Iowa State pummels Kansas State, 95-61

Kellis Robinett, The Wichita Eagle on Feb 1, 2026

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MANHATTAN, Kan. — Things keep getting worse for the Kansas State men’s basketball team.

The Wildcats entered the weekend at the bottom of the Big 12 standings. Nevertheless, it felt like they dropped a few spots following a 95-61 loss against No. 8 Iowa State on Sunday at Bramlage Coliseum.

Ugly doesn’t begin to describe how this game went for the home team.

This was K-State’s biggest loss of the Jerome Tang era. It was also its third-biggest loss ever at Bramlage.

K-State (10-12, 1-8 Big 12) was no match for its Farmageddon rival. The talent disparity between these teams was so wide that it didn’t feel like a conference game.

The Cyclones (20-2, 7-2 Big 12) encountered zero resistance from the Wildcats as they made 55% of their shots and rolled behind 19 points from Joshua Jefferson and 18 points from Milan Momcilovic. It felt as though they were playing a pickup game against an intramural squad when they raced to a 50-21 halftime lead.

PJ Haggerty led K-State with 23 points. There were few other highlights to speak of for the home team.

K-State has now lost its past two home games by a combined 59 points ... against its biggest rivals.

Up next for K-State is a road game at TCU on Saturday.

Until then, here are takeaways from Sunday’s action:

An embarrassing effort from the Wildcats

Expectations were low for K-State heading into this game, but the Wildcats still found a way to leave their fans feeling disappointed.

The Wildcats tried to add hype to this game by wearing their throwback two-tone uniforms that feature lavender jerseys and purple shorts. They also encouraged fans to show up in lavender. And they welcomed back several former players as part of a legends celebration.

A decent crowd was in attendance, too.

But none of it mattered. The Wildcats showed little fight or enthusiasm at the beginning of this game and fell impossibly behind.

No one would have blamed K-State for losing a hard-fought game against Iowa State. But losing in this manner will only prompt more questions about Tang’s future and whether the Wildcats should consider paying his $18.7 million buyout at the end of the season.

Good bench options are an issue

The dropoff from Kansas State’s starting lineup to its bench is beginning to become a problem.

When the Wildcats were at full strength with Abdi Bashir, Khamari McGriff and Elias Rapieque all healthy, they had some depth to turn to when their starters exited the game.

That is not the case right now, though.

On Sunday, Tang relied on CJ Jones, Andrej Kostic and Marcus Johnson more than he would have preferred. None of them are playing like quality Big 12 players at the moment.

Jones is severely limited on offense. Kostic gets lost far too often on defense. Johnson lacks the stamina to run with a top-25 opponent for more than a few minutes.

But all of them saw meaningful minutes against the Cyclones.

Jones had five points in 16 minutes, Kostic had eight points in 26 minutes and Johnson went scoreless in seven minutes. None of them made an impact on this game.

The top of the Big 12 is loaded this season

K-State has been competitive in every conference game it has played against a team that isn’t currently ranked inside the top 25.

But the Wildcats have been painfully overmatched against the best teams in the league.

Arizona, BYU, Iowa State and Kansas have all clobbered the Wildcats by double digits. Unfortunately for K-State, it still has to play Houston and Texas Tech. It also has a rematch on tap against the Jayhawks.

The top of this conference is as good as advertised.

Iowa State has proven it is one of the Big 12’s national championship contenders by stringing together four straight lopsided wins, including Sunday’s rout against the Wildcats.

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