After moving up to seventh in both national polls, the Kansas State Wildcats almost let things slip away at home against the Nebraska Cornhuskers. The Cornhuskers came ready to play and were insistent on showing that their embarrassing 40-point loss to Texas was an aberration.
The No.7 Wildcats looked to be runaway favorites against the last place Cornhuskers, especially considering that the Wildcats posted a 19-point win against the Cornhuskers in Lincoln. In that match-up, the Wildcats used stifling defense to run away with the game very early. The Wildcats controlled the frontcourt with a 12 rebound swing and held the Cornhuskers to just 57 points. The game tonight against the Cornhuskers was a stark contrast to the game played earlier this season in Lincoln. The Wildcats were out-rebounded and there was almost no defense played at all.
Nebraska set the tone early, maintaining an 80% shooting percentage from the floor for the majority of the first half. At halftime, they were still shooting 63.6% from the floor, but only led by a single point after junior guard Jacob Pullen scored the last 8 points of the first half. Nebraska came out firing early and was able to stretch the lead to as many as 10 points. Nebraska controlled the game until Kansas State took the lead with 12:01 left in the second half.
From that point on, Kansas State began to assert their will on Nebraska. Led by senior guard Denis Clemente, the Wildcats were able to survive the hot shooting of the Cornhuskers. Down the stretch, Clemente hit some big three-point shots and played ferocious defense, forcing three turnovers.
With 1:03 left on the play clock, the Wildcats had pushed the lead to 87-78 and looked to have the game well in-hand. But to Nebraska’s guard Ryan Anderson, the game had just begun. Anderson knocked down two late three-point shots and teammate Eshaunte Jones chipped in as well to knot the score at 87 apiece.
After senior guard Chris Merriewether knocked down two clutch free-throws, the Cats knew they had to defend the arc because of the success of the Cornhuskers (14-21 for the game). With six seconds left, Pullen came up with the biggest steal of the game. Pullen picked Ray Gallegos’ pocket and threw it up to Clemente for the exclamation point.
The Wildcats pulled out a much needed win over a hungry Nebraska team, 91-87. The win keeps the Wildcats in sole possession of second place in the Big 12 at 8-3 and drops Nebraska to 1-10 in conference play.
The most surprising stat of the game was the count on rebounds. The Wildcats were out-rebounded by a mark of 27-24. To put it in perspective, the previous low for the Wildcats this season in the Big 12 was 26 against Missouri in the conference opener. Nebraska’s 87 points also mark the most points scored by a Wildcats opponent this season.
The Wildcats are now 21-4 overall and are inching ever closer to a high seed in the NCAA tournament in March. The Wildcats next play on February 20 when they travel to take on the struggling Oklahoma Sooners.
