From K-State Athletics
Junior guard Cam Carter scored 15 of his game-high 23 points after halftime to help Kansas State surge to a big second half performance in an 81-67 win over West Virginia on Tuesday night before 10,063 fans at the WVU Coliseum.
https://x.com/KStateMBB/status/1745109257329037585?s=20
With the win, the Wildcats (12-3, 2-0) snapped a 4-game losing streak to the Mountaineers (5-10, 0-2 Big 12) in Morgantown, as they earned their first victory at the WVU Coliseum since a 65-51 win on Feb. 18, 2019. It was just the fourth victory (1949, 2013 and 2019) at West Virginia in 13 all-time visits.
K-State has now won 9 of its last 10 games, including the first 2 Big 12 games for the second consecutive season under head coach Jerome Tang. The Wildcats are also off to a 2-0 start in true road games.
Down 42-40 at the half, the Wildcats used a 17-5 run to start the second half to take control of the game and build their first double-digit lead (57-47) with just over 13 minutes to play. Four different players contributed to the run, including a combined 13 points from Carter (7 points) and fellow junior Arthur Kaluma (6 points).
The Mountaineers were able to close to within 5 points on 3 occasions, including 61-56 at the third media timeout with 7:21 remaining, but the Wildcats answered with a decisive 12-2 run to end any notion of a comeback and push ahead by a game-high 15 points (73-58) with 3:43 to play. Carter was responsible for 6 of the 12 points during the run.
WVU got no closer than 8 points the rest of the way in dropping its fifth game in the last 6 outings.
After allowing 42 points in the first half on 48 percent (12-of-25) shooting, including 50 percent (6-of-12) from 3-point range, K-State held West Virginia to just 25 points in the second half on 30.8 percent (8-of-26) shooting, including 18.2 percent (2-of-11) from long range.
Carter led four Wildcats in double figures with his fourth 20-point game of the season, as he finished the game 6-of-14 from the field and a perfect 10-of-10 from the free throw line. Kaluma and senior David N’Guessan each added 17 points, as N’Guessan tallied both his season-high and Big 12 high in going 7-of-8 from the field and 3-of-3 from the free throw line. Senior Will McNair Jr. nearly tallied a double-double with 12 points and a season-high 9 rebounds.
In addition to the four double-digit scorers, the Wildcats got another solid night from redshirt freshman guard Dorian Finister, who tied his season-high with 6 points on 3-of-4 shooting with 2 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal in a career-tying 22 minutes of action.
K-State shot better than 50 percent from the field for the third time this season, connecting on 53.8 percent (28-of-52) of its field goals with 44 of its 81 points coming in the paint. Although both teams turned it over 13 times, the Wildcats were able to post a 17-5 advantage in points off turnovers.
K-State also continued its dominance on the glass, out-rebounding WVU, 35-22, including 9 offensive rebounds which led to 11 second-chance points. The team, which ranks in the top-40 nationally in rebounding, has outrebounded 11 of 15 opponents.
West Virginia was held to just 39.2 percent (20-of-51) shooting, including 30.8 percent (8-of-26) in the second half. The Mountaineers had 3 players score in double figures led by senior transfer RaeQuan Battle, who finished with 21 points on 5-of-13 field goals and 9-of-12 free throws. Senior transfers Noah Farrakhan and Kerr Kriissa each added 11 points.
WVU still leads the all-time series, 16-11, including 15-10 in the Big 12 era. The victory was just the fourth all-time by K-State in Morgantown, following wins in 1949, 2013 and 2019.
K-State concludes its 2-game road trip with a visit to Lubbock, Texas on Saturday afternoon, to take on Texas Tech (13-2, 2-0 Big 12) at the United Supermarket Arena. The game will tip at 3 p.m. The Wildcats will look to snap a 9-game road losing streak to the Red Raiders. Pregame begins at 2:00 on KMAN.
