Thomas Gipson had 17 points and 13 rebounds for his first career double-double, Will Spradling added 14 points and Kansas State used a big second-half run to beat George Washington 69-56 on Thursday night.

Jamar Samuels added 10 points and 10 rebounds in his second game since serving a suspension for violating team rules, teaming with Gipson and Jordan Henriquez to give the Wildcats (4-0) an imposing front line. That contributed to 25 second-chance points against their smaller Atlantic 10 opponent.

George Washington (4-2), picked to finish fourth in the A-10, hung around until midway through the second half, when Spradling and company put together a 15-1 run that covered about six minutes.

After beating up on four weak opponents at home, Kansas State now hits the road to face Virginia Tech on Sunday, then plays West Virginia and former coach Bob Huggins on a neutral floor next week.

— KSU Sports Information —

Thomas Gipson scored 13 points and grabbed nine rebounds while Jamar Samuels added 12 points on 7-of-9 free-throw shooting to help Kansas State defeat Maryland-Eastern Shore 92-50 on Tuesday night.

The Wildcats (3-0) led just 36-29 at halftime after shooting 38 percent from the field, but they put the game out of reach in the first eight minutes of the second half with a 28-6 run.

The Hawks (1-4) kept it close early, with Percy Woods and Louis Bell combing to make 4 of 6 tries from 3-point range by midway through the first half. Maryland-Eastern Shore trailed just 25-23 with a little more than five minutes left before the break.

Woods finished with 13 points while Bell added 10.

The Wildcats shot 18 for 23 from the free-throw line.

Rodney McGruder and Martavious Irving scored 11 points each for the Wildcats while Jordan Henriquez grabbed 10 rebounds.

— Associated Press —

Collin Klein and Kansas State just keep finding ways to win.

A week after a wild overtime thriller, Klein and the Wildcats survived a dominating performance by the Texas defense for a rugged 17-13 victory despite gaining just 121 total yards.

Klein was clutch when he absolutely had to be.

Klein passed for a touchdown in the final seconds of the first half and capped a short drive in the third quarter with his 25th rushing touchdown of the season.

There weren’t many other highlights for Klein and the Wildcats (9-2, 6-2 Big 12), but it was enough for Kansas State’s fourth win in a row over the Longhorns. The Wildcats are the only Big 12 team with a winning record over Texas.

“I just love this team,” Klein said. “Bottom line is we made some plays.”

They didn’t make too many.

Klein was sacked five times, held to 4 yards rushing — he came in averaging 101 — and completed 9 of 17 passes in an offense that managed just eight first downs. He needs two more rushing touchdowns to tie the Big 12 season record set by Texas running back Ricky Williams in 1998.

“They just beat the tar out of us,” Kansas State coach Bill Snyder said of the Texas defense.

Down 17-3 in the third, Texas (6-4, 3-4) had a chance to rally behind backup sophomore Case McCoy, who came in after freshman David Ash threw his second interception. The turnover set up Klein’s rushing touchdown.

McCoy led the Longhorns to a touchdown on his first drive, completing all three of his passes and a rollout 36-yard touchdown strike to tight end Blaine Irby.

Texas got within 17-13 on Justin Tucker’s second field goal and momentum seemed to be with the Longhorns until their last chance to rally ended at midfield on the final play. Texas snapped the ball as time expired and McCoy ran around for several seconds before throwing a short pass that fell incomplete nowhere near the end zone.

“I really thought we had a chance to win until that last play was over,” Texas coach Mack Brown said.

Texas outgained Kansas State 310-121 but the return of running backs Malcolm Brown and Joe Bergeron couldn’t provide points. Texas has scored just one touchdown in the last two games. Both were losses that spoiled dominating performances by the defense.

The younger brother of Colt McCoy, who engineered so many rallies for the Longhorns in his career, couldn’t muster another one. Case McCoy finished with 80 yards passing and Cody Johnson ran for 61 yards for the Longhorns.

“I was proud of the way we fought,” said McCoy, whose play will likely reignite the quarterback debate for Texas’ final two games. Ash has started five in a row and is 2-3.

McCoy and Ash could learn a lesson from Klein, who came through with big plays despite getting beaten up most of the night.

After getting sacked for the fourth time, Klein converted a 3rd-and-14 with a 24-yard sideline pass to Sheldon Smith, who barely kept his left foot inbounds. Two plays later, Klein hit Chris Harper with a perfect strike to the corner of the end zone. Texas cornerback Carrington Byndum never turned around on the throw and Harper snagged an easy touchdown to give Kansas State a 10-3 halftime lead.

Ty Zimmerman’s interception set up Klein’s rushing touchdown and a pass interference penalty against Byndum in the end zone put the Wildcats on the 3. Klein plowed over Texas linebacker Emmanuel Acho to put Kansas State ahead 17-3.

“If you had told me would hold (Klein) to four yards rushing,” Brown said, “I would have known that we won the game.”

— Associated Press —

Kansas State wide receiver/kickoff return specialist Tyler Lockett earned his second Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Week honor in three weeks following his performance against No. 3 Oklahoma State, the conference office announced today.

Lockett earned the sixth weekly conference award by a Wildcat this season, while it was the second in the freshman’s career. He is also the first Wildcat true freshman to earn Big 12 Player of the Week accolades twice in a season since Josh Freeman in 2006.

The Tulsa, Okla., native continues to put up All-America numbers in the return game and collected the fifth-most all-purpose yards in K-State history against Oklahoma State (315 yards). He returned a fourth-quarter kickoff 80 yards to set up a game-tying score late in the game and totaled 193 yards in kick returns for the game. The freshman currently ranks second in the nation in kickoff return average. Lockett also rushed three times for 84 yards and caught three passes for 32 yards and a score.

No. 14 Kansas State (7-2, 4-2) hosts Texas A&M (5-3, 3-3) on Saturday in a game that will be televised by ABC at 2:30 p.m.

Fans can purchase tickets to both remaining home games as a combo ticket to both the Texas A&M game and the December 3 home finale against Iowa State is available for only $85. The first 500 fans to purchase a combo ticket will receive a free Jordy Nelson bobblehead.

— KSU Sports Information —

Brandon Weeden threw for a school record 502 yards and four touchdowns, and Joseph Randle scored the final, tiebreaking 23-yard touchdown with 2:16 remaining to lift No. 3 Oklahoma State to a 52-45 victory against Kansas State (No. 14 BCS, No. 17 AP) on Saturday night.

The Cowboys (9-0, 6-0 Big 12) matched the best start in school history and survived quite a scare from K-State (7-2, 4-2), which had three shots at the end zone in the final 12 seconds.

Collin Klein missed on 5-yard passes intended for Tyler Lockett and Chris Harper and then overshot Tramaine Thompson in the end zone as time expired. Oklahoma State’s players rushed on to the field to celebrate, their national championship hopes still intact.

All-America receiver Justin Blackmon caught 13 passes for 205 yards and two touchdowns, atoning for his two-fumble game with a 54-yard touchdown catch with 4:47 remaining that pulled the Cowboys out of a 38-37 deficit.

He also caught the 2-point conversion for a 45-38 lead.

Kansas State responded right back with Lockett’s 80-yard kickoff return and three straight runs by Klein, who barged in from 12 yards out to tie it up with 3:18 remaining.

It took Oklahoma State’s quick-strike offense just four plays and 62 seconds to respond again. Weeden found Isaiah Anderson for a 33-yard gain, and Randle ran through a big hole on third-and-1 before dodging safety Jordan Zimmerman to waltz in for the game-winner.

Klein drove the Wildcats down for a chance to tie — or perhaps go for the win with a 2-point conversion — by converting a fourth-and-4 with a quarterback keeper and then connecting with Harper for 22 yards to set up first-and-goal at the 5-yard line.

With no time to rely on his potent running game, coach Bill Snyder called three straight passing plays but none got the job done.

Klein finished with 231 yards passing with one touchdown and one interception. He also ran for 144 yards and three scores.

Minutes after the game ended, the stadium shook from an apparent aftershock from a 4.7-magnitude earthquake earlier in the day.

The thrilling finish came after a wild back-and-forth game filled with turnovers and plenty of offense — nothing like what was on display in LSU-Alabama clash in the SEC that ended 9-6 in overtime.

While LSU will likely remain first when the BCS standings come out on Sunday, Oklahoma State will probably be the new No. 2.

With starting receivers Josh Cooper and Hubert Anyiam out, Tracy Moore set career-highs with nine catches for 146 yards for Oklahoma State.

Oklahoma State capitalized on Klein’s fumble on the Wildcats’ second play from scrimmage to strike first with Randle’s 4-yard touchdown run, and it was soon 14-0 after Weeden hit Moore for a 44-yard gain to set up the Cowboys’ second score.

Blackmon stutter-stepped at the line to get Nigel Malone on his heels, then caught Weeden’s pass and stutter-stepped again to get past him for an 11-yard score.

Then the Cowboys’ stars made a series of mistakes to let K-State get back in the game.

Blackmon fumbled on a punt return to set up Anthony Cantele’s 37-yard field goal, then Weeden gave the ball right back by throwing a pick to Tysyn Hartman on a deep ball. Angelo Pease and Klein had short TD runs on Kansas State’s next two possessions before another Weeden interception was returned 60 yards for a score by Allen Chapman.

Kansas State led 24-14 — the biggest home deficit this season for the Cowboys — then started piling up errors of its own.

James Thomas intercepted a pass that Klein threw into coverage and Brodrick Brown tipped. His 47-yard return set up Weeden’s 5-yard TD pass to Moore on the next play. Then, instead of pinning Oklahoma State deep, Ryan Doerr’s punt went out of bounds after only 19 yards and gave OSU good field position to drive for Quinn Sharp’s 29-yard field goal and a 27-24 halftime lead.

The Cowboys were 1 yard away from claiming a 41-31 lead late in the third quarter when Blackmon fumbled for the second time in the game and Lyndell Johnson recovered in the end zone for Kansas State.

— Associated Press —

Kansas State junior defensive back Nigel Malone is one of 15 players nationally to be named a semifinalist for the Jim Thorpe Award as the nation’s most outstanding defensive back, the Jim Thorpe Association announced on Monday.

Malone is the first Wildcat up for the award since Terence Newman was the award winner in 2002. He is also the fourth K-State defensive back to earn semifinalist status, joining Newman (2001 semifinalist, 2002 winner), Chris Canty (1995 and 1996 semifinalist) and Jamie Mendez (1993 semifinalist).

A native of Manteca, Calif., Malone has six interceptions this season to lead the Big 12 and rank second nationally, and he also has 12 passes defended, which is second in the league and eighth in the country. He is also one of two players this season to intercept two or more passes in multiple games as he had two picks against Eastern Kentucky and Oklahoma.

Malone, who transferred from City College of San Francisco prior to this season, is tied for third in school history in interceptions, while he is tied for the most by a first-year Wildcat player with All-American Jamie Mendez, who had six interceptions in 1990.

The Thorpe Award was established in 1986 and celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2011. Three other Big 12 defensive backs – Brodrick Brown (Oklahoma State), Tony Jefferson (Oklahoma) and Markelle Martin (Oklahoma State) – joined Malone on the list.

No. 14 Kansas State will hit the road this weekend for a matchup with the third-ranked Oklahoma State Cowboys on Saturday. The game, which will be televised by ABC, will kick off at 7 p.m.

— KSU Sports Information —