Lake Buena Vista, Fla. ? Freshman Michael Beasley had 30 points, Jacob Pullen added 19, and Kansas State beat Central Florida in overtime in the Old Spice Classic. The Wildcats (4-1) were coming off an 87-77 upset loss to George Mason on Thursday.
Jermaine Taylor had 20 points, Dave Noel scored 15, and Mike O’Donnell added 14 for Central Florida (2-2), which forced overtime after overcoming a double-digit second-half deficit.
Clent Stewart made two free throws and Darren Kent hit a 3-pointer to put Kansas State ahead 70-65 four minutes into overtime.
O’Donnell hit a 3-pointer to pull UCF to 70-68 with 58 seconds remaining. After a Kansas State free throw, O’Donnell made two from the foul line to cut the deficit to 71-70 with 24 seconds to go.
UCF’s Chip Cartwright made one of two free throws with 6.6 seconds remaining to make it 73-71.
Kansas State then escaped with the win when Noel’s running 3-pointer bounced off the backboard and rimmed out at the buzzer.
Central Florida rallied from a 13-point deficit midway through the second half to tie it at 61-all on a slam dunk by Taylor with 1:06 left in regulation.
Kansas State fell behind 9-2 after 5 minutes, but overcame the sluggish start thanks to Beasley, who scored 15 points during the opening 20 minutes.
Beasley hit a 3-pointer in the final minute to put Kansas State up 27-26 at halftime.
