MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) Jeremiah Massey scored 19 of his 24 points after halftime, leading Kansas State to an 81-63 victory over Eastern Illinois on Thursday night.
Cartier Martin added 16 points for the Wildcats (9-1), who made a solid comeback from their first loss of the season on Tuesday.
Eastern Illinois (5-5) stayed winless on the road, while Kansas State improved to 9-1 against the Ohio Valley Conference.
Massey and Martin, both 6-foot-7 forwards, gave the Wildcats a strong inside presence. Kansas State outscored the Panthers 42-20 in the paint and outrebounded them 39-35. Massey was 8-for-13 from the floor and 8-for-9 from the line, while Martin scored 10 points before the break.
The Wildcats' inside advantage showed at the free throw line as well. They shot 22-for-30, compared to Eastern Illinois' 11-for-15.
The Panthers trailed by 19 points at the half but closed to within 53-41 on Jake Sinclair's layup with 10:12 remaining. But Massey and Martin responded by scoring Kansas State's next 14 points, fueling a decisive surge capped by Massey's breakaway dunk for a 67-50 lead.
The dunk came after Fred Peete blocked a shot by Josh Gomes, who led Eastern Illinois with 23 points. He was the only player to score for the Panthers in the game's first nine minutes, before Aaron Patterson put back a missed 3-pointer with 10:51 left in the first half.
Kansas State, which never trailed, opened an early 13-4 lead but couldn't maintain that pace, hitting just eight of its first 21 shots. But Lance Harris hit two 3-pointers and scored eight of his 13 points in a 15-2 run that gave the Wildcats a 41-22 halftime lead.
Sinclair had 11 points for Eastern Illinois.
