Kansas State has lost four games in a row. Takeaways from its loss to Seton Hall
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Kansas State dropped a fourth straight game as scoring output declined.
- PJ Haggerty’s scoring cooled to 11 points, while turnovers and inconsistency rose.
- Coach Tang mixed defenses and gave Dorin Buca minutes, but the team still struggled.
Kansas State fans roared with approval when new football coach Collin Klein walked to midcourt and spoke to the crowd at halftime of a home basketball game against Seton Hall on Saturday at Bramlage Coliseum.
But there wasn’t much else for them to get excited about as K-State fell 78-67 against Seton Hall for its fourth straight loss.
The excitement that the Wildcats (5-4) created with five consecutive wins at the start of the season is long gone. A good crowd turned out to watch this game, but the stands were virtually empty for the final few minutes as the Pirates (9-1) put the finishing touches on a double-digit win.
AJ Staton-McCray led Seton Hill with 16 points in the victory. Khamari McGriff led K-State with 12 points in the loss.
Next up for K-State is another home game against Mississippi Valley on Monday.
Until then, here are takeaways from Saturday’s action ...
What’s the matter with PJ Haggerty?
A few weeks ago, Jerome Tang made a bold statement about K-State point guard PJ Haggerty.
Even though he scored at least 23 points in each of his first six games of the season, Tang said his stat lines were average best. There was a higher level he could reach.
That may be true. But Haggerty’s scoring has been on the decline. So much so that it’s beginning to look like he was playing over his head during that hot start.
Seton Hall limited Haggerty to 11 points on Saturday. He went 3 of 12 from the floor with six assists, four rebounds and six turnovers.
“We just made it tough on him,” Seton Hall coach Shaheen Holloway said. “He’s a great player and a great scorer. We just put different bodies on him to try to make it tough on him and stay down.”
That dud of a performance came after he scored 16 points against Indiana and 17 points against Bowling Green.
This was nearly his lowest scoring output since he was a freshman. He only failed to reach double digits in one game last season, when he was held to eight points at Memphis. He only scored one point in the first half Saturday and needed some late buckets to hit the double-digit mark. This was his lowest points total of the season.
The Wildcats haven’t been the same since he cooled off.
“I have just got to be smart individually with some of the plays I make,” Haggerty said. “Sometimes I can get my teammates easier shots or get easier shots for myself. We have just got to stay together. We have lost four in a row. It’s a little adversity. It’s all about how we overcome that adversity.”
Tang knows he has to get Haggerty back on track. Tang was seen having a one-on-one chat with Haggerty on the bench during the first half to try and encourage him.
“Teams are guarding him differently,” K-State coach Jerome Tang said. “He has to learn how to attack how they are guarding him. That could mean getting his other teammates more involved at times. It’s a growing and learning process for him, but he’ll get there.”
K-State showed improvement on defense, but that came at a price
Seton Hall averaged 1.03 points per possession against K-State.
That was a step in the right direction for the Wildcats, who could do little to slow (forget stop) Bowling Green or Indiana in their past two games.
But the improvement came at a price. K-State slowed the game down and used a wide variety of defenses, including zone looks. Tang also leaned on many of his defensive-minded players such as reserve center Dorin Buca and guard CJ Jones.
That sent gifted scorers like Khamari McGriff and Abdi Bashir to the bench. Andrej Kostic didn’t even play.
Mixing up the rotation has significantly decreased K-State’s scoring output. K-State has failed to reach 70 points in three straight games after it routinely flirted with 100 points early in the season.
Now it is a struggle for the Wildcats to score, period.
K-State hurt itself by only making 15 of 35 free throws on Saturday.
Dorin Buca gave K-State a needed spark off the bench
He didn’t see a single minute of action in K-State’s last game against Bowling Green, but Dorin Buca was one of K-State’s best players against Seton Hall.
The 7-foot-2 European center was an inside presence for the Wildcats on both ends of the floor.
He protected the rim and grabbed rebounds on defense. He made a few buckets around the basket.
Fans noticed his improved play and cheered him on more than usual when he was on the court. He may have earned increased playing time.
Jerome Tang was given a rare technical foul
Tang is not the type of basketball coach who goes out of his way to question officials or earn technical fouls. But he flirted with an ejection when he stormed onto the court to protest a no-call after Haggerty fell to the floor after making contact with a Seton Hall defender.
Tang was so angry that associate head coach Matthew Driscoll had to escort his boss back to the bench.
Tang was clearly upset that officials haven’t been giving Haggerty the benefit of a doubt with fouls the way some All-American scorers would get.
Tang’s actions seemed to fire up the Wildcats. They played harder down the stretch, and Haggerty got a few shots to fall. But it was too little too late.
This story was originally published December 6, 2025 at 5:37 PM.