Takeaways from Kansas State’s last-second basketball loss at Oklahoma State
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- K-State fell 84-83 at Oklahoma State, dropping to 0-5 in Big 12 play.
- McGriff scored 14 on a perfect 7-of-7 shooting line but fouled out after 14 minutes.
- Late free throws by Vyctorius Miller and a short Haggerty heave decided the game.
The Kansas State men’s basketball team was in position to win its first conference game of the season, but it failed to protect a lead in the final moments and lost 84-83 to Oklahoma State on Saturday at Gallagher-Iba Arena.
For that reason, and several others, the Wildcats (9-9, 0-5 Big 12) lost their fifth straight game and are now off to their worst start in conference play since 1997, when they began 0-9 in the Big 12 under former coach Tom Asbury.
It looked like K-State would be able to avoid that outcome when PJ Haggerty hit a floater with 49 seconds remaining to give the Wildcats an 83-81 lead. One stop on defense and some free throws were all it would take.
But Oklahoma State (14-4, 2-3 Big 12) regained the lead at the end of a lengthy possession when Abdi Bashir was whistled for a foul against OSU guard Vyctorius Miller, who was shooting a corner 3 with 2.8 seconds left. Miller lived up to his first name and calmly made three straight free throws to win the game.
A lot happened between Haggerty’s floater and Miller’s free throws. First off, K-State played solid defense and forced Kanye Clary into a missed 3-pointer with 23 seconds on the clock. But Oklahoma State secured an offensive rebound to maintain possession. Clary missed another shot from beyond the arc with eight seconds left, and a scramble for the loose ball ensued.
The Wildcats got their hands on it first, and several K-State players motioned for a timeout. But they couldn’t get one before the Cowboys were able to force a jump ball and maintain possession for one final shot with four seconds to go. That’s when the ball made its way to Miller in the corner, and he drew the foul.
After all that, K-State got the ball to Haggerty on the other end with two seconds to go, and he launched a shot from near halfcourt to try to steal the game back. But it came up a tad short.
Haggerty led K-State with 21 points, while Bashir added 15 and Khamari McGriff pitched in 14. Anthony Roy led the way for Oklahoma State with 23.
Next up for K-State is a home game against Utah.
Until then, here are takeaways from Saturday’s action:
Khamari McGriff must learn how to play without fouling
K-State’s hopes of winning this game suffered a major blow when its starting forward fouled out with 6 minutes, 2 seconds remaining on the clock.
Khamari McGriff was sensational when he was on the court.
He scored 14 points on a perfect 7-of-7 shooting. He sent out four assists and he grabbed three rebounds. The Wildcats outscored the Cowboys by eight when he was in the lineup.
Problem is, he only managed to play 14 minutes before he was disqualified. Fouls have haunted him throughout conference play. He only played nine minutes against Arizona and 14 against Arizona State. It seemed like he took a step in the right direction when he committed just two fouls last time out against UCF. He played 33 minutes in that game and scored 15 points.
But he couldn’t avoid fouls against Oklahoma State. He is too important of a player for that trend to continue.
Defense was optional in Stillwater
This game might as well have been a race to 84 points.
Oklahoma State played with a run-and-gun style that featured one quick shot after the next. But the Cowboys didn’t play much defense in between their offensive possessions.
K-State was happy to mimic the same game plan. The Wildcats launched a boatload of lightly contested 3-pointers without bothering to guard anyone on the other side of the floor.
That made for a high-scoring game in which no lead truly ever felt safe. Perhaps that is why both teams felt like they had a chance until the bitter end.
To be fair, K-State and Oklahoma State both managed to come up with a few stops in the second half. Jerome Tang slowed down the Cowboys with a few zone looks. But this game was still a shootout. Oklahoma State won with offense.
Both coaches lost a challenge early in the second half
The basketball action screeched to a halt as the 13-minute mark approached in the second half.
Oklahoma State coach Steve Lutz and Tang both requested a video challenge after they disagreed with the officials on consecutive plays in which the ball was knocked out of bounds.
The Cowboys went first and lost their challenge, which meant K-State maintained possession.
Moments after play resumed, the ball went rolling out of bounds again and possession was awarded to Oklahoma State. This time, Tang lost a challenge.
Both teams lost a timeout and were unable to challenge anything else that happened in the remainder of the game.
Perhaps that will be a lesson for them to consider saving their challenges for crunch time in future contests.
K-State was down two big men ... again
Two K-State basketball players stayed home on Saturday.
For the second straight game, Elias Rapieque and Mobi Ikegwuruka were absent from the K-State bench. Tang has declined to comment on either absence, citing privacy reasons. It’s possible they have been out with a sickness.
In any case, K-State has missed them to some degree.
Although neither of them are star players, Rapieque usually starts at forward and Ikegwuruka tends to provide energy off the bench. Without them, the Wildcats have relied on other players. Taj Manning has stepped into the starting lineup. CJ Jones and Marcus Johnson both saw playing time in this game.
It is unclear when they will be able to return to action. But K-State could use them back in the rotation to try to end its losing streak.
Big 12 basketball after dark
It’s not unusual for Big 12 basketball games to tip at 9:10 p.m., as this one did on Saturday. But when they do, the games are usually played on the West Coast. It was strange that the Big 12’s television partners selected a game being played in the Central Time Zone for such a late start time.
K-State and Oklahoma State were going up against Saturday Night Live for TV ratings throughout much of the second half.
You don’t see that every day.
But the late tip didn’t seem to bother OSU fans. A solid crowd showed up to cheer on the Cowboys and gave them a tangible home-court advantage.
This story was originally published January 17, 2026 at 11:43 PM.