Coleman Hawkins had a season-high 19 points to lead Kansas State past Longwood 80-64 and claim third place in the Paradise Jam on Monday in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands.
Hawkins, whose previous high was 12 points, shot 5-of-7 from 3-point range. He also pulled down 10 rebounds, three boards shy of his best total this season, for his first double-double in a Kansas State uniform. The Illinois transfer also had five assists, two blocks and two steals.
Kansas State (5-2) had four players in double figures. Besides Hawkins, the Wildcats got 16 points from Brendan Hausen, 11 from Dug McDaniel and 10 from David N’Guessan.
The Lancers (6-2) were led by Kyrell Luc with 15 points. Colby Garland added 13 points and Johan Nziemi had 11.
Longwood’s two leading scorers, KJ McClurg (14.3 ppg) and Michael Christmas (10.9), were held to a combined three points, all of those by McClurg.
Kansas State gradually pulled away in the second half, eventually leading by 21 points twice in the last 5:07. Once the Wildcats stretched the lead to double figures early in the half, the closest the Lancers got was nine points.
It was a sloppy start to the game, with the teams combining for 13 turnovers and nine fouls by the second media timeout. The teams combined for 18 turnovers in the first half.
K-State also struggled with foul trouble. N’Guessan picked up the team’s 10th foul to send Longwood to the double bonus with 8:37 left in the half. Longwood was 10-of-12 from the free-throw line in the half.
A 9-0 run near the end of the half helped the Wildcats to take a 44-36 lead to the locker room.
The Wildcats depended heavily on Hausen and Hawkins, who each put up 11 points in the first 20 minutes. They combined to go 5-of-5 from beyond the arc. The Wildcats were 7-of-11 as a team.
Longwood was led by Nziemi and Luc with nine apiece.
–Field Level Media