Brown’s 14 second-half points pushes Kansas State past Texas
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) For the third-straight home game, Kansas State went into halftime tied with an opponent, and with the game still in question just under the five-minute mark, Barry Brown showed up when the Wildcats needed him most.
Brown scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half and Kansas State pulled away late to beat Texas 58-48 on Wednesday night.
''That was big time for him and for the team,'' Kansas State's Xavier Sneed said. ''We all have confidence in him to just keep playing and keep doing the right things on the court. He is a big-time player and one of the best players in the league in my opinion. It is something we expect out of him.''
In what was a cold shooting affair for both teams, the last five minutes saw Kansas State (20-8, 9-6 Big 12 Conference) close on a 16-4 run. Brown had the hot hand as he knocked down five free throws, two layups and a backbreaking 3-pointer in the final 4:49.
''Barry (Brown) made some plays you have to make plays down the stretch.'' Kansas State coach Bruce Weber said. ''That was a good team. We had to be prepared for a grind out game.''
The Wildcats shot 42 percent but just 3 of 13 (23 percent) from long range. Texas (16-12, 6-9) shot 29 percent overall and missed 16 of 18 3-pointers.
Dean Wade added 13 points for Kansas State. Cartier Diarra had 12 points and Xavier Sneed chipped in nine with a game-high 13 rebounds for the Wildcats.
Matt Coleman scored 14 points and was a perfect 6-of-6 shooting from the free-throw line to lead Texas. Dylan Osetkowski finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Coleman made six free throws and Mohamed Bamba added a dunk during an 8-2 surge to give the Longhorns a 44-42 lead with 5:12 left before Kansas State pulled away.
''It is very tough,'' Texas coach Shaka Smart said. ''When you are in the position that we were in up two coming out of a timeout. We have to play better defense down the stretch, but you also have to score. We were not tough-minded offensively.''
BIG PICTURE
Kansas State gets back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time since the 2012-13 and 2013-14 seasons.
Texas, which beat then-No. 23 Oklahoma 77-66 on Saturday, has now lost four of its last five games.
THEY SAID IT
''It puts us in a position where we have to give everything we have to win our next game. When you lose a game like we lost tonight, the urgency could not be any higher,'' Texas coach Shaka Smart said about the Longhorns tournament hopes following the loss to Kansas State.
STATS AND STREAKS
Xavier Sneed's 13 rebounds was a single-game best for a Kansas State player this season.
UP NEXT
Texas hosts Oklahoma State on Saturday.
Kansas State travels to Oklahoma on Saturday.
