The Mountaineers Ended The Game On A 14-5 Run
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Senior Treysen Eaglestaff came through the clutch for West Virginia, scoring 8 of his 12 points in the last 3 minutes to help the Mountaineers rally past Kansas State, 59-54, on Tuesday night before 10,809 fans at Hope Coliseum.
The win extended West Virginia’s home court winning streak to 16 games, as the Mountaineers (14-7, 5-3 Big 12) remained a perfect 13-0 at home under first-year head coach Ross Hodge. They also snapped a 3-game losing streak to the Wildcats, earning their first win since 2023.
Despite Eaglestaff’s heroics erasing a 49-45 lead with 3:38 to play, K-State had two chances to tie the game in the last 22 seconds. Following a missed free throw by senior Honor Huff, junior P.J. Haggerty drove to the basket but his layup with blocked out of bounds with 14.5 seconds left. Haggerty then received the inbound pass, but his 3-pointer fell short with 10 seconds.
Huff made amends for his earlier free throw miss by icing the game with a pair of free throws to make it 59-54 with 8 seconds left. He led all scorers with 17 points.
Haggerty paced three Wildcats in double figures with 16 points, all of which came in the second half, while sophomore David Castillo and senior Nate Johnson added 15 and 13 points, respectively. Junior Taj Manning corralled a career-high 9 rebounds.
K-State (10-11, 1-7 Big 12) continued to play shorthanded with just 10 available players due to injuries, as starters Abdi Bashir Jr. and Khamari McGriff each missed their third straight game. A third regular starter – Elias Rapieque – missed his fifth game in a row.
While the offense struggled for the second straight game with a season-low 54 points, the Wildcat defense played perhaps its best game, as they held the Mountaineers scoreless for more than 7 minutes in the second half while holding them to a season-low 59 points at home.
After trailing by 10 points in the early moments of the second half, back-to-back 3-pointers by Haggerty and Johnson ignited an 8-0 run that brought K-State to within 36-34 with 13:23 remaining. West Virginia went back ahead 45-41 near the midway point before a jumper by Castillo sparked 8 straight points that carried the Wildcats to a 49-45 lead with 4:30 to play.
A putback by Eaglestaff at the 3:17 mark ended a more than 7-minute scoring drought, as the senior followed with a 3-pointer to give the Mountaineers the lead for good at 50-49, with 2:08 to play. After 3-pointers by Huff and Haggerty made it 54-52 with a minute remaining, Eaglestaff made his biggest play of the night as he followed his own shot with a layup before finishing the 3-point play with 43 seconds left to make it 57-52.
Huff was joined in double figures by Eaglestaff’s near double-double with 12 points and 9 rebounds and senior Brenen Lorient’s 10 points.
HEAD COACH JEROME TANG
Opening statement…
“First of all, I want to thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, for the blessing I have to do this. This is not for the faint of heart, especially in this league. When the scoreboard is not in your favor, it’s not a lot of fun, but really proud of my team. After our last game, we watched film and said seven minutes and 26 seconds, it’s a four-point game, and we let it get away from us. We didn’t finish, and this game, we’re going to improve on that. 7:22, it’s a two-point game, we come out, we score. I think we’ve got to stop on the score to go up four and at the under four media, 3:38, we got a four-point lead. We come out of there, and we have two offensive possessions that we didn’t execute right. We didn’t take the kind of shots we wanted to take that allowed us to get back the lead. In that time, they got eight second-chance points. They had 15 for the game, so it’s seven until that point, and they got eight second-chance points down the stretch. They executed better than we did. They out-toughed us down the stretch, and so, we’re going to go look at it and see, first of all, what I can do better. Then, each guy’s got to look in the mirror, watching film and see what they can do better. Credit to them for making the plays down the stretch.”
On the play of PJ Haggerty…
“I have trust in all my players down the stretch. You just want to make the right play and play the right way. Sometimes it’s the shot for him, and sometimes it’s making the play and getting the ball to somebody else, and you just want him to make the right play.”
On the team’s inability to consistently control the game…
“I think some of it is that we have guys who, in an effort to try and help us win, try to take it on their shoulders. We started the game, four of our five made buckets were assisted, and then we ended the half with still four assists on nine made buckets. So, we turned it into a one-on-one game. I think in some of those instances, individuals tried to go make a play, rather than us playing together.”
On the team’s overall performance…
“We don’t play with enough pace, and they’re such a great defensive team. In his (WVU head coach Ross Hodge) schemes and what he does, you have to play with pace, and you have to have body and ball movement. Too many times, we didn’t have that.”
FIRST HALF
K-State got the start it wanted, as the Wildcats scored the game’s first 7 points as the Mountaineers missed their first 5 field goal attempts to go with 5 turnovers. An old-fashioned 3-point play by senior Jasper Floyd pulled WVU to within 10-5 just after the second media timeout, but sophomore David Castillo answered back with the team’s third 3-pointer to go ahead 13-5 at the 10:58 mark.
WVU scored 6 straight points to close to within 13-11 before senior Nate Johnson connected on his second 3-pointer of the game. The Mountaineers continued to push, using a 7-0 run to grab their first lead at 18-16 and force a timeout by head coach Jerome Tang with 4:50 to play.
A Castillo jumper tied the game at 18-all on the next possession, but WVU’s momentum continued with 10 straight points to go ahead 28-18, forcing another timeout by Tang with 1:39 remaining. The Wildcats were able to finish off the half with some momentum with consecutive baskets by Johnson and Castillo to pull within 28-22.
The Wildcats’ 22 points were the lowest in a first half this season, as they shot 33.3 percent (9-of-27) from the field, including 33.3 percent (4-of-12) from 3-point range. The Mountaineers rebounded from their poor start to connect on 44.4 percent (11-of-25) from the field, including 36.4 percent (4-of-11) from long range. Senior Honor Huff led all scorers with 12 points.
SECOND HALF
WVU extended the lead back to double figures twice in the early moments of the second half with 6 of the first 8 points then 8 of the first 12 points. Back-to-back 3-pointers by junior P.J. Haggerty and Johnson sparked an 8-0 run that pulled K-State to within 36-34. A corner 3-pointer from freshman Andrej Kostic got the Wildcats to within 40-39, but freshman Amir Jenkins answered back on the other end as the Mountaineers led 45-41 at the media timeout with 10 minutes to play.
A Castillo basket started a run of 6 straight points that included 2 free throws from Haggerty and another jumper from Johnson that returned the lead to K-State at 47-45, prompting a timeout from WVU head coach Ross Hodge at the 8:39 mark. The run grew to 8-0 ater a basket by Haggerty that extended the Wildcat lead to 49-45 at the final media timeout with 3:38 to play.
A putback basket by senior Treysen Eaglestaff at the 3:17 mark ended a more than 7-minute scoring drought by the Mountaineers to pull them to within 49-47. He then gave them the lead with a wide open 3-pointer moments later at 50-49. After a free throw made it 51-49, the teams exchanged 3-pointers, one by Huff and one by Haggerty, to make it 54-52 with 57.6 seconds, as Tang called his final timeout.
Eaglestaff continued his clutch play, as he connected on a putback followed by a free throw that put WVU up 57-52 with 43 seconds. On the next possession, Haggerty pulled K-State to within 57-54 on a jumper with 36 seconds. Huff missed the first end of a 1-on-1 free throw, giving the Wildcats a chance but Haggerty’s layup was blocked with 14.5 seconds. Haggerty had one more opportunity but his 3-pointer missed. Huff finished the scoring with 2 free throws with 8 seconds.
Haggerty scored 16 of his 18 points in the second half.
BEYOND THE BOXSCORE
- K-State saw its 3-game winning streak over West Virginia end in a 59-54 loss.
- K-State is 1-7 in Big 12 play for the first time since 2020-21.
- West Virginia now leads the all-time series, 17-13, including 10-4 at home… The win snapped a 3-game winning streak by K-State and was the first since an 89-81 win on March 4, 2023 at home… The Mountaineers also lead 16-12 in the Big 12 era.
- K-State is now 1-5 on the road this season and 10-30 under Jerome Tang.
- K-State used a starting lineup of junior P.J. Haggerty, senior Nate Johnson, sophomore David Castillo, junior Taj Manning and junior Dorin Buca… This is the third straight time using this lineup and the fifth different lineup used this season.
- Haggerty and Johnson have now started all 21 games.
- Haggerty now has 87 career starts (Tulsa/Memphis/K-State), N. Johnson now has 81 career starts (Akron/K-State), Castillo and Manning now have 7 career starts while Buca earned his third straight start.
- K-State played with just 10 available players due to injuries with 8 seeing time.
TEAM NOTES
- K-State scored its 54 points on 37.5 percent (21-of-56) shooting, including 32 percent (8-of-25) from 3-point range, while making all 4 free throws.
- K-State was held to season-lows in both points (54) and field goals made (21) and its third-lowest field goal percentage (37.5).
- K-State is now 0-8 when scoring less than 80 points this season.
- K-State held an 18-8 advantage in points off turnovers and 10-8 fast break points.
- West Virginia posted a 38-31 advantage on the glass, including 10 offensive boards that the Mountaineers turned into a 15-4 edge in second-chance points.
- West Virginia also won the points in the paint battle (30-24).
- K-State trailed 28-22 at halftime and is now 1-10 this season and 18-41 under head coach Jerome Tang when trailing at the break.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
- Three Wildcats – junior P.J. Haggerty, sophomore David Castillo and senior Nate Johnson – scored in double figures.
- Haggerty scored his 16 points on 6-of-19 field goals, including 2-of-6 from 3-point range, and 2-of-2 free throws to go with 5 rebounds, 3 assists and a steal in 39 minutes… He has now scored in double figures in 85 of 93 career games, including all 21 games this season.
- Castillo scored his 15 points on 6-of-11 field goals, including 1-of-4 from 3-point range, and 2-of-2 free throws in 38 minutes… He has now scored in double figures in 12 games in his career, including 11 this season.
- Johnson scored his 13 points on 5-of-9 field goals, including 3-of-5 from 3-point range, to go with 8 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals in 39 minutes… He has now scored in double figures in 53 career games, including 13 this season.
- Junior Taj Manning grabbed a career-high 9 rebounds.
WHAT’S NEXT
K-State returns home on Sunday afternoon, as the Wildcats play host to No. 8/9 Iowa State (18-2, 5-2 Big 12) at Bramlage Coliseum. Tip is set for 1:05 p.m., CT on FOX. K-State leads the all-time series, 147-95, however, Iowa State holds a 32-30 edge in the Big 12 era with 10 wins in Manhattan, including a 73-57 victory in 2025.
