Manhattan ? Kansas State wasn’t about to disappoint. Not on such an historic night, one in which two top 10 teams met at Bramlage Coliseum for the first time in the history of the 21-year-old building.
Jamar Samuels scored 15 of his 20 points in a dominating first half and No. 10 KSU withstood a gut check rally to knock off top-ranked Texas, 71-62, on Monday night.
Kansas State (16-2, 3-1 Big 12) smothered Texas with its extended man-to-man defense to overcome a 1-for-12 effort from three-point range and held on to beat a No. 1 team for the third time in school history.
Curtis Kelly scored 17 points and freshman Rodney McGruder chipped in 11 key points for the Wildcats, who used a late 11-1 run to take control in their record 14th straight win at Bramlage Coliseum.
“It’s great for these kids and for all these wonderful people,” K-State coach Frank Martin said. “But tomorrow we’ve got to go back to work. We’ve got another crazy Big 12 game (Oklahoma State) on Saturday.”
Texas (17-1, 3-0) trailed by 14 points in the first half, made a run early in the second, couldn’t keep it going in its second week ever at No. 1. The loss left No. 2 Kentucky (18-0) as the lone unbeaten team in Div. I.
Avery Bradley had 11 points for the Longhorns, who shot 36 percent from the field following a season-low 35 percent against Texas A&M.
“We just lost,” UT’s Damion James said. “They came out and played great and had that great crowd behind them. I don’t want to take anything away from them. They didn’t do anything special. But we missed a lot of wide-open layups.
“I guess it happens. We’ve just got to get better everywhere–rebounding, defense, not missing easy layups–everything like that.”
Texas had passed every test on the way to its first No. 1 ranking.
The Longhorns beat North Carolina at Cowboys Stadium, Michigan State in Austin, and pulled out a tougher-than-expected road win against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. It was a tough first week as the nation’s top-ranked team against Iowa State and Texas A&M, but Texas still won both.
Monday’s game represented the Longhorns’ toughest task so far: on the road in a juiced arena against a top 10 team.
They didn’t seem ready.
Uncharacteristically frazzled, Texas struggled against Kansas State’s pressure and its own indecisiveness, shooting 10-of-33 from the field with 11 turnovers to trail by 10 at the half.
Kansas State fans were certainly ready, many sporting fake Abraham Lincoln beards — a school giveaway — and “Fear the Beard” T-shirts in homage to the fuzzy growth under junior guard Jacob Pullen’s jaw line.
Pullen joined in the fun, too, trotting out to warmups with a faux Lincoln before revealing the real thing.
The Wildcats fed off the facial-fuzz energy early, using their aggressive defense to hound the Longhorns into turnovers and difficult shots.
Texas managed to keep it close for a little while before Kansas State put together the kind of run the Longhorns usually snuff out opponents with: 18-4.
