P.J. Haggerty, Kansas State try to disrupt Colorado’s roll at home
Kansas State interim coach Matthew Driscoll will continue to make minor strategic adjustments when the Wildcats head to Colorado for a Big 12 contest on Wednesday in Boulder, Colo.
The Wildcats (11-16, 2-12 Big 12) are 1-1 since former coach Jerome Tang was fired on Feb. 15, following postgame comments after a 91-62 home loss to Cincinnati on Feb. 11. The Wildcats snapped a six-game losing streak in Driscoll's debut with a 90-74 home victory over Baylor on Feb. 17.
"We're not going to change," Driscoll said. "But we will be different."
Different could be good after the Wildcats were crushed 100-72 on Saturday at No. 13 Texas Tech. Though being different could simply mean P.J. Haggerty getting back to normal.
Driscoll jokingly suggested that Haggerty, the nation's No. 3 scorer at 23.5 points per game, was mortal after he connected on 7 of 17 field-goal attempts and finished with 17 points against Texas Tech -- his second-lowest total in Big 12 play.
"Today you found out that when P.J. Haggerty gets cut, he bleeds, too," Driscoll said. "He's a regular human being. He had a very tough day. He's usually 50 to 52% (from the field), makes a three, knocks down some free throws and he's between 20 to 25 (points). On a good night, he gets 35. Today, on 17 shots, he got 17 points."
Colorado (15-12, 5-9) could be playing out the string in conference play, but the Buffaloes have more urgency because they entered Tuesday's action ranked No. 69 in the national NET rankings and No. 76 in the WAB (Wins Above Bubble). They are 3-3 in February coming off an 83-69 home win over Oklahoma State on Saturday.
Bangot Dak led the Buffaloes with 17 points and Barrington Hargress added 16 to move to 3-0 at home in February and 12-4 on the season.
"We feel the energy at home and love playing in front of our fans," Hargress said. "We'll take it, we want to protect home-court advantage. But we are really just focused on playing consistent basketball, whether it's here or away."