Releford leads Jayhawks past Wildcats
MANHATTAN, Kan. — Travis Releford scored 12 points as No. 3 Kansas held off No. 11 Kansas State down the stretch for a 5955 victory Tuesday night that gave the Jayhawks sole possession of first place in the Big 12.
Ben McLemore and Jeff Withey added 11 points each for the Jayhawks (17-1, 5-0), who pushed their nation-leading winning streak to 16 games — matching the third-longest under coach Bill Self — and ended the Wildcats’ 12-game home winning streak.
Shane Southwell, who scored a career-high 19 points, got Kansas State (15-3, 4-1) within 56-53 with a scooping layup with 38.2 seconds left. But after Naadir Tharpe made two foul shots to restore a fivepoint lead, the Wildcats’ Rodney McGruder misfired from beyond the arc at the other end.
McLemore was fouled and missed his free throw, and McGruder made two to get Kansas State within 58-55 with 5 seconds left. But Elijah Johnson’s free throw put the game away.
McGruder finished with 13 points, and Angel Rodriguez had 12, all in the first half, as the Wildcats lost for the 45th time in 48 games against their bitter in-state rival.
Kansas State had its own eight-game winning streak snapped.
The atmosphere was amped long before the opening tip. Students on their first day back from winter break lined up for several hundred yards in freezing temperatures, and then flooded seats on one side of the building more than 2 hours before the game started.
The Jayhawks, undaunted by the pulsating crowd, methodically built a 16-8 lead midway through the first half. Kansas took advantage of some balky outside shooting by the Wildcats.