MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Christian Bishop scored all 14 of his points in the second half, including the go-ahead lay-in with 37 seconds to go, and No. 10 Texas rallied from a 14-point first-half deficit to beat No. 7 Kansas State 69-66 on Saturday.
Sir’Jabari Rice also had 14 points for the Longhorns, and his two free throws with nine seconds left forced the Wildcats into needing a 3-pointer to send the game to overtime.
Ismael Massoud got an open look from the wing but it was well short of the rim, allowing the Longhorns to hold on for their fifth win over a Top 25 team this season.
Tyrese Hunter and Marcus Carr added 10 points apiece for Texas (19-4, 8-2), which took over sole possession of first place in the rough-and-tumble Big 12 by avenging an overtime loss to the Wildcats (18-5, 6-4) early last month.
Keyontae Johnson struggled through foul trouble but still had 16 points to lead the Wildcats, who have lost back-to-back games for the first time this season. Desi Sills scored 11 points and Markquis Nowell had 10, but he also had six turnovers, including one with less than a minute to go and Kansas State down by one.
The Wildcats and Longhorns played one of the most entertaining games of the season in their meeting in Austin, when they went bucket-for-bucket through regulation and into overtime. The Wildcats eventually escaped with a 116-103 victory as the two teams shattered the Big 12 record for points in a game.
Early on Saturday, Texas, led by Bishop, looked as if it would struggle to score half as much.
With the Wildcats clamping down on the perimeter, the Longhorns kept throwing the ball away, and at one point had seven turnovers against just five made shots. They also went a stretch of more than 7 minutes with just one field goal.
Kansas State took advantage of their offensive malaise.
Despite the sure-handed Nowell’s turnover trouble, and leading scorer Johnson picking up his third foul with 5 1/2 minutes left, the Wildcats steadily built a lead. It reached as many as 14 points before Texas made three free throws in the final second to get within 36-25 heading to the locker room.
It was the spark the Longhorns needed: They made their first six shots of the second half, and their run spanning the break eventually reached 17-4 while getting them within 40-39 with 15 minutes left in the game.
Rice’s 3-pointer a few minutes later gave Texas its first lead since the opening minutes. And when the Wildcats went on a nearly 5-minute drought, Bishop began to assert control, the Creighton transfer scoring 11 points over a 6-minute stretch and punctuating each of them with a roar and a fist pump.
Just like their first meeting Jan. 3, though, the rematch Saturday was destined to go down to the wire.
BIG PICTURE
Texas could do nothing right in the first half and nothing wrong in the second, shooting 57% from the floor over the final 20 minutes. Most of the success came in the paint; the Longhorns were just 4 of 16 from the 3-point arc.
Kansas State couldn’t overcome 19 turnovers, including six by the sure-handed Nowell, who had 36 points, nine assists and eight rebounds when the teams met in Austin. He had just six rebounds and six assists on Saturday.
UP NEXT
Texas heads down Interstate 70 to face eighth-ranked Kansas on Monday night.
Kansas State wraps its homestand against No. 15 TCU on Tuesday night.
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