K-State downs undermanned ASU to open Big 12 tourney

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Coleman Hawkins scored a season-high 26 points as Kansas State held on to defeat depleted Arizona State 71-66 in the first round of the Big 12 tournament on Tuesday.

The 10th-seeded Wildcats will face seventh-seed Baylor in the second round on Wednesday.

Because of injuries and dismissals, the 15th-seeded Sun Devils (13-19) were down to seven scholarship players. They played without Jayden Quaintance for the fifth straight game after the star freshman was injured in the Sun Devils' victory over Kansas State on Feb. 23.

Adam Miller left the game early in the second half with an undisclosed injury, leaving the Sun Devils with only one reserve.

Kansas State (16-16) got only five points in 17 minutes from leading scorer David N'Guessan because of foul trouble. Dug McDaniel put up 12 of his 14 points in the second half, and Max Jones and Brendan Hausen added 10 points each for the Wildcats.

The Sun Devils were led by Alston Mason with 17 points. He was joined in double figures by Joson Sanon and Basheer Jihad with 13 each plus Shawn Phillips Jr. with 11.

The Wildcats hit their first five 3-point attempts to build a 15-4 lead before the first media timeout. Three of those makes came from Hawkins.

The lead reached 13 before the Sun Devils started responding, and N'Guessan subsequently picked up his second foul with 11:16 left in the half. The Sun Devils took advantage and used a 15-2 run to tie the game at 19-19.

After the teams traded baskets, the Sun Devils grabbed their first lead at 24-21 on a Sanon 3-pointer.

N'Guessan came back in the game but picked up an offensive foul -- his third foul overall -- with 6:01 left in the first half.

Kansas State used an 11-0 run to retake a 34-26 lead on a dunk by Ugonna Onyenso, and the Wildcats were up 38-31 at halftime. Hawkins had 19 points before the break, one point short of his Kansas State high. Mason led Arizona State with eight first-half points.

--David Smale, Field Level Media