MANHATTAN, Kan. — A dominant first-half performance paired with five players scoring in double figures led Kansas State to a 75-64 victory over Oklahoma in front of 12,295 fans at Bramlage Coliseum on Saturday.
The win extended the Wildcats’ home court winning streak to 11 games, including 10 straight at Bramlage Coliseum, which celebrated its 350th victory in the contest against the Sooners.
K-State (13-2, 2-1 Big 12) got an early lead and never looked back en route to the 11-point victory, which was the 11th in last 16 meetings with Oklahoma. The Wildcats led for more than 38 minutes, while the Sooners never led. All five K-State starters scored in double figures for the fifth time under head coach Bruce Weber this season, including the second consecutive contest, with a team-high 16 from senior Wesley Iwundu.
The Wildcats shot lights out for the entire 40 minutes, shooting 53.6 percent (15-of-28) in the first half and 55 percent (11-of-20) in the second half to finish at 54.2 percent (26-of-48) for the game. It marked the seventh time this season that the team has connected on 50 percent or better from the field, including the fourth occasion doing in both halves. The squad has at least one half of 50 percent shooting in 13 of 15 games.
Joining Iwundu in double figures was sophomore Barry Brown (14), sophomore Kamau Stokes (13), sophomore Dean Wade (12) and senior D.J. Johnson (10).
Oklahoma was led by freshman Kameron McGusty, who scored 20 points in the contest.
The Basics
• Final Score: Kansas State 75, Oklahoma 64
• Records: Kansas State 13-2, 2-1 Big 12 // Oklahoma 6-8, 0-3 Big 12
• Attendance: 12,295
• Next Game: Tuesday, Jan. 10 // at Texas Tech // 8:15 p.m. CT // ESPNews
The Short Story
• A strong shooting performance propelled K-State to its 10th straight win at Bramlage Coliseum, as the Wildcats posted a 75-64 victory over Oklahoma in front of 12,295 fans on Saturday.
• K-State played a dominant first half, shooting 53.6 percent (15-of-28) from the field and 50 percent (6-of-12) from beyond the arc, and found themselves up 43-27 at the break.
• Oklahoma opened the second half quickly, opening on a 12-5 run to cut the lead to 48-39 with 15:30 to play. The Sooners would pull with 7 points on multiple times, including 67-60 with 3:08 remaining.
• K-State would thwart any further comeback by scoring 8 of the last 12 points.
• All five starters scored in double figures for the third time this season, including the second consecutive game, led by senior Wesley Iwundu’s 16 points.
How It Happened | First Half
• K-State opened the game on a 14-3 run on 5-of-6 shooting from the field, including 3-of-3 from behind the arc, forcing Oklahoma to use a timeout at the 16:21 mark.
• Oklahoma battled back before Wade scored five straight for the Wildcats, followed by a Brown steal and dunk to extend the Wildcats’ lead to 23-9 at the 11:47 mark.
• Both teams used stout defense, only allowing nine total points over a four-minute stretch before a Wade jumper broke the scoring drought to give the Wildcats a
27-14 with a 7:37 remaining in the first half.
• Both teams traded buckets before Brown made a layup to extend the lead to 38-23 at the 2:54 mark.
• Stokes tied K-State’s largest lead of the half for the third time, hitting a 3-pointer to put the Wildcats ahead at the break, 43-27.
• K-State shot 54 percent (15-of-28) from the field, including 50 percent (6-of-12) from behind the arc, and connected on 70 percent from the charity stripe (7-of-10) in the first half.
• Stokes led the Wildcats with 13 points on 3-of-4 shooting, including 3-of-3 from downtown, while Wade scored 10 points in the first half.
How It Happened | Second Half
• Oklahoma got off to a hot start to open the second half, using a 12-5 run to cut the game to 48-39 at the 15:30 mark.
• Both teams traded buckets before a McGusty free throw with 10:42 to go in the second half cut the Wildcats’ lead to six, their smallest lead since 17:20 to go in the first half.
• A Brown 3-pointer and a Carlbe Ervin II layup pushed the lead back to 11 at 63-52 with 7:43 to play.
• The Wildcats picked up the win, 75-64, shooting 55 percent (11-of-20) from the field in the second half.
• Iwundu led the way for the Wildcats in the second half with 9 points, while Brown added 7 points and Johnson and Xavier Sneed each had 6.
Beyond the Boxscore
• The 13-2 start is the best since the 2012-13 team also opened 13-2.
• K-State has now won 11 straight at home venues, including 10 in a row at Bramlage Coliseum… The 10-game winning streak at Bramlage Coliseum is now the 10th-longest in the arena’s history and is the longest since winning 11 straight from Feb. 14, 2015 to Dec. 29, 2015.
• The Wildcats have now scored 70 or more points in 11 of the first 15 games.
• K-State connected on 50 percent or better from the field for the 7th time, including in both halves for 4th time… The 54.2 percent shooting (26-of-48) from the field was the third-highest of the season and the highest in conference play… The Wildcats improved to 33-6 under head coach Bruce Weber when shooting 50 percent or better, including 6-1 this season.
• K-State scored 18 points off of 19 Oklahoma turnovers… The Wildcats have at least 14 points off turnovers in each of its 15 games… With 8 steals today, the team has 30 combined steals in first 3 league games.
• Senior Wesley Iwundu scored a team-high 16 points on 4-of-6 field goals, including 8-11 from the free throw line to go along with 5 assists… He has now led the Wildcats in scoring 12 times in his career, including for the 5th time this season… He has now scored in double figures in 49 career games, including 10 this season… With his 2 steals, Iwundu broken into the all-time Top 10 steals list at 104.
Quotable
• “I thought we were great to start the game,” said head coach Bruce Weber. “I told them to come out angry. I said guard the heck out of them, push and share the ball. For the most part, we played well, just in the second half, we had some careless turnovers that led to some easy baskets and allowed them to get back into the game. However, we were able to finish the game and get the victory. In this league, every game is so hard that you are happy when you are able to walk away with a win.”
Up Next
• K-State will make yet another quick turnaround with a road trip to play upstart Texas Tech (12-2, 1-1 Big 12) on Tuesday at 8:15 p.m. CT on ESPNews. Tickets are available for as low as $12 at TexasTech.com for those Wildcat fans in the Lubbock area.