 assists, 6 steals and 5 rebounds in 39 minutes… It was his second career 30-point game.
Johnson has now scored in double figures in 56 career games, including 16 this season.
Freshman Andrej Kostic had 7 points in his return from injury.

WHAT'S NEXT
K-State makes its third straight Saturday visit to the Lone Star State, as the Wildcats travel to No. 13/13 Texas Tech (19-7, 9-4 Big 12) at United Supermarkets Arena. Tip is set for 1:30 p.m., CT on FOX. The Wildcats lead the all-time series, 26-24, but the Red Raiders have won 10 straight in the series at home, including 60-59 in 2024.

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.