Junior Brendan Hausen led four Wildcats in double figures with a career-high 22 points, including 6 made 3-point field goals, as Kansas State earned a 77-64 wire-to-wire win over Cleveland State on Saturday afternoon before 9,928 fans at Bramlage Coliseum.
Hausen followed up his 17-point effort in the season-opening win over New Orleans on Tuesday night with his first career 20-point game. He became the first Wildcat with 6 made 3-point field goals since Tylor Perry did so against Cincinnati on March 3, 2024. He is now shooting 60 percent (12-of-20) from the field, including 55.6 percent (10-of-18) from 3-point range, after 2 games.
Hausen was joined in double figures by seniors Coleman Hawkins (12 points), David N'Guessan (12 points) and Max Jones (11 points). Hawkins tied a career-high with 4 blocked shots to go with 5 assists, 3 steals and 2 rebounds in 31 minutes. N'Guessan went 6-of-6 from the field.
K-State (2-0) never trailed in the contest, as the Wildcats connected on 57.8 percent (26-of-45) from the field, including 52.6 percent (10-of-19) from 3-point range, with 16 assists on 26 made field goals. Thanks to Hausen's 6 triples, the team registered double-digit 3-point field goals (10) for the second consecutive game.
The Wildcats, who led by as many as 23 points in the second half, were prevented from a larger victory by 19 turnovers, which the Vikings (1-2) converted into 21 points. The team had more turnovers in the first half (10) than they had in the entire game (9) against New Orleans.
However, K-State was able to turn Cleveland State over 20 times, including 12 steals, scoring 24 points off miscues. Junior guard Dug McDaniel was responsible for 5 of the team's 12 steals, becoming the first Wildcat since Marquis Nowell to post 5 or more steals in a game. Nowell had 5 steals against Florida Atlantic in the 2023 NCAA Tournament.
Unlike the opener against UNO, the Wildcats got off to a fast start against the Vikings thanks in part to 6 early points from Hausen in a 10-2 start. The lead grew to 16 points (36-20) in the first half after a second 3-pointer from Hausen with 1:39 left before halftime.
After CSU got to within 36-26 moments into the second half, K-State blew the game open by scoring 20 of the next 29 points to take its first 20-point lead at 56-35, forcing head coach Daniyal Robinson to call a timeout with 11:35 remaining. Hausen had a pair of 3-pointers in the run, along with triples from Hawkins and sophomore Macaleab Rich.
Back-to-back 3-pointers by Hausen and Max Jones gave K-State a 77-57 lead with 2:11 to play before CSU closed the final score to 77-64 with the game's final 7 points.
Cleveland State had a pair of double-digit scorers in junior Dylan Arnett and freshman Je'Shawn Stevenson, who each had 10 points. Three others (Tevin Smith, Tahj Staveskie, Chase Robinson) scored 8 points.
The Vikings shot 38.3 percent (23-of-60) from the field, including 33.3 percent (6-of-18) from 3-point range, and hit on 75 percent (12-of-16) from the free throw line. In addition to 21 points off turnovers, they scored 18 second-chance points on 18 offensive rebounds.
K-State continues its four-game homestand on Thursday when the Wildcats play host to LSU (1-0) at 8 p.m., CT in the second game of a men's and women's doubleheader at Bramlage Coliseum.
