In the list of once-bright basketball programs that had taken a turn for the worst, Kansas State was right up there. That was before Bob Huggins and Frank Martin came along. Now, the Wildcats are easily one of the most improved college basketball programs in recent memory. Kansas State has been brilliant this season and looks to continue its success tonight against the Kansas Jayhawks with the Big 12 tournament title on the line.

The Wildcats finished the regular season with a 24-6 overall record to compliment its 11-5 conference record. But the Wildcats would need more in the Big 12 tournament in order to achieve school history for wins in a season and to improve their seed in the NCAA tournament.

After routing Oklahoma State, 83-64, in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 tournament, Kansas State advanced to the semifinals to play Baylor, who throttled Texas, 86-67. From every angle, the match-up looked like one for the ages. The two teams were incredibly well-matched on paper. It was almost a given that this game would be a close one, played to the wire.

Earlier this year, the Wildcats played Baylor in Waco and were able to prevail after Jacob Pullen iced key late free-throws to keep the Wildcats ahead. In that game, Pullen played great defense on Baylor’s star guard, LaceDarius Dunn, but it seemed unlikely that Pullen could put the brakes on Dunn again. He’s simply too solid of a player to be shut down multiple times.

Kansas State started the game against Baylor playing really flat, allowing Baylor to lead the game throughout most of the first half. Kansas State didn’t grasp its first lead until 6:10 left in the first half. At that point, the Wildcats led by just one point, 25-24. That lead only lasted thirty seconds.

The game continued to stay competitive and at halftime there was a separation of just one point.

K-State stormed out of the locker room on a 7-2 run and kept the Bears at bay for the majority of the second half. Wildcats forward Dominique Sutton played like a man possessed, scratching and clawing for offensive rebounds and making cuts into the lane. At one point, Sutton grabbed an offensive rebound and threw it to Denis Clemente, who passed it to a wide-open Pullen to knock down a shot that put Kansas State ahead by five points.

The Wildcats ended the semifinal match-up with Baylor in the same fashion that they had when they met the Bears in the regular season: with key free-throws to maintain the lead to the final buzzer.

The key contributors on offense for the Wildcats were no surprise. Clemente scored 24 points to compliment his seven assists, and Pullen added 26 points, fueled by 5-of-10 shooting from three-point range. Sutton played with fire and intensity rarely seen this season. He finished the game with 14 points, 14 rebounds (8 offensive rebounds), four steals, and three assists.

The win advances the Wildcats to the Big 12 championship game for the first time, where they will match up against the No. 1 Kansas Jayhawks for a third time this season at 5PM on ESPN. The 26 wins the Wildcats have accumulated this year is a school record. Every win from this point on is icing on the cake from what has truly been a magical season.