2024-25 was turning into a disastrous season for Kansas State basketball, but a recent hot streak has a chance to salvage all of the Wildcats' goals. Jerome Tang and company spent a ton of money in the transfer portal, and now all of their talented pieces are starting to come together as the conference slate winds down.

On Saturday, Kansas State put together a dominant effort to pick up one of its biggest wins of the year in an 81-73 win against No. 16 Kansas. The Wildcats have now beaten Kansas at home in three consecutive seasons, and there is no love lost between the two longtime foes. After the game, Kansas State star Coleman Hawkins threw some shade at Kansas big man Hunter Dickinson, via The Field of 68.

“What is the record now? If we're counting the exhibition game, is that 6-1? I think it's 6-1,” Hawkins said of his record against Dickinson. “He's a good player, but it is kinda funny.”

Hawkns and Dickinson have had a longstanding rivalry in college basketball. They used to play in the Big Ten when Hawkins was at Illinois and Dickinson was at Michigan, and now they are squaring off as Big 12 rivals.

Kansas State is heating up at the right time

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For a while, it looked like Kansas State's NCAA Tournament hopes were completely dead, as the Wildcats just couldn't get it together with this new, star-studded roster.

Now, however, Jerome Tang has this group playing some of the best basketball in the country. Kansas State has won five games in a row and has notched some very impressive victories in the process. During that stretch, the Wildcats have beaten West Virginia, Iowa State in Ames and now Kansas.

As a result, this team now has NCAA Tournament hopes heading into the final month or so of the regular season slate. The Wildcats still have a lot of work to do to get back above a lot of the teams on the bubble, but this recent stretch of play at least puts them back in the conversation.

Playing in the Big 12 means that Kansas State will have no shortage of opportunities to get marquee wins. Its next game is against Arizona at home before a couple of tricky road tests against BYU and Utah. Kansas State will also close the season with a second meeting against Iowa State, this one in Manhattan. If Tang and company can get to the end of the regular season relatively unscathed, they should have no problems making it into the final bracket.