No. 19 Kansas Basketball vs Kansas State: Get to Know the Wildcats

The No. 19 ranked Kansas Jayhawks (14-5, 4-2) tip off against the Kansas State Wildcats (10-9, 1-5) inside Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan, Kansas, at 7 p.m. CT Saturday night for the first edition of the Sunflower Showdown in 2026.

The Jayhawks are coming off a tough 75-69 win at Colorado earlier this week, while the Wildcats are fresh off their first Big 12 win of the season following a narrow 81-78 home victory over Utah.

Here are some things to know about the Wildcats ahead of the game on Saturday.

History

KU owns a 206-97 all-time record versus Kansas State dating back to their first matchup on Jan. 25, 1907, which Kansas won in Lawrence by a score of 54-39. Saturday’s contest will be the 303rd meeting between the two schools.

While KU owns a dominant home record versus the Wildcats (108-43), the Jayhawks have been more susceptible when playing on the road as they own just an 81-51 record when playing in Manhattan.

That’s never been more true than in the past three years as K-State has beaten KU three consecutive times at home. It’s the longest home winning streak the Wildcats have had over the Jayhawks since the early ‘80s when they won four consecutive home games versus the Jayhawks from 1981 to 1983.

Record

K-State currently owns a 10-9 record overall and 1-5 record in Big 12 play.

The Wildcats have struggled against good competition this year, losing to every ranked opponent they’ve faced. Their best wins so far this season have come against Cal and Creighton.

K-State suffered five straight losses to open up Big 12 play this year with defeats coming against No. 13 BYU (83-73), at No. 1 Arizona (101-76), at Arizona State (87-84), home against UCF (82-73), and at Oklahoma State (84-83).

Key players

Memphis transfer P.J. Haggerty is the star of the show for the Wildcats this year.

The 6-foot-4 junior guard is averaging 23.4 points per game (ppg) while shooting almost 50% from the field and nearly 37% from 3-point range. He’ll shoot it a bunch too as he averages about 17 attempts per game.

Haggerty also leads the team in rebounds and assists with an average of 5.2 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game.

The Wildcats have four additional players averaging double-digit scoring in 6-foot-7 wing Abdi Bashir Jr. (13.2 ppg), 6-foot-1 guard David Castillo (11.8 ppg), 6-foot-3 guard Nate Johnson (11.6 ppg), and 6-foot-9 forward Khamari McGriff (10.2 ppg).

Coaching

K-State is led by fourth-year head coach Jerome Tang who owns a 71-52 (.577) overall record, a 29-34 record in Big 12 play, and a 3-3 record versus KU during his time in Manhattan.

Tang has led the Wildcats to one NCAA Tournament appearance in his four seasons as head coach. That came in his first year at the helm when he guided K-State to the 2023 Elite Eight where they lost to Florida Atlantic (79-76).

Tang was named the 2023 Big 12 Coach of the Year and Naismith Men’s College Coach of the Year as a result of the team’s unexpected success that season.

The Wildcats have reached the postseason just once since then with a NIT appearance in 2024 where they lost in the first round to Iowa (91-82).