Keyontae Johnson scored 25 points to lead No. 14 Kansas State to a 75-65 victory over No. 9 Baylor on Tuesday in Manhattan, Kan.
Johnson made 11 of 17 shots from the floor for the Wildcats (21-7, 9-6 Big 12), who completed a season sweep of the Bears (20-8, 9-6) after losing each of the seven previous meetings. Kansas State recorded a 97-95 overtime victory over Baylor on Jan. 7 in Waco, Texas.
The Wildcats’ Markquis Nowell contributed 14 points and 10 assists for his sixth double-double of the season. Cam Carter collected 10 points and eight rebounds, and Nae’Qwan Tomlin added eight points and eight rebounds.
Baylor’s Keyonte George drained six 3-pointers to highlight his 23-point performance. LJ Cryer scored 16 points and Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua recorded 11 points and 12 rebounds for the Bears, who have lost two in a row after winning 10 of their previous 11 games.
Baylor’s Adam Flagler finished with four points on 1-for-13 shooting from the floor, including 0-for-6 from 3-point range. He entered the game averaging 16.0 points on the season and poured in 23 points in the previous encounter with Kansas State.
Cryer’s fourth 3-pointer forged a 43-43 tie before Kansas State made six baskets on the interior as part of a 12-1 run. Carter capped the surge with an emphatic dunk in transition.
Flagler scored his first points of the game with a pair of free throws to halt the run, and he added a jumper to trim Kansas State’s lead to 57-48 with 7:15 to play. Baylor moved within eight on Tchamwa Tchatchoua’s jumper with 1:36 remaining in the second half, but Johnson made a layup and Nowell sank his free throws to seal the win.
Kansas State claimed a 23-13 lead after a Carter layup capped a 7-0 run. Baylor, however, countered with an 11-0 stretch, with George sinking a pair of shots from beyond the arc in that sequence.
Carter’s layup halted the surge for the Wildcats. Cryer subsequently made two 3-pointers and Tchamwa Tchatchoua also converted from beyond the arc to help the Bears take a 34-31 lead into halftime.
–Field Level Media
