MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) — Peyton Williams scored 22 points with 10 rebounds, Kaylee Page scored seven of her 12 points in the fourth quarter and Kansas State handed No. 12 West Virginia its second straight loss 60-52 on Wednesday night.

The Wildcats (9-5, 1-2 Big 12 Conference), who had lost three straight, the last two to ranked league opponents, scored the last four points of the third quarter to pull within 44-42. Page tied it at 33 seconds into the fourth quarter, and after a Kayla Goth free throw put Kansas State up for good, Page hit a 3 to make it 48-44.

The Mountaineers (13-2, 1-2), coming off a loss to No. 8 Texas, got a free throw to end a 5:53 drought, and then Page made a layup. Teama Muldrow scored for West Virginia to end a streak of seven missed shots over 6 1/2 minutes. The Mountaineers then went 1 of 10 to close the game, finishing 2 of 14 in the fourth quarter.

Goth finished with 13 points, nine rebounds and seven assists.

Muldrow had 25 points and 10 rebounds for the Mountaineers, who shot 30 percent for the game, 24 percent in the second half, as their 11-game home winning streak ended.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kansas State coach Bill Snyder will be back on the sideline next season.

The 78-year-old coach had been mulling his future since the Wildcats beat UCLA in the Cactus Bowl last week. Snyder ultimately announced in a brief statement Tuesday that he would return, ending growing speculation in some circles that he might retire for a second time.

“As I have stated many times, as long as I remain in good health, am wanted and have a positive impact on the young people in our program, I will continue to be the head coach at Kansas State,” he said. “Those factors have not changed, and I look forward to meeting with our players and beginning our out-of-season program when classes resume.”

Snyder informed his family of his intentions before telling his assistants in a brief meeting on Tuesday, a person familiar with the decision-making process told The Associated Press.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because Snyder did not discuss his plans publicly.

Snyder was diagnosed with throat cancer last offseason, but hardly missed a practice and headed into the year with high expectations. A series of early losses scuttled Big 12 title hopes, and it took a run at the end of the year just to become eligible for a bowl game.

Snyder is 210-110-1 since taking over the program in 1988.

“We are excited that Coach Snyder has decided to continue to lead our program and look forward to building off the late-season momentum which included five wins in our final six games, a top-10 road win and Cactus Bowl victory,” said Kansas State athletic director Gene Taylor, who was hired earlier this year. “I know he and his staff, in addition to our student-athletes, are anxious to get winter workouts and spring practices under way in preparation for next season.”

The Wildcats will return most of their starters from a team that ultimately went 8-5 and won its second straight bowl game. Alex Delton and Skylar Thompson, the two quarterbacks who took most of the snaps, will be back along with a veteran offensive line and several skill players.

Their defense should be stout next season, too, even though standout cornerback and return man D.J. Reed has announced plans to skip his senior season for the NFL draft.

Snyder has a contract that rolls over each year, which means he can essentially choose when to walk away. And he has said the last several years that he makes that decision on a year-by-year basis, based primarily on his health but also the wishes of his family.

Now that his decision has been made, Snyder can go about replacing offensive coordinator Dana Dimel, who left for the top job at UTEP. Dimel had grown unpopular with many Kansas State fans eager for a fresh start, and there are several candidates on the staff that will get consideration, among them former Heisman Trophy candidate Collin Klein and wide receivers coach Andre Coleman.

Snyder can also begin putting the finishing touches on a recruiting class that was nearly filled during the fall, and begin preparing for a season that should again be full of expectations.

Along with its conference games, the Wildcats have a trio of home games highlighted by a visit from Mississippi State in early September that should provide a good early barometer.

“It’s pretty obvious we’d have to change course because we didn’t take advantage of the strong finish that we had last year,” Snyder said after the Cactus Bowl. “As you know we were not a real good football team earlier in the season. So whatever that approach was, we’re going to have to change it.

“The main thing is every year’s different. And the dynamics are different regardless of how many young guys you have back, et cetera. And it’s still about the same process. And you’ve heard that, so I won’t repeat all the things that we talk about, what our program’s about and what the process is about, but that is indeed — they understand it. It’s just a matter of doing it.”

— Associated Press —

MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — West Virginia coach Bob Huggins has a play card packed with 75 offensive sets, yet he couldn’t seem to find anything that would work against Kansas State on Monday.

So Huggins told his guys to get the Wildcats to chase them in the hopes of opening up the lane.

Maybe that freelancing should be set No. 76.

Teddy Allen kept driving to the rim and scored 22 points, Lamont West added 19, and the sixth-ranked Mountaineers — so often the undersized team whenever they step on the floor — beat up pesky Kansas State in the paint in a 77-69 victory that pushed their win streak to 13 games.

“When you can’t make a shot you have to do something,” Huggins said, “and we couldn’t make one.”

The Mountaineers (13-1, 2-0), who have not lost since their opener against Texas A&M in Germany, were 4 of 15 from beyond the arc. But they offset that poor perimeter shooting by outrebounding Kansas State (11-3, 1-1) and compiling a massive 40-18 advantage in points in the pain.

“They’re really good at making you shoot the ball over you. It’s kind of like playing Virginia, to a degree. You got 10 eyes on you all the time,” Huggins said. “We had to get close.”

West Virginia was clinging to a 65-61 lead down the stretch when Allen went to work, slicing down the lane and picking up fouls. He kept knocking down the free throws, scoring eight points in the closing minutes while helping the Mountaineers to their first win on New Year’s Day.

West Virginia had lost its previous four games on Jan. 1.

“We kept the game within a couple possessions for the most part, but at the end they kind of picked us apart,” Kansas State coach Bruce Weber said. “They just seemed to make all the right plays.”

Xavier Sneed scored 20 points and Dean Wade had 17 points and 10 rebounds for Kansas State, but the duo couldn’t compensate for miserable performances by Barry Brown and Kamau Stokes.

Brown finished with 14 points, but he was just 5 of 13 from the field and committed seven of the Wildcats’ 15 turnovers. Stokes was 0 for 10 from the field and had six points.

“They fought the game a little bit today, instead of letting it come,” Weber said.

The Mountaineers’ pressure defense caused several lengthy first-half droughts for Kansas State, and at one point West Virginia had built a 25-15 lead with just over three minutes to go.

It took little-used guard Brian Patrick, whose career-best night came against West Virginia last season, to get the Wildcats going. He entered just before the break and knocked down a 3-pointer, then fed Brown for another 3, closing the deficit to 31-26 heading to the locker room.

The Mountaineers kept the Wildcats at arm’s length most of the second half, relying on their tough defense, some ugly misfires and a few fortunate calls to maintain their advantage.

Kansas State trailed 65-55 with 5 1/2 minutes left when it made a final run. Wade got to the foul line, Brown followed him there and Sneed knocked down his sixth 3-pointer from right in front of his bench to claw the Wildcats within 65-61 at the under-4 media timeout.

Allen and the Mountaineers showed their poise down the stretch.

The freshman forward went to the foul line on three consecutive trips down the floor, knocking down six straight free throws. And when Wade threw the ball away and failed to convert on a free throw of his own, the Mountaineers built enough of a cushion to hold on the rest of the way.

They’re a great team. They made some plays down the stretch,” Wade said. “We’ve just got to move on from this game, it’s behind us. We can’t do anything about it now.”

BIG PICTURE

West Virginia opened conference play at Oklahoma State three days ago, but rather than make a long trip home, the Mountaineers headed to Manhattan early. They passed the time by watching movies, hanging out at the mall and, yes, breaking down game film.

Kansas State scorched the nets in a win at Iowa State to open Big 12 play. But throw out Sneed’s 3s and the Wildcats were 4 of 17 from beyond the arc and shot 35.7 percent from the field.

UP NEXT

West Virginia heads home to face No. 7 Oklahoma on Saturday night.

Kansas State travels to No. 18 Texas Tech on Saturday.

— Associated Press —