OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – K-State jumped out to 5-1 lead after the top of the fourth inning, but top-seeded Texas Tech scored seven unanswered runs to come back and defeat the eighth-seeded Wildcats, 8-5, on Wednesday in the first round of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark.

The Wildcats (26-30) used a pair of two-out, two-run doubles by Jake Scudder and Michael Smith to help build their four-run advantage, but 14 of Texas Tech’s 17 hits after the third frame fueled the come-from-behind victory. The Red Raiders (41-14) scored three runs in the fifth to tie it at 5-5 before two runs in the sixth and a run in the eighth put away the Wildcats.

“We got off to a really good start, obviously,” said K-State head coach Brad Hill. “Three runs in the first and I liked the way our kids got after it. There was a big two-out hit by Michael Smith (in the fourth). You feel like you’re off to a really good start, but then that’s why (Texas Tech is) the conference champion for a reason and just great composure (by the Red Raiders). They didn’t panic over there. They felt very comfortable and confident that they were going to comeback, just chip away at it like they did.”

The loss puts K-State in the elimination bracket, where it will face No. 5 seed Oklahoma on Thursday at 9 a.m. The Sooners fell to West Virginia earlier in the day, 6-0.

After K-State starting pitcher Corey Fischer scattered five hits, two runs and a walk in the first four innings, the Wildcat bullpen yielded the go-ahead runs. Jordan Floyd was summoned in the fifth after back-to-back singles off Fischer opened the frame, but the left-hander sandwiched an RBI single with his two strikeouts before surrendering a pair of run-producing singles followed by a walk to end his outing. The last of the pair of two-out singles, produced by Hunter Hargrove, evened the score.

In the sixth, freshman Mitch Zubradt, who ended the fifth with a groundout to the only batter he faced, allowed back-to-back singles to open the inning. Both runners, Stephen Smith and Tyler Floyd, came around to score on a single by Tyler Neslony and sacrifice fly by Eric Gutierrez.

Zubradt took the loss, his first of his career, after he was responsible for two runs on three hits and a walk over 1 1/3 innings.

While Texas Tech pulled away with the five runs over the sixth and seventh, the Red Raider bullpen quieted K-State’s offense. Led by Robert Dugger and Hayden Howard, who picked up the win and save, respectively, the Texas Tech relief corps limited the Wildcats to one hit and just three baserunners (one walk, one error) over the last five innings.

The Wildcats wasted little time in staging a threat against Texas Tech starting pitcher Ty Damron in the first as a leadoff single by Clayton Dalrymple, hit by pitch by Tyler Wolfe and walk drawn by Josh Rolette loaded the bases for Scudder. The Big 12 Newcomer of the Year fed a double down the left field line to drive in Dalrymple and Wolfe to make it 2-0 K-State. Tyler Moore followed up Scudder with a fielder’s choice to score Rolette and give the Wildcats a three-run lead.

“Damron got a little more aggressive after (the three runs in the first),” said Hill. “He really challenges with the fastball and got it elevated where we couldn’t catch up to it for a couple of innings. He kind of settled down for a little bit.”

Texas Tech answered the three K-State runs in the first when Cory Raley hit an RBI triple with two outs off Fischer to cut it to 3-1, but Smith followed up a single by Quintin Crandall and two-out walk by Josh Ethier in the fourth with a double to the wall in left field to make it 5-1 Wildcats.

Prior to the Red Raiders tying the game in the fifth, they cut the K-State advantage to three runs in the fourth when Neslony, who opened the frame with a double, scored on a sacrifice fly by Hargrove.

Of Texas Tech’s 17 hits, four were for extra-bases. K-State, meanwhile, had three hits for the extra-base variety of its six total.

Crandall had a double and single to lead the Wildcats with two hits. It was his 12th multi-hit game this year.

Six Red Raiders had multi-hit efforts, led by three apiece from Smith, Floyd and Neslony.

K-State will face Oklahoma in an elimination game for the second straight year. Left-hander Parker Rigler will get the start on the mound for K-State on Thursday and face righty Alec Hansen.

— K-State Athletics —

MANHATTAN, Kan. – For a second-consecutive season, Kansas State senior safety Dante Barnett was one of 42 players nationally to be named to the Lott IMPACT Trophy watch list, the Pacific Club IMPACT Foundation has announced.

Barnett’s honor is also the fifth-straight season a Wildcat has been up for the award, joining 2012 finalist Arthur Brown, 2013 preseason candidate Ty Zimmerman and 2014 quarterfinalist Ryan Mueller.

This is the 13th year the Pacific Club IMPACT Foundation has presented the Lott IMPACT Trophy, which goes to the student-athlete who exhibits the characteristics displayed by Ronnie Lott during his legendary college and professional careers. IMPACT stands for Integrity, Maturity, Performance, Academics, Community and Tenacity.

Barnett, a product of Tulsa, Oklahoma, is tied for first among active Big 12 players with 29 career starts, which included a 27-game starting streak that came to an end due to an injury in the 2015 season opener. He earned a medical hardship and will be a senior again in 2016 as he was named a team captain for a third-straight year, one of just six three-time team captains in school history. He enters his final campaign as the team’s top returning tackler with 181 career stops, while he also paces the squad with seven career interceptions, which is three shy of entering K-State’s career top-10 list.

Off the field, Barnett is a member of the Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll, while he has volunteered for many community-service activities, including Cats in the Classroom, Senior Cats and Adopt-a-Family. Currently, Barnett and 15 other K-State student-athletes are in Costa Rica as part of the Courts for Kids initiative as they are partnering with members of the Linea, Vieja, community to build a multi-purpose sports court from the ground up. The court will be utilized by area youth and physical education teachers, in addition to being a landing place for community events.

The Wildcats open their 2016 football season on Friday, September 2, in a nationally-televised game at Stanford. Following an off week in which Bill Snyder Family Stadium will host the Wildcat Kickoff music festival featuring Zac Brown Band and Train, K-State begins its home slate on September 17, against Florida Atlantic.

— KSU Athletics —

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Cheney native Jerry Kill, whose 32-year football coaching career spanned 156 wins as a head coach and included remarkable turnarounds and results, is returning home to the state of Kansas as K-State Athletics Director John Currie announced today that the former Minnesota head coach has been named Associate Athletics Director for Administration.

In his new role, Kill will be a member of Currie’s senior departmental staff and serve as chief administrator for the K-State football program. Kill retired from Minnesota and the coaching profession in 2015 due to health reasons and is excited to enter a new administrative phase of his career.

“We are thrilled that Jerry and Rebecca are coming home to join the K-State family,” Currie said. “He is ready to move into a new chapter of his life and professional career, and his experience as a former head coach will be a terrific addition to our staff. We look forward to the perspective and mentoring he will provide our coaches and student-athletes as we continue toward our vision of a Model Intercollegiate Athletics Program.”

“Rebecca and I couldn’t be happier to return home to the state of Kansas and join the K-State Athletics family and Manhattan community,” Kill said. “I want to make it known that my coaching days are over, and I am excited to start this next phase as an administrator for one of the finest athletics departments in the country. Mentoring has always been very important to me, and I am thrilled to work in support of Hall of Fame Coach Bill Snyder and the football program and learn more about the administrative side of college athletics under John and the rest of the first-class staff at K-State.”

A three-time national coach of the year honoree, Kill recorded winning seasons in 15 of his 22 years as a college head coach. He most recently coached at Minnesota, from 2011-2015, where he took the Gophers to heights not seen in recent years. In year four, Kill led Minnesota to a January 1 bowl game for the first time since 1962 and coached the Gophers to wins against Michigan and Iowa, which had previously not happened in the same season since 1967. Under Kill’s direction, Minnesota also won eight games in both 2013 and 2014, which marked only the fifth time since 1906 that Minnesota won eight games in consecutive seasons.

In his previous four stops as a head coach, he never left a school with a sub-.500 record, and in three of his previous four head coaching positions, he took over a team with a losing record and turned in a winning season in three years or less.

“Sean and I have spent a great deal of time with Jerry and Rebecca and feel as though they will be a solid addition to our Kansas State and community family,” said Snyder. “Both are down to earth, caring people who fit well in this culture.  Jerry’s health issues have precluded him from coaching again, but his passion for athletics and young people make this a positive step for his future career.”

Prior to his stint at Minnesota, Kill led Northern Illinois to 23 wins and three consecutive bowl games during his tenure and also coached NIU to a berth the Mid-American Conference Championship game in 2010.

Prior to serving as the head coach at NIU, Kill was in charge of the football program at Southern Illinois, an FCS program in Carbondale, Ill. He spent seven years on the Saluki sideline and compiled a 55-32 record. Kill’s record over his final five seasons with Southern Illinois was 50-14 and included five consecutive NCAA FCS Playoff appearances.

Kill was the head coach at Emporia (Kan.) State for two seasons in 1999-2000. He went 11-11 with the Hornets, who play at the NCAA Division II level. Prior to Emporia State, Kill was the head coach at NCAA Division II member Saginaw Valley State from 1994-1998. He compiled a 38-14 record with the Cardinals.

Kill served as defensive coordinator and offensive coordinator in two different stops at Pittsburg (Kan.) State University. He helped lead the Gorillas to three NAIA playoff appearances as the defensive coordinator from 1985-87. Kill returned to Pitt State as the offensive coordinator from 1990-93. In that four-year span, the Gorillas advanced to the NCAA Division II Playoffs four times, reaching the championship game twice and winning the 1991 national title.

Sandwiched between his stints at Pittsburg State, Kill was the head coach at Webb City (Mo.) High School. He was 25-1 in two seasons at Webb City and won a state championship in 1989.

Kill, a 1983 graduate of Southwestern (Kan.) College, and his wife Rebecca have two daughters, Krystal and Tasha.

— KSU Athletics —

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Tiffany Mitchell scored 16 of her 20 points in the first two quarters as top-seeded South Carolina opened a big lead and breezed into the Sweet 16 with 73-47 victory over Kansas State on Sunday night.

The Gamecocks (33-1) romped through their first two NCAA Tournament games, defeating Jacksonville by 36 points before routing the ninth-seeded Wildcats (19-13) on the way to their fourth round of 16 in the past five seasons. South Carolina, though, is looking for much more and showed the inside strength and defense that might help achieve their national championship goal.

Mitchell was the catalyst in the first 20 minutes, slicing through the Kansas State defense whenever she had the ball.

The Gamecocks will face Syracuse (27-7) on Friday in Sioux Falls, South Dakota in the next round.

Breanna Lewis had 21 points to lead the Wildcats, who had no answer once South Carolina got going.

Alaina Coates had 14 points and 10 rebounds, her second straight double-double in the NCAA Tournament and 19th of the season.

The Gamecocks led by 19 points at the break and eventually grew the lead to 32 points against their Big 12 Conference opponents.

Kansas State had hoped to make the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2002 and thought its 6-foot-5 junior Lewis could limit the effectiveness of South Carolina’s inside power duo of 6-5 A’ja Wilson and 6-4 Coates.

That job looked easier when Wilson was called for two fouls less than two minutes into the game.

But it was Mitchell, a two-time SEC player of the year, who powered the Gamecocks past the Wildcats early on. Her steal and easy basket after Wilson went to bench way early got a nervous crowd to exhale and steadied South Carolina’s attack.

Mitchell sliced through Kansas State’s defense on the way to a three-point play after the Wildcats had tied things for a final time at 7-all.

She killed off any hopes of a Kansas State comeback in the final minute before halftime with a 3-pointer before banking home a basket as the buzzer sounded to put the Gamecocks up 45-26 and cruising to their fourth Sweet 16 appearance in five years.

Mitchell got big hugs from her teammates — and a rousing ovation from the fans — when she left the court at Colonial Life Arena for a final time. The senior helped the Gamecocks go 47-1 at home the past three seasons, the lone defeat to NCAA Tournament favorite UConn 66-54 last month.

TIP INS

Kansas State: The Wildcats’ Breanna Lewis had six blocks against George Washington on Friday night, setting the school record for most games in a career with five-or-more blocks at 14. Lewis has 177 blocks the past two seasons, also a Kansas State record. She finished with two blocks against the Gamecocks.

South Carolina: The Gamecocks have turned up their stingy defense even more in the past month. They’ve held their past nine opponents to an average of 49 points a game. One team has broken the 60-point barrier in that stretch — and that was Kentucky in a 93-63 loss in the SEC tournament semifinals earlier this month.

UP NEXT

Kansas State’s season is over.

South Carolina will play No. 4 Syracuse in the Sweet 16 on Friday in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

— Associated Press —

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Following the announcement of the NIT field, Kansas State men’s basketball coach Bruce Weber announced on Sunday night that the Wildcats have opted to not participate in any additional postseason tournament this year.

“We fell short this season in reaching our goal of playing in the NCAA Tournament, and although we were disappointed to not be selected for the NIT, I am proud of our players for their hard work and perseverance throughout this season,” Weber said. “After we take a short break for our student-athletes to recover physically we will begin preparations for 2016-17, including training for our international trip to Switzerland and Italy in August.”

Weber acknowledged and thanked seniors Justin Edwards, Stephen Hurt and Brian Rohleder for providing strong leadership for the Wildcats this season. All three are on track to receive degrees from K-State in May, along with rising senior D.J. Johnson.

K-State, which faced one of the most difficult schedules in school history, posted a 17-16 overall record in 2015-16, finishing eighth in the nation’s top conference – the Big 12. The Wildcats boasted the 19th-best strength of schedule in the country, which included 17 games against teams that advanced to the NCAA Tournament, highlighted by wins over eventual No. 2 seed Oklahoma, No. 8 seed Texas Tech and NIT participant Georgia. Of the 16 losses, 15 came to teams bound for the NCAA Tournament, including 14 to teams that are currently ranked in The Associated Press Top 25 poll.

The Wildcats will return 13 of 16 players for the 2016-17 season, including six players who earned at least five starts. Among those returning include Third Team All-Big 12 selection Wesley Iwundu, Big 12 All-Newcomer selections Barry Brown and Dean Wade and Johnson and point guard Kamau Stokes.

The only Wildcat to start all 33 games, Iwundu ranked first or second in eight statistical categories, including first in assists (3.7 apg.) and minutes (32.4 mpg.) and second in scoring (11.9 ppg.), double-figure scoring games (25) and steals (1.3 spg.). Wade ranked third on the team in scoring (9.9 ppg.), double-digit scoring games (16) and rebounding (5.1 rpg.), while Brown was tops in both 3-point field goals made (45) and attempted (134) to go with averages of 8.6 points, 2.8 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.2 steals in 25.8 minutes per game. Johnson, who scored in double figures in 10 Big 12 contests, averaged career-bests of 9.3 points and 5.2 rebounds per game in 32 games played.

A starter in 21 games, Stokes averaged 9.4 points, 2.8 rebound and 2.7 assists per game before going down an injury on Jan. 30, forcing him to miss the final 13 games of the season.

— KSU Athletics —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kansas State looked like a team playing without any pressure in the Big 12 tournament Wednesday night.

Maybe because that’s the way the Wildcats have chosen to approach it.

They know that they’ll need to win four games in four days to make the NCAA Tournament, and they are unlikely to be favored the rest of the way. But they at least got the first one out of the way, holding on after building a big early lead to beat Oklahoma State 75-71 in the opening round.

“There should be no pressure on us,” Wildcats coach Bruce Weber said. “We just have to come and play and enjoy the opportunity. That’s what we’ve talked about.”

Freshman forward Dean Wade took advantage of his opportunity, scoring a career-best 20 points. Justin Edwards added 17 and Wesley Iwundu had 14 for the eighth-seeded Wildcats (17-15), who will play top-ranked Kansas — the tournament’s No. 1 seed — in Thursday’s quarterfinals.

“It is definitely going to be challenging, the No. 1 team in the country,” Edwards said. “Like coach said, we have to go back to the hotel, get rested and hopefully be energized for tomorrow.”

Jeffrey Carroll and Joe Burton scored 13 points apiece for No. 9 seed Oklahoma State, which lost its 20th game for the first time since the 1971-72 season. And that could create an uncomfortable few days for coach Travis Ford, who still has three years and $7.2 million remaining on his 10-year contract.

The pressure has been mounting on Ford all season, despite a rash of injuries — including season-enders to star guard Phil Forte and standout freshman Jawun Evans — that robbed him of his intended lineup.

“People have asked me about it, and they don’t understand the life I live,” Ford said. “They are not around me enough to know my mindset of how I work. I immerse myself into trying to figure out how to help this team every way possible, and you know, I haven’t really — you know, I put everything I could in trying to figure out how to beat K-State. And now I am thinking about what I could have done differently.”

Tyree Griffin scored 11 points and Leyton Hammonds had 10 for the Cowboys, who lost in the first round of the tournament for the first time to finish the season with seven consecutive defeats.

Meanwhile, the Wildcats wiped away the memory of a loss to TCU as the No. 8 seed a year ago.

Kansas State jumped on the Cowboys right from the start Wednesday night, using a 10-0 run and a 9-0 run minutes apart to build a double-digit lead. It eventually swelled to as many as 18 points when Iwundu knocked down a jumper and then hit a pair of foul shots in the closing minutes of the first half.

Kansas State still led 40-23 at the break.

The Cowboys, who began the game 4 for 15 from the field, scored on their first six possessions of the second half to chip into the lead. But once their offense got going, their defense collapsed, and the Wildcats were able to match them shot-for-shot for several minutes to keep them at bay.

It was still 67-59 with just over two minutes left when Kansas State forward Stephen Hurt knocked down a baseline jumper. Anthony Allen rattled the rim with a dunk at the other end, but Iwundu went coasting to the rim and was fouled, making the first of two free throws for some breathing room.

It came in handy when Hammonds hit a 3-pointer to make it 70-64 with 1:24 remaining.

The Wildcats struggled to put the game away from the foul line with Iwundu and Brian Rohleder each missing a pair. But after a basket by Tyree Griffin made it 73-68 with 21 seconds left, Barry Brown was able to convert the first of two free throws to help seal the win.

“Now it’s all about getting rest, getting good preparation,” Iwundu said, “and coming to fight the hardest tomorrow to make it a good game and hopefully come out with the win.”

—

TIP-INS

Oklahoma State: Jeff Newberry was held to six points on 3-for-9 shooting. … The Cowboys’ last victory was against Kansas State in overtime on Feb. 13. … Oklahoma State shot just 35 percent from the field.

Kansas State: Iwundu also had four assists and Wade had six rebounds. … The Wildcats came into the tournament having lost four of their last five. … D.J. Johnson had nine points before fouling out.

SUPPORT FOR FORD

“We’ve been through a lot of adversity,” Griffin said, “and he’s just trying to lift us up, like every single time. He’s never been negative to us. We’ve never been negative toward our teammates. We just try to go out there and finish each game and play strong every night.”

UP NEXT

Oklahoma State begins recuperating in the offseason.

Kansas State plays the Jayhawks in Thursday’s quarterfinals.

— Associated Press —

LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) — Toddrick Gotcher has taken part in many special moments during his Texas Tech basketball career.

He added another Saturday: sinking to one knee and proposing to girlfriend Kelly McQuaid in front 12,000 fans.

The 6-foot-4-inch guard scored 13 points, while Devaugntah Williams and Keenan Evans added 20 apiece, as the Red Raiders defeated Kansas State 80-71 in the Big 12 Conference finale for both squads.

More importantly, McQuaid said “yes” to the applause of the home-town fans.

“The win is a lock for the NCAA Tournament, the proposal, Senior Day. … It’s been a lot of things going through my mind,” said Gotcher, who went 3 for 6 from the 3-point line. “Just happy for my team, and we’re excited for the future.”

Gotcher, asked if he had a backup plan, chuckled and said, “I really didn’t. That’s what I was afraid of. I hoped she said yes, and she did. So, that’s great that she said yes because I would have been looking crazy if she would have said no.”

The Red Raiders (19-11, 9-9 Big 12) ended their conference slate at .500 for the first time since the 2006-2007 season.

D.J. Johnson finished with 21 points to lead the Wildcats (16-15, 5-13). Justin Edwards (16 points), Dean Wade (13) and Wesley Iwundu (12) finished in double digits.

“We came out and probably played as well as we had for the first 12 or 13 minutes, and then they turned it up,” Kansas State head coach Bruce Weber said. “And we just didn’t deal with it very well.”

Kansas State appeared to be on point early on, building a 12-2 advantage in the first four-and-a-half minutes. During that spurt, Wade contributed four points.

But the Red Raiders clawed their way back, closing the deficit to 23-11 before going on a game-changing 25-5 run to close out the final nine-and-a-half minutes.

“We upped our energy, and we were more focused on defense,” Williams said. “We were supposed to be running them off the 3s and they were hitting 3s early. And we just weren’t boxing out, so coach (Tubby Smith) had us regroup and lock in during that part of the game.”

Zach Smith started Texas Tech’s offensive surge with a tip-in followed by a fast-break dunk by Justin Gray to cut the deficit to 23-15 at the 8:29 mark.

The key moment of the run came when Norense Odiase, who had just returned from injury, drained back-to-back jumpers to knot things up at 28-28 with 2:24 in the first half.

“He hasn’t played, and it was his first time back in six to eight weeks,” Texas Tech coach Tubby Smith said of Odiase. “He looked well and he gave us a real presence. … When he knocked down those two jumpers, I think we were behind, and I think he tied it up with one of the jumpers. And it did give us a big momentum boost.”

About 20 seconds later, Gotcher made a coast-to-coast basket, which not only gave the Red Raiders their first lead of the game but jumpstarted an 8-0 run to finish off the half.

“We forced the tempo to see what would happen,” Gotcher said of Texas Tech forcing seven turnovers in the first half during the run. “We got a lot of easy layups and deflections that led to steals.”

In the span of 10 minutes, the Wildcats went from leading by 12 to trailing by eight following a buzzer-beating layup by Evans.

Smith and Williams had six points, apiece during the late first-half run.

Texas Tech continued its hot shooting in the second half, building its lead to as many at 18 points, as it held off the Wildcats en route to its 14th home win of the season.

“I was impressed with Kansas State,” Tubby Smith said. “They’re as good as any 16-15 team in this country, and as tough as any team we’ve played.”

—————

TIP INS

Kansas State: The Wildcats have struggled on the road this season, going 3-9 away from home. But the team had done well in Lubbock, winning four of the last five games until dropping Saturday’s contest.

Texas Tech: Odiase, who had been rehabilitating a broken right foot since early January, returned to the lineup at the 13:06 mark of the first half. The sophomore forward finished with four points on 2 of 2 shooting in eight minutes played.

SMITH HONORED

Texas Tech head coach Tubby Smith earned John R. Wooden “Legends of Coaching” award prior to Saturday’s contest. The veteran coach will be honored at a ceremony in April.

INJURY UPDATE

Kansas State’s Stephen Hurt, suffered a sprained ankle after chasing a loose ball, went to the locker room around the 12-minute mark of the game. He finished with two points in 14 minutes.

SPECIAL SENIORS

Texas Tech honored its two seniors — Gotcher and Williams — prior to Saturday’s contest. The veterans combined for 33 points.

NEXT UP

No. 8 seed Kansas State plays No. 9 seed Oklahoma State on Wednesday at Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City.

No. 7 seed Texas Tech plays No. 10 seed TCU on Wednesday.

— Associated Press —

MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Kansas State coach Bruce Weber gripped the stat sheet, glanced over at senior guard Justin Edwards and the two shared a smile.

“That was fun,” Weber quipped.

Edwards affirmed the statement with an exaggerated nod. After a string of close losses during the month of February, Kansas State finally got to enjoy a blowout win.

Barry Brown scored 15 points on 5 of 8 3-pointers, Edwards added 12 more in his final home game, and Kansas State routed TCU 79-54 on Wednesday night.

“With all the close games we’ve had, all the heartbreaking games, it was good for them to enjoy this,” Weber said. “We played the game the right way.”

Brown and Edwards combined to hit eight of Kansas State’s 10 3-pointers. Wesley Iwundu finished with 11 points and seven assists for the Wildcats (16-14, 5-12 Big 12).

“We had two of our best practices this past week,” Edwards said. “I feel like everyone’s confidence has increased, and I feel like the players today just played for us seniors. It all just fell into place.”

Brown hit his fourth 3-pointer with 13:37 left to stretch a 19-point halftime advantage to 58-33. Dean Wade gave the Wildcats their largest lead of the game — 31 points — with a pair of free throws late as the seniors looked on from the bench.

Chauncey Collins led TCU (11-19, 2-15) with 11 points. The visitors finished 18 of 54 from the field (33 percent).

“That was a good `ol fashion beat down,” Horned Frogs coach Trent Johnson said. “I had concerns going in because we were fatigued. But I don’t want to take anything away from K-State — they shot the ball really well.”

Kansas State shot 76 percent from the field in the first half, including a scorching 6 of 9 from deep, to take a commanding 47-28 lead into the break. It was the seventh-highest shooting percentage in a half in school history and the best since December 2014.

The rout didn’t start immediately, though.

The Wildcats turned the ball over on their first three possessions, then scored TCU’s first bucket on a goaltend call, all before the under-16 media timeout.

The Horned Frogs couldn’t take advantage, missing five of their first seven shots, as Kansas State regrouped and went on a 14-0 run. Senior guard and former walk-on Brian Rohleder — who had tallied just eight points in his career — capped off the half by converting a jumper at the buzzer.

TCU’s shooting woes continued into the second half. The Horned Frogs dipped from 39 percent from the field in the first half to 30 percent with just under eight minutes to play. They finished 9 of 31 in the second half.

Brown stretched Kansas State’s lead to 67-39 with 12:37 to play with his fifth and final 3-pointer. Edwards exited the game to hugs from his teammates following a tough finish at the basket.

“I keep telling them we’re going to finish on a good note,” Weber said. “If they keep believing, keep doing the right things, we’ll finish on a positive note. I still believe that, and hopefully this will springboard into some more good things.”

SENIOR MOMENT

Rohleder has been a fan favorite during his time at Kansas State despite playing less than four minutes a game in his career. On Wednesday, he was rewarded with a buzzer beater:

“It wouldn’t have even happened if it wasn’t for Austin Budke diving on the floor and playing hard, then kicking it to Wesley who passed it to me. If it wasn’t for my teammates, it would’ve have happened, but it was pretty cool that it did happen. It’s something I will never forget.”

TIP-INS

TCU: The Horned Frogs have lost five conference games by 20 points or more this season.

Kansas State: The Wildcats entered carrying a three-game home losing streak, the program’s longest drought since dropping three straight from Feb. 5-19, 2005. . Senior Stephen Hurt grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds. . Kansas State finished with 26 made field goals, 23 of which were assisted on.

UP NEXT

TCU: Hosts No. 6 Oklahoma on Saturday

Kansas State: At Texas Tech on Saturday

— Associated Press —