LUBBOCK, Tex. — Kansas State trailed by a point at the half against the Texas Tech Red Raiders, and it only got worse as the lead was extended to nine early in the second-half. But the Wildcats fought back and regained the upper hand with about five minutes to play.
The teams would exchange bursts of scoring that saw the Wildcats build the lead to seven points only for the Red Raiders to even up the game at 54 with less than three minutes to play.
Following two Dusty Hannahs’ free throws, Wesley Iwundu hit a jumper a drew a foul on Hannahs, sending him to the line where he hit the game’s winning point, giving the ‘Cats a 57-56 lead. Will Spradling added a free throw and Iwundu converted a Marcus Foster steal into the game’s final points that ended 60-56 in K-State’s favor.
The win on the road was needed as the Wildcats prepare for a tougher ahead in Ames on Saturday against Iowa State. Tip-off is at 6 p.m. local time.
ATHENS, Ga. — There were a variety of reasons the Missouri Tigers needed win at Georgia on Tuesday night. The Tigers were coming off of a disappointing showing at Alabama and also had a chance to pull within a game of the third-place Bulldogs with a win.
But the Tigers only held a lead on a handful of occasions en route to a damaging road loss, 71-56. The Tigers’ shaky tournament resume probably can’t sustain any losses after back-to-back losses in the twilight of the SEC schedule.
After Jabari Brown gave the Tigers a one-point lead midway through the first-half, the Tigers allowed the Bulldogs to finish the half on a 16-6 run. The burst was highlighted at the end by a pair of threes from forward Nemanja Djurisic that sent the teams to the locker room with Georgia up 31-22.
The Tigers never drew closer than within eight points of the Bulldogs and at multiple times stared at deficits that were greater than 20. Missouri returns home to play against the Mississippi Bulldogs on Saturday, tip-off is at 12:30 local time.
