Sunflower Showdown win meant more for Kansas State basketball than just beating rival KU

MANHATTAN — With security guards in position to hold off another Sunflower Showdown court storming, Kansas State basketball coach Jerome Tang and his Wildcat players did the next-best thing and ran to the fans in the student section to celebrate.

Nothing feels better than beating in-state rival Kansas on your home court, especially for the second straight year, and in overtime no less.

But for a Wildcat team mired in a four-game slump and with each mounting loss throwing up another obstacle to a possible NCAA Tournament bid, Monday night's frenetic 75-70 overtime victory over No. 4-ranked KU at sold-out Bramlage Coliseum meant much more.

"It was huge," Tang said. "We felt like we let one get away on Saturday (at Oklahoma State), so winning at home is so important. And (now) the schedule sets up for us.

"We had five (Big 12) road games in the first nine, and four home games. And now we have five home games and four road games. If you can go 9-9 in this league, you belong in the NCAA Tournament, so we took care of our home game."

Related: Kansas State basketball must turn the page with a visit from rival Kansas looming

Indeed, by knocking off conference co-leader Kansas, the Wildcats improved to 15-8 and more importantly returned to .500 in the Big 12 at 5-5. Coming off three double-digit losses and then a disappointing 75-72 setback at Oklahoma State two days earlier, the margin for error was shrinking fast.

"We had to (bounce back)," said guard Cam Carter, who played nearly the full 45 minutes and finished with a double-double of 19 points and 11 rebounds. "It's a rivalry game. We had lost, what, four in a row, and this one was important to us.

"We had to lock in. We had a lot of preparation in a short amount of time, and we were focused. And we knew it from the jump that we were going to win this game."

Things did not look good after Kansas (18-5, 6-4 Big 12) padded its two-point halftime lead to 11 with a 9-0 run to start the second period. But the Wildcats responded with an 11-point run of their own on an Arthur Kaluma layup, back-to-back 3-pointers from Tylor Perry and a Carter three-point play to get even at 41-41 at the 15-minute mark.

Neither team led by more than four points the rest of the way.

Related: Kansas basketball loses rivalry game on road against Big 12 Conference-foe Kansas State

"We just had to settle into the game," Kaluma said of the run, after Tang called a timeout to stop the bleeding. "I feel like we always come out the second half and we're a little flat, so we just had to re-settle into the game, stick to our plan and get back to our principles.

"Whenever you've got a shooter like TP (Perry) who can create all his own shots, it's easy. I feel like we fought back and played a good half of basketball."

As has been the case for much of the year, it was Perry who led the second-half charge. He had five points at halftime but tacked on 13 in the second period and then eight of the Wildcats' 11 overtime points.

"My teammates. I can't put it nowhere else," Perry said of his second-half success. "They tend to find me. It's no science on it, it's no fairy dust. It's just over the course of 40 minutes, you've got to stay into the game (and) you've got to stay locked in.

"I try to let the game come to me, and I have such an amazing group of guys around me who find me in my spots that I like, and they just keep me going."

Related: Kansas State basketball coach Jerome Tang not willing to let his Wildcats 'Die Hard'

The overtime victory was K-State's sixth this season, tying the NCAA single-season record, and pushed the Wildcats' record to 11-0 under Tang when playing an extra five minutes. Not that they attach any special significance to that.

"No, because of course Tang tells us all the time he doesn't get paid overtime," Perry said with a smile. "So, it's not like what you all think. We try to get the job done in 40 minutes.

"But this team is so resilient, and we preach toughness, and so the extra five minutes, we do that every day in practice, and so hopefully we can stop playing with fire."

The game also was a lesson in perseverance for the Wildcats, not to mention selective amnesia. After four straight losses, they could not afford to dwell on the past two weeks.

"When we say we take every game, win or lose, and we put it in a box and move on, we do that," Tang said. "You can't allow wins to go to your head and losses to go to your heart.

"And that's the thing, like not being emotional about this. Regardless of what just happened, we're 5-5 in the Big 12, and I think anybody takes that right now. I think every team in the league has three losses, and so you can't allow it to get emotional, because it's basketball."

The Wildcats now are off until Saturday, when they head west to face Brigham Young in a 9 p.m. (central time) game in Provo, Utah.

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: Overtime victory had major implications for Kansas State basketball