Kansas State basketball shot down by a dagger three as TCU eeks out a 75-72 victory
MANHATTAN — So close and yet so far.
After rallying from a 10-point deficit in the last seven minutes to tie it with 15.6 seconds left, the Kansas State basketball dropped a 75-72 heartbreaker Saturday when TCU's Jameer Nelson knocked down a 3-pointer with 1.1 seconds left.
The loss made the Wildcats' climb toward an NCAA Tournament bid much steeper as they fell to 15-10, 5-7 in the Big 12. TCU improved to 18-7 and 7-5.
K-State tied the game on two Cam Carter free throws at the 15.6-second mark after the Wildcats forced a turnover. But following a timeout, Nelson hit the off-balance 3-pointer from the left side.
Micah Peavy had 26 points and Emanuel Miller 10 to lead TCU. K-State got 24 points from Tylor Perry, 12 from David N'Guessan and 11 from Arthur Kaluma.
Here are three takeaways from a heartbreaker at Bramlage:
Scoring droughts fatal for Wildcats
Kansas State was solid for most of the half, building a 10-point lead, but then allowed TCU to answer with 11 straight. The Wildcats survived that with a strong finish to lead at intermission, 28-24.
But the killer came after they went up 49-41 and then went over 5 1/2 minutes without a field goal as TCU went on a 20-2 run. The Wildcats did get it tied at 72-72 with 15 seconds left, but never took the lead.
Tylor Perry, believe it or not
Tylor Perry's scoring success almost always is tied to his 3-point shooting — well, and free throws — but that was not the case against TCU.
Yes, Perry did get to the free-throw line, but that was not the startling stat, as he had 24 points without knocking down a single three, missing all six attempts from behind the arc over the first 35 minutes. Instead, Perry attacked the basket, which led to points in the paint and free throws.
Perry was 12 of 12 from the free-throw line.
Related: Kansas State basketball's furious rally comes up short in loss to BYU
Halfway lead usually a good sign
For the first time since its game at Texas Tech on Jan. 15, K-State held a halftime lead against TCU. Coming in, that was a good sign as the Wildcats were 9-2 while leading at the break.
But TCU reversed that trend with a big run midway through the second half to reclaim the lead and never let K-State retake it.
It should be noted that the Wildcats blew a double-digit lead in the second half at Tech as well, even though they came back from halftime deficits to win their next two at home against Baylor and Oklahoma State.
Related: Kansas State basketball coach Jerome Tang takes connecting with his players to heart
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: Kansas State basketball drops 75-72 heartbreaker to TCU
