BYU Ends Kansas State Winning Streak With 80-65 Win
Feb 15, 2025, 9:27 PM | Updated: Feb 18, 2025, 12:36 pm
PROVO, Utah – BYU basketball defended their home court in a win over red-hot Kansas State on Saturday night.
BYU ended K-State’s six-game winning streak with an 80-65 victory at the Marriott Center.
Final: BYU 80, Kansas State 65.
Big win for the Cougars. pic.twitter.com/3mZ9ksHDAg
— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) February 16, 2025
Entering Saturday night, BYU was projected in many Bracketology forecasts as a “Last Four In” team. Meanwhile, K-State was projected to be barely outside of the bracket.
The win for BYU should boost their NCAA resume and move them closer to avoiding the play-in round.
BYU led for all but 23 seconds in Saturday night’s win over the Wildcats.
Keba Keita was a tone-setter for BYU. He was active around the glass early and often throughout the night. Keita finished the night with nine points, 11 rebounds, and five blocks.
BYU’s defense shut down K-State throughout the evening. The Wildcats were held to 41% shooting from the field, 29% from three, and 53% at the free throw line.
BYU’s defense kept K-State star Coleman Hawkins. The former Illinois transfer only scored six points on 2-of-9 shooting from the field.
BYU point guard Dallin Hall had one of his best games in Big 12 play. The junior scored a season-high 16 points, grabbed three rebounds, and dished out three assists.
BYU took down Kansas State without a big night from beyond the arc. The Cougars only six threes in the victory.
BYU improves to 17-8 overall this season and 8-6 in Big 12 play.
Kansas State falls to 13-12 overall and 7-7 in the Big 12.
First Half
14:43 – Keba Keita was all over for BYU, coming up with two points, three rebounds, and two blocks in the opening minutes.
Great minutes from BYU center Keba Keita to open tonight's game against K-State.
2 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 blocks in the opening minutes.
— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) February 16, 2025
BYU was having success getting to the rim with Keita, Trevin Knell, and Egor Demin. Meanwhile, Kansas State was doing their damage early from three with Brend Hausen knocking down a pair of treys and Dug McDaniel hitting one as well. BYU 11, Kansas State 9.
12:09 – BYU was playing some of its best basketball of the season. It started with Keba Keita grabbing an offensive rebound off his own missed free throw. Then Dawson Baker stepped in off the bench to hit a three.
On defense, Dallin Hall Hall had a possession where he was guarding Coleman Hawkins one-on-one. Kevin Young didn’t call for help and Hall locked up Hawkins, forcing a K-State turnover. BYU then got a pair of buckets from Richie Saunders. BYU 24, K-State 12.
6:36 – BYU’s frontcourt with Keba Keita and Fousseyni Traore has had a lot of success, forcing K-State coach to give some minutes to former Kentucky transfer Ugonna Onyneso. Keita and Traore combined for 13 points and seven rebounds to this point of the game.
BYU maintained its 12-point lead while Richie Saunders was on the bench. BYU 32, K-State 20.
3:42 – Neither team could hit a shot in this stretch. They both combined to go 0-for-11 from the field. BYU had four turnovers in a four-minute stretch.
K-State star Coleman Hawkins started the game 0-for-6 from the field. BYU 32, K-State 20.
It's hard not to like the minutes Trey Stewart is providing when he gets called into action. Grabs an offensive rebound that leads to a Richie Saunders slam dunk.
— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) February 16, 2025
Halftime: BYU 40, Kansas State 22
Dallin Hall closed out the half with a beautiful pass to draw two defenders on him and found a wide-open Fousseyni Traore for a bucket.
BYU had an 18-point lead while shooting only 21% from three-point range.
Second Half
15:17 – Kansas State opened the second half with a 5-0 run, but BYU quickly responded with a 9-0 run of their own.
Before the media timeout, K-State coach Jerome Tang was unhappy with some calls and received a technical foul. BYU 49, K-State 29.
BYU is a hard team to beat when Keba Keita is dominating the glass and protecting the rim like he is against the Wildcats.
— Matthew Baiamonte (@baiamontematt) February 16, 2025
11:40 – Kansas State kept hanging around while the second half moved at a snail’s pace due to all of the whistles. The Wildcats were in the bonus at the 12:18 mark of the second half. BYU 53, K-State 40.
7:25 – BYU’s lead was trimmed to eight thanks to a 9-0 K-State run. The Cougars then responded with a 10-1 run. Point guard Dallin Hall was attacking to the rim. He earned a nice round of applause when he checked out of the game. Trey Stewart subbed in for Hall and immediately buried a three before the media timeout. BYU 63, K-State 47.
3:56 – The crowd erupted after K-State’s David N’Guessan missed a pair of free throws, resulting in free Chick-fil-A chicken for the arena. BYU 73, K-State 56.
Final: BYU 80, Kansas State 65
That was a long four minutes of basketball.
Up next for BYU basketball
BYU returns to action on Tuesday, February 18, when they host the Kansas Jayhawks at 7 p.m. on ESPN and KSL NewsRadio (102.7 FM, 1160 AM).
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and hosts the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (12–3 p.m.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow Mitch’s coverage of BYU in the Big 12 Conference on X: @Mitch_Harper.
