Three takeaways from Kansas State’s road basketball victory against Creighton
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- K-State won on the road via Abdi Bashir’s 3-point barrage, David Castillo’s clutch play.
- Castillo excelled as sixth man, delivering late drives and four key layups.
- Dorin Buca anchored defense and rim protection, altering opponent shot decisions.
The Kansas State men’s basketball team has more than just one star player.
That much became obvious as the Wildcats put the finishing touches on an 83-76 road victory over the Creighton Bluejays on Saturday at CHI Health Center in Omaha.
Nobody in a K-State uniform has received more attention than PJ Haggerty this season. The high-scoring point guard has put up All-America numbers during his first 11 games with the Wildcats (7-4). But he was not the reason why K-State defeated a Big East opponent in front of 18,000 loud fans in this game
The Wildcats beat Creighton (5-5) because of Abdi Bashir and David Castillo.
Bashir did the heavy lifting early. A junior guard from Omaha, he was red hot in the first half and made six 3-pointers for his 18 points. He helped the Wildcats build a 53-33 lead early in the second half.
Castillo was the closer. A sophomore guard from Bartlesville, Oklahoma, he made a series of clutch plays in the second half to clinch the game after Creighton pulled all the way back to within three. Castillo finished with a team-high 19 points in just 23 minutes of action.
Haggerty added 10 points to help the Wildcats, but he went 6 of 17 from the field and fell well short of his 24-point average. He took a backseat to others. But that was fine with head coach Jerome Tang, because K-State found a new way to win.
“We’re getting better and better,” Tang said. “You would like to win big and keep the lead, but then you don’t get the experience of being on the road and the crowd getting loud. The fact we never let them take the lead when the crowd got into the game, we really had a lot of growing up that took place today. We showed a lot of growth as a team. So I was really proud.”
Up next for K-State is a home game against South Dakota on Dec. 20.
Until then, here are takeaways from Saturday’s action:
Abdi Bashir showed off in homecoming game
Abdi Bashir began his college basketball career at Monmouth, but he grew up in Omaha.
That made Saturday’s road game against Creighton a special occasion for the 6-foot-7 junior guard who has been an impact shooter during his short time with the Wildcats.
He played like this game meant more than others.
Bashir drained six 3-pointers in getting his 18 points.
He has saved his best for games against teams from his home state. Bashir also made seven shots from beyond the arc and finished with 26 points against Nebraska.
David Castillo evolving into go-to player for Tang
As if scoring 19 points in 23 minutes wasn’t impressive enough for David Castillo, he finished this game with style points because of when and how he got several of his buckets.
Late in the game, with Creighton threatening to complete a furious rally, Castillo made clutch play after clutch play to keep K-State ahead on the scoreboard.
Castillo delivered three important layups and one dunk in the final minutes. K-State may not have won without them.
Tang seemed to realize how much confidence that Castillo was playing with. In the final minutes, it was Castillo instead of Haggerty who was handling the ball and attacking the rim off the dribble on isolation plays. He also got teammate Khamari McGriff involved with a great pass for a lob dunk with the game on the line.
Castillo made the most of his opportunities and helped the Wildcats win it. K-State out-scored Creighton by 14 when he was in the game.
It’s hard to believe Castillo was a non-factor last season. He might be one of the most improved players in the Big 12.
“His growth has been tremendous,” Tang said. “We’re just getting the tip of the iceberg with him. But he is out there making point-guard plays, making winning plays.”
Castillo is playing so well that K-State can move Haggerty off the ball and create other opportunities for him to score when Castillo is in the game.
Earlier this week, Castillo asked Tang to let him come off the bench because he thought he was perfectly suited to shine as a sixth man. That has proven to be a good move for both him and the Wildcats. But Tang may want to find more minutes for Castillo moving forward. He is playing too well to sit for long periods of time.
Dorin Buca is a rim protector for the Wildcats
He isn’t the type of player who is going to put up many eye-popping stat lines, but that doesn’t mean Dorin Buca isn’t making an impact for the Wildcats.
The 7-foot-2 center does plenty of things that don’t show up in a box score. Chief among them: protecting the rim.
Buca is such a defensive presence in the paint that opposing teams rarely challenge him when he is on the floor. Players are so worried about his size and the possibility of having their shot blocked that they tend to drive into the lane and then dribble back out.
He provides an interesting change-of-pace option for Tang. The Wildcats aren’t a big team, but that changes when Buca is on the court. His presence has helped K-State in recent games.
K-State put him on the court with Taj Manning for several minutes, and that combination worked. The Wildcats out-scored Creighton by 10 points when Manning was on the floor.
This story was originally published December 13, 2025 at 4:44 PM.