Takeaways from Kansas State’s costly road basketball loss against Arizona State
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Kansas State suffered an 87-84 loss at Arizona State, falling to 0-3 in Big 12.
- Abdi Bashir scored 22 with six 3s, supplying the Wildcats' primary perimeter offense.
- Frontcourt foul trouble sidelined starters, forcing bench bigs to stabilize rebounding.
The Kansas State men’s basketball team will return home from its extended road trip in the Grand Canyon State without a single win.
Arizona State outlasted the Wildcats 87-84 in a back-and-forth game on Saturday at Desert Financial Arena.
K-State led at halftime and threatened to take control of the contest when it pulled ahead 64-58 with 10 minutes, 38 seconds remaining. But Arizona State responded with an 18-3 run to make it difficult for the Wildcats to pull off a road victory.
K-State’s PJ Haggerty put up a deep 3-pointer at the buzzer to try and force overtime, but it came up short.
Haggerty led K-State with 25 points. Abdi Bashir had 22. But it wasn’t enough with Massamba Diop and Maurice Odum both scoring 21 for a balanced Arizona State roster.
This result leaves K-State (9-7, 0-3 Big 12) winless in Big 12 action. The Wildcats have lost three consecutive games. Arizona State (10-6, 1-2 Big 12) ended a four-game skid and won its first conference game of the season.
Up next for K-State is a home game against UCF on Wednesday.
Until then, here are takeaways from Saturday’s action:
This was a costly loss for K-State
In the grand scheme of things, this loss is no more damaging to the Wildcats than any other. After all, a defeat is a defeat no matter who it comes against or where the game is played.
Still, it’s a painful blow in the short term. If K-State couldn’t win this game, it’s hard to expect them to reel off a winning streak in conference play.
A team like K-State needs to take advantage of the winnable games on its Big 12 schedule. This was one of them. The Wildcats needed to win this game to end their conference losing streak and improve their postseason resume. It didn’t happen.
It’s not easy to fight back from an 0-3 hole in the Big 12. But that is exactly what the Wildcats must do if they want to make a push for the NCAA Tournament at this point.
Abdi Bashir had a strong game from 3-point range
There was a moment during Saturday’s game when Arizona State forward Santiago Trouet shrugged, extended his arms wide and flashed a look of disbelief at the crowd.
Why?
He was trying to play defense on the perimeter against K-State sharpshooter Abdi Bashir, but Trouet couldn’t prevent Bashir from making a shot from 3-point range. Bashir dribbled to his left and then took two steps back to find open space. That was all he needed. Bashir let it fly and swished a deep 3-pointer that extended a small K-State lead in the second half.
Arizona State players weren’t happy.
It was that kind of game for Bashir. The Monmouth transfer made 6 of 12 shots from beyond the arc. His hot shooting gave the Wildcats a much-needed lift just a few days after Kansas State head coach Jerome Tang preached the importance of taking more 3-pointers. Bashir ended the day with 22 points.
Even though the Wildcats lost this game, they need more efforts like that from Bashir. He is the team’s best outside shooter, and K-State is a better team when he bombs away.
It was a rough day for David Castillo
David Castillo has been one of K-State’s best players and a spark plug off the bench this season. But he failed to give the Wildcats much of a boost in this game.
He went 1 of 7 from the field and finished with three points. He tried to drive to the basket for layups, but it was hard for him to finish against Arizona State’s big men.
Things may have gone differently for K-State had he contributed his usual offense.
More foul trouble for Kansas State’s starting front court
Kansas State’s starting forwards once again found themselves in foul trouble.
That is quickly becoming a trend for them in Big 12 games.
Khamari McGriff and Elias Rapieque were both relegated to the bench in the first half of both games during their road trip through the desert, as they both picked up two early fouls.
Tang has said that K-State needs to learn how to play defense in the paint without committing so many fouls, and that applies mostly to the team’s front line.
McGriff is K-State’s most skilled big man on offense and Rapieque brings balance to the lineup when he is on the floor.
But the Wildcats were able to pivot to a different lineup and survive without them against Arizona State. Dorin Buca and Taj Manning played well at times as a tandem off the bench and helped the Wildcats take a 38-36 lead into halftime.
Buca finished with five points and eight rebounds, while Manning had six points and four rebounds.
This story was originally published January 10, 2026 at 4:39 PM.