Marcus Foster scored 18 points and Nino Williams hit four crucial free throws in the final 20 seconds to help Kansas State rally to defeat Oklahoma 72-66 in Big 12 Conference action Tuesday night at Bramlage Coliseum.
A little more than 72 hours removed from seeing their 10-game winning streak come to an abrupt halt on Saturday at Kansas, the Wildcats were able to bounce back in a hard-fought game against the Sooners coached by former K-State standout and head coach Lon Kruger. After K-State scored the game’s first four points, Oklahoma went on a 14-4 run to grab a six-point lead with 14:13 left in the first half. K-State then erupted in the middle of the half, knocking down five consecutive three-pointers including three by Foster to storm out to a 28-19 advantage with 8:47 left before halftime. Then the Sooners surged back with a 16-5 run to lead 35-33 with just under two minutes remaining. However, the Wildcats went into the locker room with a 39-38 lead after Will Spradling sank three straight free throws after being fouled with eight tenths of a second remaining in the half.
From there, the teams battled back and forth. Oklahoma used their dominance on the Offensive glass to hold a 62-56 advantage with 5:17 left in the game but the Sooners then went cold and K-State clawed back thanks to a Wesley Iwundu three-pointer, a Foster jumper and a tip-in off a miss by Thomas Gipson to tie the score at 63 with 2:59 left. Foster then drained another three from the left side to give K-State a 66-63 lead with 2:23 on the clock. K-State scored the rest of their points from the line with Williams knocking down four free throws seven seconds apart to seal the Wildcats 13th win of the season. Shane Southwell scored 16 points while Williams and Spradling added 10 apiece. Oklahoma’s Ryan Spangler led all scorers with 21 points and 14 rebounds nine of them on Offense.
Kansas State (13-4, 3-1) is next in action on Saturday when they welcomef another former Wildcat boss in Bob Huggins and West Virginia to Bramlage. Tipoff is set for 12:30 p.m.
Stay connected to all things KSU on the go just text EMAW to 88474
For full video wrap-ups, including analysis, highlights, coaches & player interviews of K-State Football & Basketball check out PowerCatGameday.com
