Takeaways from Kansas State’s victory over West Virginia without PJ Haggerty
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- K-State Wildcats rallied with a 19-0 second-half run to win 65-63.
- Reserves contributed (Jones 8, Kostic 8, Castillo 7) with Haggerty ruled out.
- Sparse attendance emphasized need for next coach to restore fan support.
Any chance of a Kansas State victory seemed to disappear in the moments leading up to its basketball game against West Virginia on Tuesday at Bramlage Coliseum.
That’s when leading scorer PJ Haggerty was ruled out for the evening with an injury.
The Wildcats had been struggling mightily with him in the starting lineup. The odds of K-State winning without him seemed extremely low.
But this is March. Anything is possible in college hoops this time of year. The Wildcats proved that much by pulling off an unlikely 65-63 upset over the Mountaineers in front of a sparse crowd.
K-State won thanks to a 21-0 run in the second half. That was easily its biggest scoring streak of the entire season, and it allowed the Wildcats to pull ahead by as many as 19.
Turns out, they didn’t need Haggerty to win a defensive battle in their final home game of the season. But they did need to hold on for dear life as West Virginia made a late push to pull all the way within two in the final minute.
Khamari McGriff led K-State with 18 points, while Nate Johnson chipped in 16.
With the win, the Wildcats (12-18, 3-14 Big 12) likely secured the No. 15 seed at the conference tournament. The Mountaineers (17-13, 8-9 Big 12) may have played their way out of the NCAA Tournament with the loss.
Next up for K-State is a game at Kansas on Saturday.
Until then, here are takeaways from Tuesday’s action:
Where did that come from?
Long scoring droughts have doomed K-State in recent losses.
On Tuesday, a long scoring streak propelled it to a victory.
The Wildcats trailed 26-23 at halftime, but surged ahead by as many as 19 in the second half courtesy of a 21-0 run that had everyone in the building questioning their eyes.
K-State seized control of a conference game with a dominant stretch of play that lasted nearly 7 minutes. Khamari McGriff was the best player during that stretch, as he scored nine points all by himself. But he also got help from Taj Manning and Andrej Kostic.
Perhaps even more impressive than the offense was K-State’s defense. The Wildcats forced the Mountaineers to miss eight straight shots and go nearly eight minutes without a point.
It’s been a forgettable season for K-State, but that stretch of play was memorable.
K-State leaned on other guards without PJ Haggerty
Replacing the production that Haggerty usually brings to the floor was not an easy task for K-State’s coaching staff.
Haggerty is averaging 23.3 points per game this season. He has been one of the nation’s top scorers all year.
K-State’s secondary scorer has been Nate Johnson at 12.1 points per game.
The Wildcats inserted CJ Jones into the starting lineup as Haggerty was sidelined with an injury. Andrej Kostic also saw more playing time than usual with extra room in the rotation.
Jones delivered eight points in 37 minutes of action. Kostic came off the bench and scored eight points in 17 minutes. David Castillo also scored seven points.
This was an all-hands-on-deck effort for K-State.
The Octagon of Room
Bramlage Coliseum is one of the best arenas in the Big 12 to watch a basketball game when the Wildcats are playing well.
K-State fans are eager to support a winner. They usually even show up when the home team is mediocre.
But when the Wildcats are struggling through a nightmare season like this, well, the fan support disappears. Case in point: Only the most loyal of fans were in attendance for this game as K-State played with an interim head coach and without leading scorer PJ Haggerty.
The Octagon of Doom felt more like the Octagon of Room on Tuesday.
An announced crowd of 6,705 showed up. But actual attendance was much lower. The student section was empty. Section 23 didn’t feature a single fan outside of the K-State pep band.
The top priority for the next head coach seems simple. Give fans a reason to return to Bramlage next season.
This story was originally published March 3, 2026 at 9:28 PM.