Final: K-State 98, Mississippi State 77

The Kansas State Wildcats blew out the Mississippi State Bulldogs, 98-77, Thursday evening in the first round of the Hall of Fame Classic at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City.

K-State (5-0) trailed by four early in the contest, and the Bulldogs (2-2) stayed within arm’s reach until 8:46 remained in the contest, when a pair of free throws brought them within 71-64. But an 11-0 K-State run over the next 2:30 of game time extended the margin to 82-64 and all but sealed the victory for the Cats.

When Abdi Bahir made an absurd three-point bucket from three steps beyond the left arc (on a fastbreak, no less) with 3:13 to go, pushing the margin to 91-68, Coach Tang began clearing the bench. If you “math” it out, K-State ran off a 27-13 finish over the final 8 minutes plus. No tension this time. A comfortable blowout.

PJ Haggerty dominated. The Memphis transfer poured in 37 points on 13-21 shooting, including 4-7 from beyond the arc. He also had 7 rebounds and 8 assists, with only one turnover. Had Tang not declared mercy—and had PJ not suffered a bout of hamstring cramps—a triple-double might have been in play.

Nate Johnson added 12 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists. Bashir scored 12 and collected 4 rebounds of his own. Khamari McGriff scored 8 on 4-4 shooting.

K-State only committed 8 turnovers while forcing 14. The Wildcats outscored Mississippi State 17-4 off turnovers in the game and out-rebounded the bigger Bulldogs 38-34. The Cats also scored 42 points in the paint to Mississippi State’s 30.

Mississippi States point guard Josh Hubbard scored 23, including 8-9 from the free throw line, and looked unstoppable at times. In what was billed as a matchup of two of the best point guards in the country, both played well, though Haggerty’s diverse impacts on the game overshadowed Hubbard, in the end.

Next Game

This one deserves more discussion, but it will have to come in the comment section. It’s late. It’s a work night. And we’ll do it all again tomorrow. Cats vs. the Hoiberg Huskers at 8:30. Yes, it’s on Peacock again, unless you have YouTube TV. Get the trial plan, if you have to. This team is proving fun to watch.