Kansas State needed to make a statement after its disappointing home loss to Oklahoma State on Saturday. The task at hand was to travel to Waco, Texas, where the Baylor Bears had won a record 11 straight at home. The Wildcats needed to contain an explosive team that features two of the top scorers in the Big 12 in LaceDarius Dunn and Tweety Carter as well as one of the top rebounders and shot-blockers in Ekpe Udoh.
The task was not an easy one. Jacob Pullen and Denis Clemente had been slumping in the previous couple of games. Thankfully, both found their groove against the Bears and the Wildcats were able to edge past Baylor by a final score of 76-74. Pullen’s stats were nothing short of amazing. He scored a game-high 25 points, complimented with 4 assists. He was 7-11 from the floor, 6-7 from behind the arc, and 5-5 from the free throw line with two of those free-throws giving the Wildcats the lead with eight seconds left in the game. Clemente’s stats were not nearly as good, but were still solid. He chipped in 17 points to go along with 3 assists. He was 7-17 from the floor and 3-8 from behind the arc.
For Baylor, Carter was brilliant, scoring a team-high 23 points while dishing 4 assists. On the glass, Udoh did what everyone expected him to do by collecting an astonishing 14 boards. However, Udoh and Dunn were contained on offense by a smothering Wildcats defense. The two combined for just 17 points (9 points for Dunn and 8 points for Udoh).
Still, Baylor had a chance to win the game with seconds remaining on the clock. Dunn drove the ball toward the lane, but lost the handle and was forced to throw up a desperate shot which never had a chance of going in. For just the second time all year, the Bears were out-rebounded. In addition, the Wildcats came up with more blocks (8) than the league-leading Bears (5).
It was nice to see Jordan Henriquez-Roberts and Rodney McGruder complete solid games again. Henriquez-Roberts chipped in 6 points, collected 5 rebounds, and had 3 blocks. McGruder added 10 points and collected 5 boards.
This game took a solid team effort and required a lot of heart down the stretch. K-State didn’t wither under the pressure and was able to snap the Bears’ 11-game home winning streak. The Wildcats are now 4-0 on the season against ranked teams and sport a 17-3 (4-2) record. Their next game puts it all on the line against the #2 Kansas Jayhawks on Saturday in Manhattan. ESPN will be in town for College Gameday and it should be an electric environment for what we all hope to be a great game between two legitimate top-10 teams.
