Kansas State survives late lapses in regulation to beat No. 7 Kansas in overtime
The Kansas freshmen get all the attention and it's well deserved, but Kansas State freshman Marcus Foster is a star-in-the-making in the Big 12 Conference and he got the best of the seventh-ranked Jayhawks in an 85-82 overtime win Monday night.
Kansas State students flooded the court in celebration leading most of the Wildcats to climb on top of the scorer's table. ESPN sideline reporter Holly Rowe wasn't about to allow some crazy students to prevent her from getting her postgame interview and she jumped up on the scorer's table as well.
Foster scored 20 points to lead the Wildcats to a win over their rivals after losing to the Jayhawks by 26 earlier this season. Foster has scored 54 points in his past two games, wins over Texas and the Jayhawks. Senior Will Spradling was just as big for the Wildcats with 15 points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals.
But despite those strong efforts, Kansas State nearly let the win slip away. It blew a late lead in regulation being outscored 10-1 in the final 1 minute, 47 seconds. Kansas freshman Andrew Wiggins tied the game with 6 seconds remaining on a ridiculous follow off his own missed finger roll to send it to overtime.
But the Jayhawks didn't have quite enough to overcome a determined Kansas State team that needed the win to enhance its resume for March. The Wildcats improved to 17-7 and 7-4 in the Big 12. Now with five wins over ranked teams this season, Kansas State is solidly positioned for tournament time provided it doesn't falter down the stretch of the regular season.
Kansas came in to the game with a two-game lead over every other team in the Big 12 but now finds itself just one game ahead of a Texas team it lost to. There is little room for error for the Jayhawks the rest of the way if they hope to win their 10th consecutive Big 12 regular season title.
After the game, Kansas coach Bill Self said center Joel Embiid will get some time off to help him recover from an injured back. Embiid played just 18 minutes against the Wildcats and scored six points with six rebounds. Numerous NBA mock drafts have projected Embiid as the No. 1 overall pick in this year's draft if he decides to turn pro after the season.
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is the assistant editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at kyle.ringo@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
