In one of the most thrilling games ever witnessed in Bramlage Coliseum, the Kansas Jayhawks used balanced scoring and a dominant inside game to hand the Wildcats their fourth loss on the season. The game wasn’t decided until the waning seconds in overtime. Sloppy defense from the Wildcats allowed the Jayhawks to ice the game with less than ten seconds to go. Jacob Pullen threw up a three-point shot at the buzzer which hit nothing but net, but it didn’t matter. The Jayhawks won the game, 81-79 in overtime.
Five Kansas players scored in double-figures, led by Cole Aldrich with 18 points. Marcus Morris and Cole Aldrich each had a double-double in the game. KU turned the ball over an astonishing 19 times to the Wildcats’ 13, but the Wildcats were unable to exploit the Jayhawks on fast break opportunities because they were able to get back defensively almost every time. The Wildcats out-rebounded the Jayhawks by three, but it was simply not enough.
Jacob Pullen led all scorers with 22 points. Three other Wildcats joined Pullen in double figures and Wally Judge was just one rebound shy of a double-double.
K-State fans showed up early for ESPN College GameDay and were loud for the entire game. The game proved to be worth all of the hype that ESPN gave it. Obviously, K-State fans aren’t thrilled with the outcome, but they should certainly be proud of the way the Wildcats fought all night against a very good Kansas team. Even when things looked bleak and the Wildcats saw the game start to slip away, they fought back and took the lead back from the Jayhawks. From that point on, the game was back and forth until the Wildcats eventually wore down in overtime and KU prevailed by two points.
After the game had ended, the Wildcats and the Jayhawks met once more to shake hands and congratulate each other on a great game. There was no animosity between the teams and the fans for each team should act accordingly. It really did live up to expectations all the way to the very end.
The Wildcats travel to Nebraska to take on the Cornhuskers Tuesday night at 8PM. It will be interesting to see how the Wildcats respond to one of their most disappointing losses of the season. They played their hearts out tonight and they always had a shot at winning until a late defensive breakdown in overtime which allowed the Jayhawks to seal the victory before the stunned crowd.
