Texas Southern knocks off K-State

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Senior Jason Carter’s jumper with 0.9 seconds remaining lifted Texas Southern to a 58-56 win over Kansas State on Sunday afternoon before a sold-out crowd of 12,528 at Bramlage Coliseum.

Carter’s jumper gave the Tigers (3-9) an improbable comeback, as the squad scored the final six points to rally from a 56-52 deficit with 15 seconds remaining. Junior Tonnie Collier was fouled on a 3-pointer with 2 seconds remaining and hit the first two free throws before intentionally missing the third attempt which fellow junior Chris Thomas converted into a lay-up to tie the game at 56-all.

With 0.9 second remaining, sophomore Jevon Thomas’ inbounds pass did not touch anyone before going out of bounds at midcourt. Texas Southern was able to inbound the ball underneath its own basket, executing the perfect play as Carter’s jumper fell as time expired. The Tigers, who have played 11 of their 12 games on the road, now add a victory over a Big 12 school to the overtime win over the Big Ten’s Michigan State on Dec. 20.

It was K-State’s first loss in the series and the first to a Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) opponent.

The Basics

Final Score: Texas Southern 58, Kansas State 56

Records: Kansas State (7-5, 0-0 Big 12); Texas Southern (3-9, 0-0 SWAC)

Attendance: 12,528 (sellout)

Next Game: Wednesday, Dec. 31 \\ vs. Georgia (7-3) \\ 3 p.m. CT \\ ESPNU

The Short Story

• Trailing 56-52 with 15 seconds remaining, Texas Southern scored the final six points to post its second win in three outing after starting the season with just one win in its first nine games.
• Senior Jason Carter connected on the game-winning jumper with 0.9 seconds after sophomore Jevon Thomas turned the ball over on the inbounds play underneath the Texas Southern basket.
• K-State went just 2-of-8 from the free throw line in the last 1:09 of the game.
• K-State trailed by as many as seven points with 10:32 remaining in the game before using a 12-0 run to take a 48-43 lead at the 4:23 mark… Thomas and junior Justin Edwards combined for eight points in run.
• K-State led by as many as 11 points in the first half and held a 23-21 edge at halftime… The Wildcats lost for the first time when leading at the half and fell to 45-5 when leading at the break under Bruce Weber.
• Sophomore Marcus Foster led two Wildcats in double figures with a game-high 17 points… He went 7-of-15 from the field, including 3-of-7 from 3-point range… He has now led the team in scoring 21 times in his career, including four times this season… He has double figure points in 37 of 45 career games.
• Senior Nino Williams also scored in double figures with 11 points, connecting on 4-of-6 field goals and 3-of-4 from the free throw line… He has now scored in double figures in six straight games.
• Junior Chris Thomas and senior Madarious Gibbs led Texas Southern with 15 points each, while Thomas grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds… Gibbs dished out a game-high 5 assists.
• K-State fell to 1-5 when scoring less than 70 points… The team is 6-0 when eclipsing the mark.
• K-State lost for just third time (in 25 games) under Bruce Weber when holding opponent to 60 points or less… The Wildcats are 4-6 under Bruce Weber and 1-1 this season when scoring less than 60 points.
• Texas Southern held a 32-23 advantage in rebounding, including 11 offensive boards… The Tigers out-scored the Wildcats in points in the paint (36-30), second-chance (12-3) and fast-break points (12-6).

How It Happened  |  First Half

• K-State jumped out to 9-0 lead behind 5 points from Foster and built a 15-4 advantage after a jumper from sophomore Wesley Iwundu with 11:59 to play in the first half.
• The Wildcats stayed solidly ahead, including 20-13 after a Foster 3-pointer at the 4:39 mark.
• Texas Southern used a 6-0 run to close to within 20-19 with 1:30 to play before Foster connected on his third triple to push it back out to 23-19 at the 1:16 mark.
• The Tigers finished the half on a high note, as they closed to within 23-21 on a lay-up by junior Malcolm Riley just as the buzzer sounded for halftime.
• K-State connected on 45.5 percent (10-of-22) in the opening half, including 50 percent (3-of-6) from 3-point range… The Wildcats did not attempt a free throw.
• Foster led all scorers with 11 points… In all, six different Wildcats had at least one field goal in first half.

How It Happened  |  Second Half

• Texas Southern grabbed its first lead after Thomas converted on 3-point play with 17:32 remaining for a 28-27 lead.
• The two teams traded the lead back and forth in the early portion of the second half before the Tigers used a 10-2 run to take its largest lead at 43-36 at the 10:32 mark.
• Neither team was able to score over the next two minutes before Jevon Thomas ignited the K-State run with a 3-pointer with the shot clock expiring with 8:26 to play.
• The trey started a 12-0 run, as the Wildcats led 48-43 after a dunk by Justin Edwards at the 4:23 mark.
• TSU answered with its own 3-pointer from Madarious Gibbs to close to within one possession with 3:40 to play before K-State used a 6-2 spurt to take a 54-48 lead with 1:45 remaining.
• Leading 54-50 with 1:18 to play, the Wildcats made just 1-of-6 from the free throw line (including 4 straight misses) over the next minute to give the Tigers more opportunities.
• Nino Williams connected on 1-of-2 from the line to give K-State a 56-52 lead with 15 seconds before Texas Southern was able make the improbable comeback.

Beyond the Boxscore

• With the loss, Kansas State saw its streak of 38 consecutive wins at Bramlage Coliseum in the month of December end… It is the first loss in December at Bramlage Coliseum since a 76-66 setback to Rutgers on Dec. 28, 2004… Overall, the Wildcats are 50-10 in the month since 2006.
• K-State is now 71-4 at home in non-conference play dating back to 2006-07, including 69-3 during the regular season… The Wildcats had won 60 of its last 61 non-conference home games before the loss.
• The loss was the 100^th in Bramlage Coliseum history… K-State is now 321-100 all-time in the arena.
• The win was the first in the series for Texas Southern and the first in 9 tries for a Southwestern Athletic Conference school vs. Kansas State… K-State leads the series, 2-1, while is 8-1 vs. SWAC opponents.

Quotable

• “Obviously it was very disappointing. We had a good start to the game with the 9-2, 15-5 start. We had some turnovers and had some times we let them get some rebounds and allow them to get their heads up. We knew it was going to be a low scoring game. We knew it was going to be a possession game that is how they play. Second half, we did not come out with a lot of emotion and they grabbed the lead until our guys came back, and we had some emotion. We fought and had the game won, but some crazy things happened at the end. We should have just gotten the ball inbounds and gone into overtime at home and saw what happened. You make a free throw, you make a block out, or you do not foul the three. There were a lot of things that could have happened. Sometimes everything goes against you and it was just one of those games and it is disappointing to take,” said head coach Bruce Weber.  

Up Next

• K-State concludes non-conference play on New Year’s Eve, as the Wildcats play host to SEC foe Georgia (7-3) at Bramlage Coliseum. The game will tip off at 3 p.m. and will air nationally on ESPNU. Tickets are available by calling the K-State Athletic Ticket Office at (800) 221-CATS or online at www.kstatesports.com/tickets.