MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) – Jake Waters threw for a career-high 400 yards and a touchdown, Tyler Lockett returned a punt for a score and No. 12 Kansas State beat sloppy West Virginia 26-20 on Thursday night.

Kansas State (8-2, 6-1 Big 12, No. 12 CFP) rebounded from a blowout loss at TCU to move into a first-place tie with the idle Horned Frogs with two weeks left in the regular season. No. 6 Baylor can make it a three-way tie Saturday against Oklahoma State.

Kansas State built a 17-3 halftime lead and held on. Lockett caught 10 passes for 196 yards, and Matthew McCrane kicked four field goals.

West Virginia (6-5, 4-4) committed four turnovers in its third straight loss. Skyler Howard threw two TD passes after Clint Trickett left in the third quarter with an undisclosed injury.

K-State coach Bill Snyder was asked about the performance of his quarterback Jake Waters in the Wildcats’ 26-20 win over West Virginia Thursday night.

“He really played well in the first half, threw the ball extremely well. I think he was 11-14 in the first half, something like that. We were negative-three yards rushing in the first half, and the only yardage we had was throwing the football. And he made good decisions, and put the ball in the right spots. Second half left a little to be desired I think.”

Waters threw for a career-high 400 yards and a touchdown in the win.

On other topics in his postgame comments:

–Snyder noted Kansas State was penalized dramatically  in the first half. “Was very costly, and then we had the major penalty on Tyler down here in the second half. We just did not have that discipline that we’ve come to count on so much.”

–Snyder noted he had no earthly right to take away the victory from the young people in the program, but if K-State stays true to form and remains consistent in what they do it’s about trying to make weekly improvement. “There’s probably some areas where we did, but for the most part we certainly didn’t.”

Kansas State improved to 8-2 overall and 6-1 in the Big 12 with the win. They are tied with TCU for first place in the conference standings, and Baylor can make it a three-way tie with a win over Oklahoma State Saturday.

Kansas State will host Kansas November 29 at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.