Kansas State basketball rallies, turns back Texas to advance to Big 12 quarterfinals
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Desperate times call for desperate measures, and nobody was more desperate than the Kansas Wildcats.
With their postseason hopes hanging in the balance, the 10th-seeded Wildcats rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit to edge No. 7 Texas, 78-74, in a Big 12 Tournament second-round game Wednesday night at T-Mobile Center.
The Wildcats (19-13) shot 55.2% in the second half to 29% for Texas and only turned the ball over twice after the break. They also made 7 of 8 free throws in the last minute.
Tylor Perry led five K-State players in double figures with 21 points, followed by Arthur Kaluma with 13 and David N'Guessan with 13. Max Abmas led Texas (20-12) with 26.
Here are three takeaways from K-State's huge victory.
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K-State starts second half on fire
K-State scored the first seven points of the second half to get back in the game.
The Wildcats took their first lead of the half, 48-47, on a Perry 3-pointer with 12:30 left and went up by 10 points, 67-57, on a Cam Carter free throw at the 4:28 mark before Texas came roaring back.
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First-half droughts costly for Wildcats
Texas shot 57% to 37 for K-State on the way to a 39-29 halftime lead. The Wildcats also turned the ball over eight times in the period.
A killer for K-State was a scoring drought of six-plus minutes after erasing a nine-point deficit to lead by four. The Wildcats missed eight straight shots during the stretch, which allowed Texas to go from 16-12 down to a 26-16 advantage.
Texas wins early ebbs and flows
After spotting Texas a 9-2 lead, K-State answered with seven straight points to tie it. In fact, the Wildcats had a pair of 7-0 runs in the first eight minutes.
Unfortunately for the Wildcats, Texas strung together 14 in a row after K-State took the lead and had another 6-0 spurt later in the half.
What's next for the Wildcats?
With the win, K-State advances to the quarterfinals and a 6 p.m. matchup against No. 2 Iowa State on Thursday. Win that game and they can make a legitimate claim to be in the NCAA field of 68.
Arne Green is based in Salina and covers Kansas State University sports for the Gannett network. He can be reached at agreen@gannett.com or on Twitter at @arnegreen.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Three takeaways from Kansas State basketball's Big 12 Tournament win
