Field Level Media
Mar 1, 2023
Keyontae Johnson had 16 points, Desi Sills added 15 and Markquis Nowell had 11 points and 10 assists on Wednesday as the trio of Kansas State seniors closed out their home careers with an 85-69 victory over Oklahoma on Senior Night in Manhattan, Kan.
The No. 11 Wildcats finished the season 16-1 at home.
If Kansas State (23-7, 11-6 Big 12) defeats West Virginia in Morgantown and Texas loses at home to Kansas -- both games are on Saturday -- the Wildcats would claim the No. 2 seed in next week's Big 12 Championship in Kansas City, Mo.
Nae'Qwan Tomlin led the Wildcats with 19 points.
Oklahoma (14-16, 4-13 Big 12) was led by Milos Uzan with 20 points and Otega Oweh with 18.
The Wildcats shot 70.4 percent (19 of 27) in the second half. They had 22 assists on 32 made field goals in the game.
After closing the first half on a 9-0 run to turn a tie game into a nine-point lead, the Wildcats started the second half on 7-2 and 14-6 spurts to blow it open. When Tomlin threw down a dunk to finish a fastbreak, the Wildcats led 53-33 with 14:48 left. Oklahoma got no closer than 13 until the final three minutes.
Neither team started well on offense. Kansas State missed 10 of its first 11 shots from the field yet still trailed just 9-5 with 14 minutes left because the Sooners couldn't do much better. Oklahoma was up 5-1 when starting center Tanner Groves picked up his second personal foul at the 17:21 mark. Oweh picked up his second foul just 1:14 later.
Kansas State took its first lead of the game on a 3-pointer by Johnson with 6:16 left in the half.
Johnson had 10 points and David N'Guessan added eight in the first half. Oklahoma was led by Uzan's eight points.
Even with the late spurt the Wildcats shot just 39.4 percent (13 of 33) in the first half after starting 4-for-20. Oklahoma was just 10-for-31 (32.3 percent).
--Field Level Media