Kansas State Rolls to 2-0 With 77-64 Win Against Cleveland State
For the second game in a row, the Kansas State Wildcats had little to no trouble against a nonconference opponent, defeating Cleveland State 77-64 Saturday afternoon in Manhattan, Kan.
The Wildcats (2-0) led wire-to-wire, spearheaded by a breakout game from guard Brendan Hausen, who finished with 22 points, shot 70 percent from 3-point range, and added one steal.
Hausen wasn't the only scorer who contributed offensively. Forward Coleman Hawkins began to show dominance in his second game since transferring from Illinois this past offseason. Hawkins finished with 12 points and four blocks in 31 minutes of action.
Meanwhile, Cleveland State (1-2) struggled to keep pace with the Wildcats despite trailing 36-24 at halftime. It shot 33 percent from 3-point range and committed 20 turnovers. It failed to capitalize on the Wildcats' up-tempo offense, waiting until the game was out of reach to go on a 7-0 run over the last 1:50.
Although the Wildcats didn't score in the last 2:11 of regulation, coach Jermone Tang felt better about the state of his team compared to the opener against New Orleans.
"We don't want to play [to the] scoreboard, right?" Tang said when it came to staying composed. "We want to execute [on] every possession. We have to keep getting better."
Tang said there was one timeout in particular where he didn't feel like his team wasn't in sync. Once those issues were corrected, it was smooth sailing the rest of the game.
"We didn't finish the game the way we needed to finish, and that's my fault," Tang said.
Kansas State gets four days of rest before hosting LSU next Thursday night, beginning at 9 p.m. ET.
Zain Bando is a contributor to Kansas State Wildcats On SI. He can be reached at zainbando99@gmail.com and on Instagram/'X' @zainbando99.
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