No. 3 Kansas Prevails Over Wildcats Late Rally, 74-65

MANHATTAN, Kan. Jeremiah Massey and Fred Peete each poured in 20 points, but it wasn’t enough to get past No. 3 Kansas as the Jayhawks held on for a 74-65 victory before a sold-out crowd of 13,340 Wednesday night at Bramlage Coliseum.

Wayne Simien, J.R. Giddens and Keith Langford combined for 65 points as Kansas (19-1, 9-0) kept its winning streak at Kansas State alive.

The sellout crowd -- the first at Bramlage Coliseum since Kansas was here in 2003 -- carried anti-Kansas signs and put up a roar through most of the game. Someone even managed to throw a live chicken under the Kansas bench shortly before tipoff.

But the Jayhawks never trailed and withstood a late rally to post their 29th straight victory over the Wildcats.

The Wildcats (13-7, 3-6) uncorked a 14-2 run that included Fred Peete's 3-pointer followed by five straight points by Jeremiah Massey. Cartier Martin's jumper brought the crowd to its feet and sliced the lead to 58-54 with 4:21 to go.

But then Simien made a free throw and Langford broke Kansas State's zone defense by driving the lane for a layup at the shot-clock buzzer.

With 1:16 left, Peete hit a 3-pointer to answer one by Giddens and make it 64-59.

Simien, with his 30th career double-double, made two free throws and increased the lead to 73-64 with less than a minute left.

Simien had 23 points and 13 rebounds, Langford had 24 points and Giddens added 18, including 4-of-6 shooting from 3-point range. The Jayhawks shot 53 percent and held Kansas State to 38 percent.

Peete and Massey each had 20 points for Kansas State, which has lost three in a row overall.

In one of the longest streaks of any rivalry in college basketball in recent years, Kansas State has not beaten Kansas since upsetting the top-ranked Jayhawks 68-64 at Allen Fieldhouse on Jan. 17, 1994.

The loss left Kansas State coach Jim Wooldridge 0-10 in five seasons against his school's most hated rival. He is 64-72 since taking over a program that had sunk to the depths of the Big 12 under Tom Asbury.

Kansas, which last lost in Manhattan on Jan. 29, 1983, closed out the first half on a 9-2 run for a 35-25 lead.

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Team Stats

Fred Peete

Jeremiah Massey

Lance Harris

Cartier Martin

Kansas State University Athletics