Wildcat Defense Stymies Horned Frogs

Barry Brown had 16 points to lead four Kansas State players in double figures and the 18th-ranked Wildcats beat TCU 64-52 on Monday night to maintain a share of the Big 12 lead with one game remaining in the regular season.

Kansas State (23-7, 13-4 Big 12) went ahead to stay with a tiebreaking 13-4 run to end the first half, then scored the first 10 points after halftime.

Kamau Stokes added 15 points for the Wildcats, who remained tied with No. 8 Texas Tech (25-5, 13-4) atop the Big 12 standings. The Red Raiders, who won by 15 at slumping TCU on Saturday, finished a 70-51 home win over Texas only minutes after the K-State game ended.

Kevin Samuel had 17 points and seven rebounds to lead TCU (18-12, 6-11), while RJ Nembhard scored 12 points.

After TCU’s Desmond Bane made a second-chance 3-pointer with 4:47 left in the first half to tie the game at 23, the Wildcats started their game-turning run.

Dean Wade, who scored all of his nine points before halftime, assisted on a 3-pointer by Stokes before the 6-foot-10 senior who was the preseason All-Big 12 player of the year had a steal. Wade and Brown then traded passes down the court before Wade slammed the ball home.

Stokes hit a 3 that beat the shot clock just before halftime for a 36-27 lead at the break.

K-State led by as many as 21 points before TCU reeled off 10 points in a row, a streak that finally ended when Mike McGuirl stopped underneath and passed out to Makol Mawien for a 13-foot jumper in the lane.

Xavier Sneed had 11 points and Mawien 10.

BIG PICTURE

Kansas St.: The Wildcats have a chance to win their second Big 12 title. They were co-champions in 2012-13, coach Bruce Weber’s first season, when they shared the title with Kansas _ the 14-time defending champion that won the last five titles outright. K-State started 0-2 in the Big 12 when Wade was out with a foot injury, but is 13-2 in conference play since.

TCU: The Horned Frogs lost for the sixth time in seven games, a stretch that has taken them to the NCAA Tournament bubble. Before that, they seemed to be well on their way to their second consecutive NCAA Tournament after ending a two-decade drought last year.