ATLANTA (AP) — Kentucky’s latest group of fabulous freshman is all done.

Gritty Kansas State made sure of that Thursday night.

Demeaned by many pundits as the worst team still alive in the NCAA Tournament, ninth-seeded K-State got 22 points from Xavier Sneed and gave the South Regional one more upset with a 61-58 semifinal victory over Kentucky.

Next up in the bracket-busting South: the regional final against No. 11 seed Loyola, which continued its stunning run in the tournament with a 69-68 victory over Nevada.

Yep, its 9 vs. 11 in the Elite Eight for the first time in tournament history with a trip to the Final Four on the line.

Just the way it should be in a regional that became the first in NCAA history to have the top four seeds knocked out on very first weekend, including No. 1-ranked Virginia.

Sneed wasn’t around at the end — he was among three Kansas State players who fouled out — but Barry Brown Jr. came through with the shot of the game to seat it for the Big 12 school.

Brown darted into the lane with the shot clock running down, seemingly blowing by every Kentucky player to get to the basket, and banked one in with 18 seconds remaining to put K-State up 60-58.

Kentucky’s Quade Green put up an airball from beyond the arc and Kansas State rebounded, drawing a foul that sent Amaad Wainright to the line for two free throws that could’ve sealed it. He made only one, giving Kentucky one more chance to force overtime.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander got a decent look at the basket, but his shot rimmed out as the horn sounded.

Brown wasn’t done. In the raucous celebration, he leaped over the press table like Superman and sprinted into the arms of the purple-clad Kansas State fan section.

John Calipari was denied a shot at his fifth Final Four in nine seasons as Kentucky’s coach. Fears that his young players would “drink the poison” — the belief that they had an easy path to San Antonio thanks to all the upsets — turned out to be well founded.

— Associated Press —

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Barry Brown scored 18 points, and Kansas State ended UMBC’s brief, but historic run in the NCAA Tournament with a 50-43 victory on Sunday night.

UMBC became the first 16 seed to beat a No. 1, destroying top-ranked Virginia 74-54 on Friday night. After pulling off the biggest upset in college basketball history, the Retrievers ran out of magic against the Wildcats.

As UMBC coach Ryan Odom emptied his bench with 9.4 seconds left, the crowd gave the Retrievers a standing ovation. The players hugged at midcourt. After the game ended, players walked over to the side of the court and gave their fans an appreciative wave.

The dream had ended.

The Wildcats (24-11) move on to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2010 when they lost in the Elite Eight to Butler. They will face Kentucky on Thursday night.

UMBC had only had two field goals in the final six minutes and shot just 29.8 percent for the game.

UMBC’s scrappy defense forced 18 turnovers, but managed just three points off those. They finished 6 of 22 from 3-point range two nights after lighting up Virginia. And 9 of 18 from the free throw line.

UMBC (25-11) had a chance to take the lead with 5 minutes remaining, but Arkel Lamar was stripped of the ball on a drive to the lane and Xavier Sneed took the ball the length of the floor for a two-handed dunk.

Brown then hit a fall-away jumper.

Sneed, who had eight points, had a monster dunk off an offensive rebound and later knocked down a baseline jumper with a minute left to push the lead to five. Makol Mawien added a dunk on a fastbreak to seal the victory with 45 seconds left.

The Retrievers showed no sign of a letdown early on, jumping out to a 7-0 lead after Kansas State missed its first eight shots — five of those from beyond the arc.

Kansas State didn’t score until the 13:40 mark of the first half, but the Wildcats closed the half on a 17-8 run and led 25-20 at the break despite going 0 for 8 from 3-point range.

BIG PICTURE

UMBC: Chances are people will one day have to Google who won the 2018 NCAA Tournament, but they’ll never forget what Jairus Lyles and the Retrievers pulled off in Charlotte.

Kansas State: Brown defended Lyles extremely well, holding him to 12 points on 4-of-15 shooting. The Wildcats held a 35-28 edge on the boards.

UP NEXT

Kansas State: Will face fourth-seeded Kentucky on Thursday in Atlanta.

— Associated Press —

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas State was rewarded for a successful season on Sunday, as the Wildcats earned their 30th overall bid to the NCAA Tournament, including the fourth in six seasons under head coach Bruce Weber.

K-State (22-11, 10-8 Big 12) was selected as a No. 9 seed in the South Regional and will travel to Charlotte, N.C., to play No. 8 seed Creighton (21-11, 10-8 BIG EAST) in the first round on Friday, March 16 at the Spectrum Center. The winner will advance to play the winner of the second game between the tournament’s overall No. 1 seed Virginia (31-2, 17-1 ACC) and No. 16 seed UMBC (24-10, 12-4 America East) on Sunday, March 18.

The Wildcats will be joined at the venue by No. 2 seed North Carolina, No. 7 seed Texas A&M, No. 10 seed Providence and No. 15 Lipscomb of the West Regional. The top seeds in the South Regional are No. 1 seed Virginia, No. 2 seed Cincinnati, No. 3 seed Tennessee, No. 4 seed Arizona and No. 5 seed Kentucky.

K-State and Creighton will tip off at 5:50 p.m., CT with the matchup between No. 1 seed Virginia and No. 16 seed UMBC to follow 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first game. The game will be broadcast nationally on TNT with Jim Nantz, Grant Hill, Bill Raftery and Tracy Wolfson.

Public requests for NCAA Tournament tickets are available until 11:59 pm, tonight. Please click here to request tickets exclusively within the K-State allotment. Tickets are priced at $66 (upper level) and $100 (lower level).

Kansas State is making its 37th postseason appearance, which includes 30 in the NCAA Tournament and seven in the Postseason NIT. The Wildcats advance to the NCAA Tournament for the eighth time in 12 seasons, including in consecutive seasons for the first time since making five straight appearances from 2010 to 2014. The program has now advanced to the postseason 10 times in the last 12 seasons (eight trips to NCAA Tournament and two to the NIT). The 30 overall bids ties for 20th nationally (along with Georgetown and Illinois), including fourth among Big 12 schools (Kansas, Texas and Oklahoma).

In its last NCAA appearance, No. 11 seed K-State knocked off fellow No. 11 seed Wake Forest, 95-88, in the First Four at the UD Arena in Dayton, Ohio on March 14 before losing to No. 6 seed Cincinnati, 75-61, on March 17 in the South Regional First Round at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, Calif. Seven current players saw action in one or both of those NCAA Tournament games, including starts in both contests by current juniors Barry Brown, Jr., Kamau Stokes and Dean Wade. K-State has a 7-7 NCAA Tournament mark in its last seven appearances.

The program has posted a 34-33 all-time record in NCAA Tournament play, including 10-5 in the first round. The school will be making its second consecutive appearance in the South Regional and the third overall with the other trip coming in 1993 and is 1-2 all-time in the region. K-State will be making its third appearance as a No. 9 seed and the first since the 2014 NCAA Tournament, in which, the Wildcats lost to No. 8 seed Kentucky, 56-49, in the Midwest Regional in St. Louis. The other appearance as a No. 9 seed came in the 1987 NCAA Tournament when the school defeated No. 8 seed Georgia, 82-79, in overtime before losing to top-seed UNLV, 80-61, in Salt Lake City. Overall, the school is 1-2 as a No. 9 seed.

In K-State’s 29 previous NCAA Tournament appearances, the Wildcats have advanced to the Sweet 16 a total of 16 times. The program has also reached the Elite Eight 11 times, made four Final Four appearances and played in one National Championship game (1951).

Head coach Bruce Weber becomes fifth different coach to lead K-State to at least four NCAA Tournament appearances and joins Jack Hartman (1978-82), Lon Kruger (1986-90) and Frank Martin (2007-12) as the only coaches to accomplish it four times in a six-year period. Overall, Weber advances to his 12th NCAA Tournament, which includes six at Illinois and two at Southern Illinois. He is 41st head coach in NCAA history to take three different schools to the tournament, including the 21st active coach. He has a 12-11 record in the NCAA Tournament with three trips to the Sweet 16 and the 2005 Final Four.

The Wildcats earned their fourth 20-win season under Weber and finished in sole possession of fourth place in the nation’s top RPI conference, the Big 12, with a 10-8 mark. The 22 wins are the most since winning 27 in Weber’s first season in 2012-13, while the 10 in Big 12 play were the most since also winning 10 in 2013-14. The team is led by All-Big 12 First Team selection Dean Wade (16.5 ppg., 6.3 rpg.) and All-Big 12 Second Team and Big 12 All-Defensive Team member Barry Brown, Jr. (16.0 ppg., 3.1 rpg.).

Creighton enters Friday’s game with a 21-11 overall record, which includes a tie for third place with Providence and Seton Hall in the BIG EAST Conference standings with a 10-8 mark. The Bluejays are led by senior guard and former K-State player Marcus Foster, who earned First Team All-BIG EAST honors for the second consecutive season in 2017-18. He is averaging a team-best 20.3 points on 49 percent shooting, including 42.2 percent from 3-point range, to go with 3.9 rebounds and 2.7 assists in 31.6 minutes per game.

Two other Bluejays are averaging in double figures, including junior guard Khyri Thomas (15.3 ppg., 4.3 rpg.) and sophomore forward Martin Krampelj (11.9 ppg., 8.1 rpg.), while four others average between 6.0 and 8.3 points per game. Thomas was named Second Team All-BIG EAST, while freshman guard Mitch Ballock (7.0 rpg., 2.7 rpg.) was named to the league’s All-Freshman Team.

Foster played at K-State from 2013-15, averaging 14.1 points on 40.9 percent shooting, including 37.3 percent from 3-point range, with 2.8 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 28.6 minutes per game in 62 career games with 57 starts. He was twice named to All-Big 12 teams, including the Second Team as a freshman in 2013-14.

Thomas was a prep teammate of current Wildcat junior guard Kamau Stokes at Fork Union Military Academy in Virginia during the 2014-15 season, while Ballock played at Eudora High School in Eudora, Kansas.

Creighton is led by head coach Greg McDermott, who has a 187-92 (.670) record in eight seasons at the helm which includes five NCAA Tournament appearances. He previously spent time as head coach at Wayne State (1994-2000), North Dakota State (2000-01), Northern Iowa (2001-06) and Iowa State (2006-10). Overall, he is 454-284 (.615) in 24 seasons as head coach. He matched up four times during Weber’s time as head coach at Southern Illinois from 1998 to 2003, while he went 1-7 against the Wildcats as head coach of the Cyclones.

This will be the 16th meeting between K-State and Creighton on the hardwood, but the first since 1987. The Bluejays own a narrow 8-7 edge in the series, including a 1-0 mark in neutral site games.

The winner of Friday’s first round matchup will face either No. 1 seed Virginia (31-2, 17-1 ACC) and No. 16 seed UMBC (24-10, 12-4 America East) on Sunday. The Cavaliers, winners of the ACC regular season and conference tournament, earned the No. 1 seed in the South Region. They are led by three scorers averaging double-figures, including a team-high 14.1 points per game from All-ACC first-team selection sophomore guard Kyle Guy. In addition to Guy, redshirt senior guard and All-ACC second-team selection Devon Hall averaged 12 points per game coupled with 4.3 rebounds per game and a 45.2 3-point percentage during the season.

As the ACC Coach of the year, Tony Bennett’s crew finished the season shooting 46.1 percent from the field and 39 percent from beyond the arc, while limiting the opponent to just 53.4 points per contest and 37.5 percent from the field. Virginia’s 17 ACC regular season wins, and nine conference road wins marked a new league record, as the Cavaliers are also just the fourth team in the Associated Press Top 25 era since 1990 to reach the No. 1 spot in the AP weekly poll after being unranked in preseason.

Bennett is an alum of the University of Wisconsin Green Bay (’92), who has a 288-117 overall record in his 11th year as a head coach, including a 219-85 (105-51, ACC) record in his eighth season at the helm of the Cavaliers.

For the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), the Retrievers enter the NCAA Tournament after winning the American East Conference Tournament to earn their first NCAA Tournament bid since 2008. Coached by head coach Ryun Odom, who coached the team to their fourth 20-win season in program history, the Retrievers averaged 73.9 points per game while shooting 44.5 percent from the field in the season and were led by four scorers averaging double-figures. First-Team All-America East Graduate guard Jarius Lyles led UMBC by averaging 20.1 points per game on 43.6 percent from the field, while America East Defensive Player of the Year, K.J. Maura who average 2.0 steals per game.

Odom is an alum of Hampden-Sydney (’96) and is in his second year with UMBC, after posting a 21-13 record in his first season with the team, earning their first winning season since 2007-08 and the 2017 Joe B. Hall Award, presented to the top first-year coach in Division I basketball. Prior to coaching at UMBC, Odom served as head coach at Lenoir-Rhyne (N.C.) during the 2015-16 season, prior to serving as an assistant and interim head coach at Charlotte from 2010-15. He is the son of longtime head coach Dave Odom.

K-State has never faced Virginia and/or UMBC on the hardwood in school history.

K-State was one of nine Big 12 teams to earn berths to the NCAA Tournament and NIT, including seven in the Big Dance, joining No. 1 seed Kansas (Midwest), No. 3 seed Texas Tech (East), No. 5 seed West Virginia (East), No. 6 seed TCU (Midwest) and No. 10 seed Oklahoma (Midwest) and Texas (South) in the field. In addition, Baylor is a No. 1 seed and Oklahoma State a No. 2 seed in the NIT. The Big 12 is the first league since at least 1996-97 to accomplish such a feat.

In addition, all three Division I programs in the state of Kansas (Kansas, Kansas State and Wichita State) all advanced to the NCAA Tournament for fifth time in seven seasons.

— K-State Athletics —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kansas State could have crumbled when TCU’s Desmond Bane knocked down a desperation 3-pointer to force overtime in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament on Thursday.

Or when Vlad Brodziansky gave the Horned Frogs the lead in the extra session.

Instead, the Wildcats kept their poise, turned to their stingy and consistent defense, and leaned on star guard Barry Brown to convert the go-ahead lay-up with 11.2 seconds to go. And when the Horned Frogs’ Alex Robinson missed two free throws at the other end, Kansas State had a 66-64 victory that not only meant a semifinal berth but also may have locked up an NCAA Tournament bid.

“It was tough for us, but it was nothing we’ve ever been through before,” Brown said of Bane’s clutch 3. “We play overtime all the time in practice. It was something we were prepared for.”

The Horned Frogs actually had the ball with the game tied at 64 and 34.5 seconds to go. But when Robinson’s pass was deflected out of bounds, a video review showed Brodziansky touched it last, and the officials reversed their original call and gave Kansas State the ball.

Brown’s driving layup gave the Wildcats the lead, and Robinson tried to answer with his own layup with 1.3 seconds to go. But when he was fouled by Makol Mawien, the Horned Frog’s guard — a 60-percent foul shooter — missed the first of two free throws, forcing him to also miss the second.

Kansas State corralled the rebound to seal the overtime win.

“Hopefully that solidifies our chance to be in the NCAA Tournament. Now they’ve got to want more,” Wildcats coach Bruce Weber said. “Go get to the finals and see what happens.”

Mawien finished with 16 points, and Xavier Sneed and Dean Wade scored 12 apiece for the fourth-seeded Wildcats (22-10), who advanced to play Kansas in Friday night’s semis.

Kenrich Williams led the Horned Frogs (21-11) with 20 points. Robinson contributed 16 points on 6-for-15 shooting, and he finished with seven turnovers — none more costly than the last.

“They’re a really sound defensive team,” said Robinson, whose Horned Frogs were held to fewer than 70 points by the Wildcats in all three meetings this season. “Just a really good defensive team.”

The teams couldn’t have played a more even first half, swapping the lead seven times with seven ties and ending 30-all at the break. Both were 2 of 8 from beyond the arc, the Wildcats shot 48 percent from the field and the Horned Frogs shot 52, and neither team made a free throw.

Hardly a surprise, given the teams split in the regular-season with each winning at home.

TCU finally put together the first big run in the opening minutes of the second half. Robinson started it with a free throw and ended it with a jumper, and Williams added five points during the 11-0 spurt, which gave the Horned Frogs a 43-34 lead with 14 1/2 minutes to go.

Kansas State clawed right back thanks to a series of Horned Frogs miscues. At one point, Robinson turned it over three times in a span of four possessions, then blew a wide open layup in transition.

Cartier Diarra scored at the other end for Kansas State, knotting the game 53-all.

Kansas State kept the momentum going, edging ahead 59-56 when the Horned Frogs’ J.D. Miller was called for basket interference with 52.3 seconds left. But after Williams missed at the other end for TCU, coach Jamie Dixon elected to play defense rather than foul the Wildcats.

Brown’s long 3-pointer missed with eight seconds left, and that gave Bane enough time — by a fraction of a second — to hit his only basket of the game and force overtime.

It wound up simply prolonging an important victory for the Wildcats.

“Two NCAA Tournament teams playing in March,” Dixon said. “We played good. I thought we could have played better. We played hard, but I don’t think we finished it off as well as we could have.”

BIG PICTURE

TCU had never lost to the Wildcats in the postseason, beating them in the NCAA, NIT and Big 12 tournaments over the years. It also ended a streak of three straight conference tournaments in which the Horned Frogs had won at least one game.

Kansas State won four of six to finish the regular season, and now should feel comfortable about an at-large bid for the NCAA Tournament despite its pillow-soft non-conference schedule.

QUOTABLE

“We just knew it was going to be a grind-out game the whole game. Wouldn’t expect it not to go into overtime, I guess you could say.” — Kansas State forward Dean Wade.

UP NEXT

TCU heads back to Fort Worth, Texas, to wait out Selection Sunday.

Kansas State tries to beat Kansas for the first time this season in the Big 12 semifinals.

— Associated Press —

MANHATTAN, Kansas (AP) — Kansas State’s Dean Wade has been a standout player for the Wildcats for most of the season and has a good chance to be the first Wildcat to be named to the All-Big 12 First Team since 2013.

In the regular season finale against Baylor, Wade made a strong case and then some.

Wade scored 25 points and Barry Brown scored 18 and Kansas State beat Baylor 77-67 Bramlage Coliseum on Saturday.

Baylor head coach Scott Drew had nothing but praise for the K-State junior.

“He (Wade) gets to the rim, knocks down 3s and knocks down jumpers. It is hard to guard him. His assist to turnover ratio in the last five games is I think 23-4,” Drew said.

For Wade, even with the spotlight on him and the team as they fight for an NCAA bid, he just wanted to break the streak of bad outings the team had encountered recently.

“We came out and just wanted to be aggressive. We have not played the greatest basketball in the past couple of games. We just wanted to come out and get back to the way we’ve been playing earlier in the Big 12 schedule,” Wade said, adding, “We just came out with a ton of energy, firing on offense and defense, so it was an all-around good game for us.”

After a back-and-forth first half, Kansas State (21-10, 10-8) used a 13-2 run over the final 5:42 of the first half for a 35-25 halftime lead. The run was capped by Wade’s fade-away basket that danced around the rim and went in as the buzzer sounded. Wade finished on 9-of-14 shooting, was 6 of 7 from the foul line and grabbed seven rebounds.

The Wildcats maintained control in the second half and extended their lead to 16 midway through the second half. Baylor (18-13, 8-10) went on a 13-2 run as Nuni Omot buried three 3-pointers and threw down a dunk and Baylor drew within 62-57 with 6:27 left but the Bears couldn’t get closer.

“They shot 52 percent against us,” Drew said.

“I thought we competed. We gave ourselves a chance to get it to five but coach Weber always does a really good job managing the game and putting them in good positions to be successful,” he said.

Omot tied a career-high 30 points on 8-of-11 shooting — including 6 of 9 from beyond the arc — and made 8 of 9 foul shots.

BIG PICTURE

Baylor: The Bears finished below .500 in the conference for the first time in seven seasons.

Kansas State: The Wildcats’ 21 wins equals matching their win total from last year.

UP NEXT

Both teams start play in the Big 12 Conference Tournament in Kansas City, Mo., next week.

— Associated Press —

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Kenrich Williams and the TCU Horned Frogs are rolling toward their first NCAA Tournament berth in two decades, unlike a year ago when a late slide in the regular season led to their NIT championship.

Williams had 16 points and 11 rebounds in his final home game for TCU, helping the Horned Frogs to their first four-game conference winning streak since that last NCAA Tournament season with a 66-59 victory against Kansas State on Tuesday night.

The 11th double-double of the season for Williams stopped his season-high streak of six games without one. The last four-game league winning streak for the Horned Frogs (21-9, 9-8 Big 12) was in 1997-98, when they went 14-0 in the Western Athletic Conference under Billy Tubbs.

TCU, which pulled even with the Wildcats for fourth place in the conference standings, appears headed to its first NCAA Tournament appearance since that year.

A year ago, a seven-game losing streak to finish the regular season cost TCU an NCAA berth before the Horned Frogs won two games in the Big 12 Tournament and then took the NIT title.

“We’re a better team,” said second-year coach Jamie Dixon, who played on the last TCU team to win an NCAA Tournament game in 1987. “I like our team right now and obviously we’re playing well and playing our best basketball at the end. We’re playing as good as anybody right now.”

Dean Wade scored 24 points for the Wildcats (20-10, 9-8), who missed a second straight chance for 10 conference wins for the first time in five years but are still in good shape for another trip to the NCAAs under Bruce Weber. Barry Brown Jr. had 17 points and six assists before fouling out in the final minute.

TCU’s Vladimir Brodziansky hit his only field goal, a crucial 3-pointer from the top of the key for a 60-56 lead with 1:49 remaining, after Desmond Bane poked the ball away from Makol Mawien, ran down the ball on the sideline and raced in for the go-ahead layup.

That was one of a season-high 19 turnovers for Kansas State, which is averaging the fewest turnovers in the Big 12.

“Their defense is much better,” Weber said. “They’re a little more physical. They got after the dribbler. Too many turnovers from the guards, some tough, forced plays. Not great execution.”

Bane scored 15 points, and Brodziansky had seven points with three blocks. Williams, who had double-doubles in all five NIT games last season, was 7 of 12 from the field.

“Last year we had experience,” Williams said. “I think our total buy-in this year has been crazy. The last two weeks, we really bought in to what coach has been saying the whole year, which is get defensive stops first, play defense first and let the game come to us. It’s really our defense.”

BIG PICTURE

Kansas State: It’s been a three-man show offensively with Wade, Brown and Xavier Sneed lately for the Wildcats, who have dropped two straight following a 4-1 stretch that strengthened their NCAA hopes. But Sneed was mostly a no-show, scoring two points on 1-of-6 shooting. While Wade and Brown combined to go 17 of 24 from the field, the rest of the team was 8 of 29 (28 percent).

TCU: A streak of three straight games shooting at least 54 percent ended because of a cold second half (36 percent). But the Horned Frogs got hot at the right time, making five straight shots after five straight misses during Kansas State’s 9-0 run.

NCAA OUTLOOK

Weber said the Big 12 is worthy of eight of its 10 teams making the NCAA field. Maybe even nine, Weber said, with Texas and Oklahoma State tied for eighth at 7-10 in the Big 12. “It’s just a fight. It’s a fight every game. The one through 10, I just hope the committee appreciates it,” Weber said.

NIT RESIDUE

TCU’s five-win run to the NIT title might also help explain the late-season surge that has replaced last year’s late collapse. The Horned Frogs did it without point guard Jaylen Fisher, out for the season with a knee injury. “We brought mostly all the guys back so we were able to know how it feels to win,” Williams said. “We were able to use that this season down the stretch.”

UP NEXT

Regular-season finale for both teams Saturday: Kansas State at home against Baylor and TCU at No. 12 Texas Tech.

— Associated Press —

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — Trae Young’s entertaining act wasn’t translating into wins for Oklahoma, and desperation had set in.

Finally, a more collective effort helped the Sooners snap their six-game losing skid. Young scored 28 points, his teammates chipped in, and Oklahoma topped Kansas State 86-77 on Saturday.

Young, the freshman point guard who leads the nation in scoring, was coming off a season-low 11 points in a loss to Kansas earlier in the week. He bounced back with a smart floor game — he made 7 of 10 shots from the field, including 6 of 9 3-pointers, and added seven assists.

Christian James scored 15 points and Brady Manek and Jamuni McNeace each added 10 for the Sooners (17-11, 7-9 Big 12), who shot 53 percent from the field.

“I talked to them and told them that I felt like our season was on the line,” James said. “We needed this. We came out and competed, and that showed tonight.”

Oklahoma hadn’t won since Jan. 30 and had dropped two straight at home.

“When you haven’t won in a while, it’s tough to stay plugged in and keep the right frame of mind,” Oklahoma coach Lon Kruger said. “Happy for the guys. Proud of the way they made shots and got some stops and did the things they needed to do to get one in the right column.”

Kansas State handled Young in the first meeting and forced him into 12 turnovers as the Wildcats rolled past the Sooners 87-69 on Jan. 16. In the rematch, Young had five turnovers, though two came well after the Sooners had the game in hand. Kansas State coach Bruce Weber said Young’s efficiency was the difference.

“Normally, he’s got 21 shots or whatever it is,” Weber said. “He still turned it over a few times, but he made shots and then made plays for them.”

Barry Brown scored 28 points and Dean Wade added 15 points and 11 rebounds for Kansas State (20-9, 9-7). The Wildcats made just 4 of 21 3-pointers.

Young matched his 11-point total from the Kansas game in the first eight minutes against Kansas State. He hit a 3-pointer late in the first half to close out an 18-point first half and give the Sooners a 43-35 lead at the break.

James scored in close and was fouled, and he made the free throw to put the Sooners up 52-38 with 15:45 remaining. Young hit a deep 3-pointer to put the Sooners up 55-40, and it looked like Oklahoma might cruise.

Kansas State worked its way back into the game and cut its deficit to 63-56. A 3-pointer and a short floater by Manek helped put the Sooners up 10. Another three by Young made it 71-59 with just under six minutes left, and the Sooners remained in control from there.

Kruger said he could sense a different approach from the start.

“General focus and the sense of urgency,” he said. “The awareness that we are running out of games and you got to line up and play better. I thought we played with that focus and that awareness throughout the game.”

BIG PICTURE

Oklahoma: The Sooners desperately needed this one to strengthen its NCAA Tournament resume. Though the Sooners have numerous quality wins, the losing streak was enough to raise questions.

Kansas State: The Wildcats were getting votes for the Top 25, but probably won’t get there with this loss. Overall, a road loss to a solid team likely won’t hurt the Wildcats’ NCAA hopes.

STAT LINES

Oklahoma shot 62 percent in the second half to maintain control of the game. The Sooners made 16 of 26 field goals and 4 of 10 3-pointers after the break.

QUOTABLE

Weber, on why Young shouldn’t be Big 12 Player of the Year: “To me, the Big 12 player of the year should be from the people who win the league. That’s just me. You know winning is what dictates who should be the Big 12 player of the year. But that is my opinion. Everyone has different opinions.”

UP NEXT

Kansas State plays at TCU on Tuesday.

Oklahoma plays at Baylor on Tuesday.

— Associated Press —

MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Barry Brown scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half and Kansas State pulled away late to beat Texas 58-48 on Wednesday night.

In what was a cold shooting affair for both teams, the last five minutes saw Kansas State (20-8, 9-6 Big 12 Conference) close on a 16-4 run. Brown had the hot hand as he knocked down five free throws, two layups and a backbreaking 3-pointer in the final 4:49.

The Wildcats shot 42 percent but just 3 of 13 (23 percent) from long range. Texas (16-12, 6-9) shot 29 percent overall and missed 16 of 18 3-pointers.

Dean Wade added 13 points for Kansas State. Cartier Diarra had 12 points and Xavier Sneed chipped in nine with a game-high 13 rebounds for the Wildcats.

Matt Coleman scored 14 points and was a perfect 6-of-6 shooting from the free-throw line to lead Texas. Dylan Osetkowski finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Coleman made six free throws and Mohamed Bamba added a dunk during a 8-2 surge to give the Longhorns a 44-42 lead with 5:12 left before Kansas State pulled away.

BIG PICTURE

Kansas State gets back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time since the 2012-13 and 2013-14 seasons.

Texas, which beat then-No. 23 Oklahoma 77-66 on Saturday, has now lost four of their last five games.

STATS AND STREAKS

Xavier Sneed’s 13 rebounds was a single-game best for a Kansas State player this season.

UP NEXT

Texas hosts Oklahoma State on Saturday.

Kansas State travels to Oklahoma on Saturday.

— Associated Press —