11 February 2024
PROVO, UT. (KSNT) – After the high of winning the Sunflower Showdown earlier in the week, K-State men’s basketball had another tough matchup playing at No. 21 BYU on Saturday.
The game looked to be in the Cougars hands for a while, but late game shooting made this game close. K-State made a run at the end, but BYU held on to a 72-66 victory.
K-State freshman Dai Dai Ames scored the first eight points for the Wildcats, but the team struggled as a unit, scoring just 14 points midway through the first half. At the break, BYU led 36-27.
The Cougars added on to their lead in the second half, jumping to a 17-point lead with just nine minutes to play.
A 16-2 run from the Wildcats’ catapulted Coach Tang’s team back into the conversation with under a minute to play, with K-State trailing 66-64 after an Arthur Kaluma 3-pointer.
The final moments proved the early lead to be too much, though, as hot shooting in the final 60 seconds gave BYU a 72-66 win.
The loss moves K-State’s record to 15-9, 5-6 in the Big 12. Next up for the Wildcats is a home matchup against TCU on Saturday, Feb. 17.