Kansas State had all the reason to feel down after enduring a six-game losing streak that lasted nearly a month.

Things got better after Saturday’s 73-60 victory against the West Virginia Mountaineers at Bramlage Coliseum. Wildcats coach Jerome Tang refused to get too high about the win, but the hope is it builds confidence.

“Enjoy but we’ve shown we can improve and build off losses,” Tang said. “Now, we have to show that we can build off wins.” 

The Wildcats last victory came Dec. 30 against Cincinnati. They were coming off tough losses against rival Kansas and Baylor. Guard Dug McDaniel led the way with 15 points while David N’Guessan finished with 14 points. The Wildcats had five players in double-figures, including C.J. Jones (10), Max Jones (12) and Coleman Hawkins (11).

Tang had been under fire during the losing streak, taking criticism from fans the past few weeks. The win should calm the fan base at the time being. The Wildcats (8-11 overall and 2-6) need a lot of work to improve their resume if they want an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Tang was thankful for the strong fan turnout.

“So thankful to the students, man,” Tang said. “I walked out and I saw them, my joy tank was full seeing them. They really provided great energy for us and allowed us to get off to a great start.”

Shandel Richardson is the publisher of Kansas State Wildcats On SI. He can be reached at shandelrich@gmail.com

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West Virginia entered Saturday’s matchup with Kansas State at Bramlage Coliseum looking to avoid consecutive losses — something the Mountaineers had successfully done following each of their first four setbacks this season.

Instead, WVU was blitzed from the jump by the Wildcats as Kansas State ran off 17 straight points early into the matchup and hardly looked back in claiming a 73-60 victory for its first win of 2025.

“You go on the road, you can’t come out of the gates the way we did,” first-year WVU head coach Darian DeVries said. “You have to have a full 40 and we didn’t have that tonight.”

West Virginia (13-6, 4-4) missed 10 of its first 11 shots, while K-State (8-11, 2-6) made 7-of-11 shots to start, allowing the home team to create separation it kept intact for the remainder of the matchup.

After Eduardo Andre scored from close range for West Virginia’s first points, the Mountaineers were scoreless for more than 6 minutes and without a field goal for almost 8.

WVU missed nine straight shots and turned it over once during the early stretch when the Wildcats took control. KSU guard Dug McDaniel aided his squad by scoring seven points during the prolonged run, including a three-pointer that made it 19-2 at the 12:18 mark of the opening half.

While West Virginia settled in some offensively, the Mountaineers never got the deficit inside 13 over the remainder of the half, with that coming at 21-8 on a Javon Small layup.

Leading 31-16 as the 5-minute mark of the opening half approached, the Wildcats then ran off 11 unanswered points to hold their largest lead of the night. 

That stretch began with two free throws from McDaniel, and the guard added a layup 27 seconds after teammate C.J. Jones had scored on a fast break. Ugonna Onyenso accounted for the next five points, including a conventional three-point play 1:15 before halftime.

Andre’s dunk late in the half made it a 24-point margin at the break.

“The first 5 minutes, it just kind of snowballed from there. The second half was more like us,” DeVries said. “We competed and didn’t quit, but you can’t put yourself in that type of hole, on the road especially. That was a tough one to try to claw back out of.”

The Wildcats shot 16 for 30, including 5 of 9 on threes over the first 20 minutes. They had six players with multiple field goals at halftime, while the Mountaineers went to the intermission shooting 7 for 29, including 4 for 21 outside of Small.

West Virginia made several runs in the second half, including an early one that allowed the Mountaineers to trail 44-29 following Amani Hansberry’s triple.

Small’s dunk in transition left the Mountaineers facing a 54-40 deficit with 11:05 to play, but the Wildcats countered with eight of the next 10 points to ensure there wouldn’t bet be a tight finish. Five of those eight points were provided by David N’Guessan, who accounted for a conventional three-point play and threw down a dunk with 5:42 left for a 20-point margin.

The Mountaineers got as close as 12 on three separate instances, but never until less than 2 minutes remained.

KSU made 26-of-55 shots to shoot better than 47 percent, had a 15-5 edge in bench scoring and a 17-8 advantage in fast break points.

McDaniel led five Wildcats in double figures with 15 points and added six assists and a pair of steals.

“He’s a good player. He’s always stuffing the stat sheet,” DeVries said. “He did some things there again. He’s a tough guard. He has the ability to face up, drive you and rebound. I was watching on film and he does a lot of things that equate to winning. He certainly did that tonight.”

N’Guessan scored 14 and Max Jones added 12, with that duo combining to make 10-of-15 shots. Coleman Hawkins contributed 11 points and a team-high seven rebounds and C.J. Jones totaled 10 points.

Small led the Mountaineers with 22 points and five assists.

Toby Okani scored 13 in defeat before fouling out and Sencire Harris added 12 points, all of which he scored after halftime.

WVU made 25-of-68 shots and 4-of-21 threes. In two losses this week, the Mountaineers shot 43 for 126, including 8 for 50 from long range.

Kansas State snapped a six-game skid and improved to 9-4 against the Mountaineers at Bramlage Coliseum.