Kansas State 67, TCU 54
FORT WORTH, Texas - No. 16 Kansas State remained perfect in Big 12 play Wednesday night by cruising to a 67-54 win over Texas Christian at Daniel-Mayer Coliseum.
The Wildcats' Rodney McGruder put in a game-high 21 points on 9-of-15 shooting and was 3-for-6 from beyond the 3-point line. His fourth game of 20 points or more this season helped Kansas State improve to 3-0 in the Big 12 and 14-2 overall. TCU fell to 0-4 in conference play and 9-8 overall despite 18 points from Adrick McKinney.
Kansas State led by 13 points at halftime and opened up the second half with a hot hand from beyond the arc. The Wildcats hit three consecutive 3-pointers to lead by as many as 19 points just five minutes into the half.
Texas Christian then went to the line to attempt to get back into the game. The Horned failed to hit a field-goal for a five-minute period but went to the line for six straight points from the charity stripe.
The Wildcats would take advantage of the poor shooting throughout the second half to pull away. McGruder would lead another run, this time a 6-0 run, and Martavious Irving would hit the fourth 3-pointer of the half to increase the lead to 20.
Dropping to 34.8 percent shooting in the second half, TCU could not find an answer on offense. The Frogs hit just 5-of-18 shots in the half to seal its fourth consecutive Big 12 loss.
TCU opened up the game with an 8-2 run on back-to-back 3-pointers by Kyan Anderson and Charles Hill Jr. The Wildcats would respond quickly by scoring eight consecutive points and 14 of the game's next 18 points to propel themselves into the lead.
Adrian Diaz hit four of five field-goal attempts during the run, and McGruder knocked down two 3-pointers.
Despite opening the half with hot shooting, the Frogs had trouble finding the bucket after that to provide an answer to the Kansas State run. TCU missed four inside shots, including two layups in transmission and fell to 40 percent shooting from the field.
The Horned Frogs could not find an answer for McGruder late in the half. McGruder scored a game-high 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting in the first half and led Kansas State into a 38-25 halftime lead.
