MANHATTAN, Kan. -- Brandon Rush tied a career high with 24 points, and No. 18 Kansas beat Kansas State 66-52 on Saturday to clinch at least a share of the Big 12 championship.
Kansas (22-7, 13-3 Big 12), which had been projected to be in a rebuilding mode this year, can win its sixth conference title outright if No. 6 Texas loses its regular-season finale to No. 19 Oklahoma on Sunday.
Mario Chalmers added 14 points and Russell Robinson added 11 for the Jayhawks, who extended their winning streak in Manhattan to 23 games and are 18-0 in Bramlage Coliseum since it opened in 1989.
The Wildcats (15-12, 6-10) made it close in the second half but failed to get their first season sweep of Kansas since 1983.
Rush, a freshman guard, took only eight shots and was held to 12 points when Kansas State won 59-55 on Jan. 14 in Lawrence, breaking a 31-game losing streak to the Jayhawks. This time, he was 9-for-18 from the field, including 4-for-7 from 3-point range.
The Jayhawks went 6-for-9 from outside the arc in the first half, taking a 15-point lead at the break, before Kansas State started its comeback.
The Wildcats opened the second half with an 8-0 run to get within 39-32. They twice cut the margin to three points, the last time on Cartier Martin's 3-pointer with just under 11 minutes left to get within 49-46.
KUSPORTS RECAP
Well, we didn't play all that well, but we got it done I guess.
ReplyDeleteRush played well, and that was good enough today.
K-State kept it close with their FT shooting. (18-26 vs. KU's 10-14). plus they got Kahn and Giles into Foul trouble.
I'll take that share of the Big XII title just the same though.