Kansas State hopes its offense stays hot when it visits No. 19 Baylor in Big 12 play on Saturday at Waco, Texas.
The Wildcats (13-1, 2-0 Big 12) are coming off a record-setting, 116-103 victory at No. 6 Texas on Tuesday.
Baylor (10-4, 0-2) dropped its second straight game with an 88-87 loss at home to No. 17 TCU on Wednesday.
Against the Longhorns, Kansas State set the record for the most points scored by an unranked team in a road win over a top-10 opponent in the Associated Press poll era, which started in the 1948-49 season.
“The guys were ready to play,” said Kansas State first-year coach Jerome Tang, who was an assistant at Baylor for the previous 19 seasons. “We knew they played at a fast pace, but we felt we could be faster and we could be quicker and could play with more force. I’m so proud of these young men and how they fought tonight.”
Markquis Nowell, who averages 15.9 points and 8.5 assists per game, scored a career-high 36 points and added nine assists. Keyontae Johnson, who averages a team-high 18.4 points and 6.9 rebounds, had 28 points, nine rebounds and five assists.
Cam Carter added 17 points and eight rebounds, while Nae’Qwan Tomlin and Abayomi Iyiloa added 11 and 10 points, respectively.
“We know we’re in Big 12 Conference play so everybody else wants to try to win his conference,” Johnson said. “We just have everyone locked in and contributing the best they can.”
Baylor is off to its first 0-2 start in Big 12 play in five years after squandering an 11-point lead over the final 14:43 against TCU on Wednesday. The Bears had a four-point advantage with 48 seconds remaining.
After Mike Miles’ 3-pointer pulled TCU to 87-86 with 42 seconds remaining, Chuck O’Bannon Jr.’s jumper from the left corner with four seconds remaining proved to be the difference. The TCU’s Xavier Cork blocked Keyonte George’s driving layup as time expired.
George, who averages a team-high 16.4 points, scored a career-high 27 points to go along with six rebounds and two assists. Adam Flagler, who averages 16.2 points and 5.1 assists per game, added 13 points and six assists.
LJ Cryer, who averages 14.7 points per game, finished with 13 points, while Josh Ojianwuna chipped in 11 points and seven rebounds.
“That’s a typical Big 12 game, and that’s what it’s like when you’re on the wrong end of it,” Baylor coach Scott Drew said. “I thought Mike was incredible. We knew they were good in transition, and our transition defense was atrocious. And that was the game for us. … We can’t give up 23-2 fastbreak points. That’s really disappointing that we weren’t better in transition.”
Baylor has dominated Kansas State recently, winning the past seven meetings, including a 75-60 win at Manhattan, Kan., and a 74-49 victory at Waco last season.
–Field Level Media
