AMES, Iowa — The worst week of Kansas State’s season is over.
Fortunately for the Wildcats, they still have plenty of time to prove they’ll be a factor in the Big 12.
Will Clyburn had 24 points and 10 rebounds, and Iowa State beat No. 11 Kansas State 73-67 on Saturday to hand the Wildcats their second consecutive loss after a 15-2 start.
Freshman Georges Niang added 15 points for the Cyclones (14-5, 4-2 Big 12), who beat a ranked opponent for the first time this season.
“Now we had a reality smack,” Kansas State Coach Bruce Weber said. “We’ve got to get back to where we were and do the things that we did well to give us a chance.”
Kansas State did just that in the second half, shooting 64 percent and answering basket after basket by Iowa State.
The Wildcats simply ran out of chances.
Rodney McGruder broke free for a dunk to get the Wildcats within 70-67 with 48.5 seconds left, but Korie Lucious answered with a layup to make it a two-score game with 20 seconds to go.
“I challenged our guys. I said, ‘Fellas, we are scoring every time down the floor. We’ve got to find a way to get stops and string them together,’ ” Iowa State Coach Fred Hoiberg said. “The last four minutes I thought we did a much better job of finding a way to get stops.”
Will Spradlin had 15 points and McGruder scored 13 to lead the Wildcats (15-4, 4-2), who lost on the road for the first time in four games.
Kansas State’s eight-game winning streak was stopped Wednesday by No. 3 Kansas, which won 59-55 for its 23rd victory in 25 tries at Bramlage Coliseum.
The Wildcats are now on their first losing streak of the season.
Iowa State finally got some breathing room with 5:24 left as Clyburn found Lucious, who stopped under the basket and flipped the ball back to Melvin Ejim for a two handed stuff that put the Cyclones ahead 63-56. Clyburn then beat three Kansas State defenders for a rebound on the wing, and Niang turned it into a three-pointer that made it 68-62 with 2:35 left.
Lucious had 10 points and eight assists a day after calling a players-only meeting to rally the Cyclones, who were 11 of 22 from three-point range.
“We could never really get enough momentum to change the game,” Weber said. “When you go 11 from 22 from the three it’s probably a difference maker. And yet, throughout the whole thing we’re right there.”
In other Big 12 games, Ben McLemore scored 18 points, Jeff Withey added 13 points and nine rebounds and No. 3 Kansas (18-1, 6-0) shut down visiting Oklahoma (13-5, 4-2) in a 67-54 victory that pushed the Jayhawks’ winning streak to a nation-leading 17 games. ... Freshman Phil Forte scored a career-high 26 points, Markel Brown added 24 points and host Oklahoma State (13-5, 3-3) rallied from 13 points down in an 80-66 rout of West Virginia (9-10, 2-4). ... Pierre Jackson scored 20 points, Isaiah Austin added 18 playing with a sprained ankle and Baylor(14-5, 5-1) handed host TCU (9-11, 0-7) its seventh consecutive loss, 82-56. ... Julien Lewis scored 18 points and host Texas (9-10, 1-5) ended a five-game losing streak in the Big 12 with a 73-57 victory over Texas Tech (9-9, 2-5).
BIG TEN
Badgers beat Gophers
MADISON, Wis. - Traevon Jackson hadn’t made many shots the past few games. Still, with the game on the line Saturday, the Wisconsin sophomore point guard was full of confidence.
He came through for the Badgers.
Jackson narrowly beat the shot clock and hit a 15-foot jumper from the right side with four seconds left as Wisconsin (14-6, 5-2 Big Ten) edged No. 12 Minnesota 45-44, the Golden Gophers’ fourth consecutive loss.
“I didn’t have any doubt,” said Jackson, who also hit a free throw-line jumper with 1:03 remaining to tie the score at 43 and finished with nine points.
Dekker and Ryan Evans scored 10 points apiece to lead the Badgers, who ended a two game slide and have beaten Minnesota 15 times in the past 16 meetings in Madison.
Andre Hollins had a game high 20 points for the Gophers (15-5, 3-4), but was called for an offensive foul on Ben Brust with 39.1 seconds left and the score tied at 43-43 to set the stage for Jackson’s late shot.
In other Big Ten games, Sam Thompson scored 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting, and No. 14 Ohio State (15-4, 5-2) took advantage of cold-shooting Penn State (8-12, 0-8) in a 65-51 victory. ... Dylan Talley scored 20 points and Ray Gallegos broke out of his three-point shooting slump in the second half to lead host Nebraska (11-10, 2-6) to a 64-49 victory over Northwestern (12-9, 3-5). Gallegos had made 14 of his previous 66 three-pointers (21 percent) before stringing together three consecutive.
Sports, Pages 27 on 01/27/2013