Kansas State, with no apparent NCAA tournament bid in sight and just two wins at the midpoint of the conference season, pulled together for the biggest win of the year in the Octagon of Doom, knocking off No. 1 Oklahoma, 80-69.
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It’s the fourth straight win over Oklahoma in Manhattan and the third straight time the Wildcats have beaten a No. 1 team in Bramlage Coliseum, including Texas in 2010 and KU in 2011.
When the final seconds ticked away and coach Bruce Weber’s bunch jogged to the safety of center court, they were startled to see all those fans celebrating in the stands.
Led by Wesley Iwundu and Dean Wade, the Wildcats overcame a slow start to each half and beat the Sooners 80-69 on Saturday night. “But that’s basketball”, Villanova coach Jay Wright said.
Notre Dame 80, No. 2 North Carolina 76: In South Bend, Ind., Demetrius Jackson scored 19 points, Bonzie Colson had 19 points and 10 rebounds, and Notre Dame (16-7, 7-4 ACC) rallied to win. Kansas State has now defeated a ranked opponent for the 10th straight year. The Sooners’ top scorer entered the game averaging 25.8 points, but Iwundu limited him to 23 on 16 attempts, forcing him into several bad shots.
Edmond Sumner scored 15 of his 20 points in the first half as Xavier (21-2, 9-2 Big East) won its fifth straight game since losing at home to Georgetown on January 19.
“Every time Oklahoma needs a big shot to be made, they make them”.
Ironically, Kansas State’s upset victory comes at the expense of Sooners’ coach Lon Kruger, a former star player and coach for the Wildcats.
Oklahoma (19-3, 7-3) was led by guard Buddy Hield with 23 points. Cousins held the ball, then kicked it across the court and received a technical foul. As far as the Sooners’ three-point shooting is concerned, this coming week will give us a good read on whether the debacle against K-State was an anomaly or the beginning of a concerning pattern that must be addressed before the postseason rolls around a month from now.
“Everyone is going to make it tough for me”, Hield said. “But that’s fine. They still got to enjoy it. Maybe we can have that down the road”.
The Cardinals (19-4, 8-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) followed up Monday’s upset of No. 2 North Carolina with a lopsided win despite uneven stretches.
Hield cut the lead to 51-49 with 11:32 to play, but the Wildcats went on a 7-1 run – despite making just 3-of-7 free throws along the way – to go ahead 58-50.
Iwundu came within one point of matching the prolific Hield and needed five fewer shots – Iwundu was 7 of 11 – to do so.
Wade made his presence felt shortly after getting into the game, scoring five consecutive points to bring K-State back above water at 14-10.
Up next, Oklahoma will play the Texas Longhorns in the first installment of the Red River Rivalry.
At the Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational, eight Kansas State athletes set new personal best marks, including a new school record mark, and the team had two first place finishes. “The three losses we have this year are road games at places we haven’t won our whole career (OU lost at Kansas and Iowa State as well)”.
Matt Howard added another double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds for Penn (8-11, 2-3 Ivy).
Oklahoma was led by Cousins with 11 points in the opening half.
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Arizona 77, Washington 72: Ryan Anderson scored 22 points and grabbed 15 rebounds, and the No. 23 Wildcats (19-5, 7-4 Pac-12) held off the host Huskies (15-8, 7-4).
