Three K-State basketball takeaways as the Wildcats lose at home against Kansas
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Kansas beat K-State 86-62, ending KU's three-game skid at Bramlage.
- K-State missed four players; Dorin Buca provided rim protection off the bench.
- Wildcats suffer scoring shortfalls; team is 0-6 this season when under 81 points.
Jerome Tang no longer has a perfect record against Kansas State’s biggest basketball rival inside Bramlage Coliseum.
The Kansas Jayhawks defeated the Wildcats 86-62 on Saturday to end a three-game losing streak in this building.
K-State (10-10, 1-6 Big 12) pushed KU (15-5, 5-2) for most of the night. The Jayhawks led just 37-35 at halftime and clung to a 59-55 advantage when PJ Haggerty drained a 3-pointer with 7 minutes, 52 seconds remaining. But Kansas pulled away in the final moments and its players celebrated in front of a dejected crowd.
The Jayhawks won without Darryn Peterson in the lineup, as he missed the game with an injury.
The Wildcats were also not at full strength, as Abdi Bashir, Khamari McGriff, Elias Rapieque and Mobi Ikegwuruka all missed the game.
Turns out, KU was more prepared to play without its full arsenal of weapons.
Up next for K-State is a road game against West Virginia.
Until then, here are takeaways from Saturday’s action:
K-State isn’t built to win low-scoring games
The Wildcats are at their best when they play fast, make 3-pointers and force their opponent to try and beat them in a shootout.
But they don’t play strong enough defense to win low-scoring games.
This stat says it all: the Wildcats are 0-6 when they fail to score at least 81 points this season.
They simply didn’t have enough fire power to challenge Kansas until the bitter end of this matchup. PJ Haggerty led the way with 23 points and Andrej Kostic had 12. But no other K-State player reached double figures. The Jayhawks countered with five players in double figures, including 21 from Flory Bidunga.
The Wildcats need much more production on offense to compete with Big 12 teams.
Andrej Kostic was a spark plug off the bench
If there is a silver lining to K-State missing four players this week, it is that Andrej Kostic has finally gotten an opportunity to show off his offensive skills.
The Serbian wing has been relegated to the bench for most of the season. Tang has chosen not to play him a single minute in five games, mostly because he is still learning how to play defense at a Big 12 level.
But there is a hole in K-State’s backcourt without Abdi Bashir in the lineup, so Kostic has been thrust into action.
He responded by making a pair of 3-pointers during an 81-78 victory over Utah. Then he followed it up with four more 3-pointers against Kansas. Kostic is not a complete player yet, but he clearly has upside.
Dorin Buca made a huge difference in the paint
The tallest player on the floor used his size to his advantage in this game.
Dorin Buca, a 7-foot-2 center from Italy, gave the Wildcats his best effort whenever he was in the paint.
He scored six points, grabbed 11 rebounds and made the Jayhawks think twice about every shot they attempted from close range.
His impact was felt the most when he went to the bench. All of a sudden, things were much easier for Kansas without a rim protector in the way.
Buca has been a steady contributor for K-State all season, but he has rarely played extended minutes as he has mostly come off the bench behind Khamari McGriff and Elias Rapieque. But with both sidelined with injuries, Buca saw 26 minutes of action against the Jayhawks.
He has proven he can handle a bigger workload and help the Wildcats for an entire game in the paint.
This story was originally published January 24, 2026 at 9:26 PM.