Arthur Kaluma scored 23 points to go along with seven rebounds and Kansas State ended its regular season on a high note on Senior Day in Manhattan, Kan., upending No. 6 Iowa State 65-58 to deny the Cyclones a chance at a share of the Big 12 Championship.
The win gave the Wildcats, whose NCAA Tournament hopes had been fading, another important Quad 1 win ahead of Big 12 Tournament play next week in Kansas City.
Kansas State (18-13, 8-10 Big 12) also got 21 points and five rebounds from Cam Carter. David N’Guessan had a double-double with 11 points and 16 rebounds.
Iowa State (24-7, 13-5) saw its four-game winning streak come to an end. Curtis Jones led the team in scoring with 16, while Keshon Gilbert and Tamin Lipsey chipped in 13 apiece.
Kaluma and Carter combined to score the first nine points of the second half to power Kansas State to a 37-24 lead. Carter hit a layup, then Kaluma made two free throws and a layup of his own before Carter capped the run with a 3-pointer.
Lipsey, who was limited to two first-half points on 1-of-6 shooting, started finding his way into the lane in the second half, scoring three buckets over a little more than three minutes to keep the margin manageable at 48-35.
The Cyclones then scored the next eight points capped by a Gilbert layup to finish a 10-0 run and cut the lead to 48-43 at 7:21.
Kansas State responded with five straight points to go up 53-43 on N’Guessan’s layup with five minutes to play.
A Tylor Perry 3-pointer made it 60-49 with 2:14 to go, and Iowa State couldn’t get closer than five the rest of the way.
The first half was an offensive struggle for both teams, with Kansas State taking a 28-24 lead at the break. The teams combined to miss 36 shots and give up 16 turnovers.
The Wildcats finally found their shooting touch to make six of their final eight shots, which powered an 18-6 run.
N’Guessan nearly had a first-half double-double with eight points and 10 rebounds. Jones led Iowa State with eight.
–Field Level Media