No. 9 MBB Falls in Overtime at K-State

Tuesday, January 16

Manhattan, Kan.

7 pm

Baylor

Kansas State

No. 9 MBB Falls in Overtime at K-State

1/16/2024 9:43:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Jerome Tang kept his unblemished record against Scott Drew and the ninth-ranked Baylors Bears intact as his Kansas State Wildcats scored nine unanswered points in the last 62 seconds of overtime to pull out a 68-64 win Tuesday night at Bramlage Coliseum.

Tang, who spent 19 years on Drew's staff at Baylor before landing his first head coaching job last year, improved to 3-0 versus the Bears (14-3, 3-1) and an incredible 10-0 in overtime games over the last two seasons with the Wildcats (13-4, 3-1).

"I think he's a really good coach. He puts them in positions to win," Drew said of Tang. "And then, I think the home games, that's why it's so hard to win on the road in the Big 12. The fans deserve a lot of credit for that, when home teams win. But I credit him, he's a really good coach."

Twice, at the end of regulation and the last minute and half of overtime, Baylor gave up late two-possession leads.

Despite struggling all night from 3-point range, hitting just 5-of-28 (17.9%), the Bears were up 52-46 with under two minutes to play in regulation when Jayden Nunn made one of two free throws. But K-State reeled off seven-straight points and regained the lead, 53-52, on a pair of free throws by North Texas transfer Tylor Perry with 34.0 seconds left.

Perry answered Nunn's go-ahead layup with one of two free throws before Nunn was short on an open 3-pointer that would have won it.

"You can't get better shots to win games," Drew said. "Best shooters in the country are going to make 4 out of 10 or 5 out of 10, so we've got to get the offensive rebound."

Toledo transfer RayJ Dennis, who struggled all night (2-for-15), hit a 3-pointer to start the overtime period and then made a driving layup to give the Bears a 64-59 lead with 1:12 left. But freshman RJ Jones started the closing 9-0 run by K-State with a 3-pointer from the corner, his first points since another overtime game against North Alabama on Dec. 2.

Baylor won the rebounding battle, 47-40, and grabbed 23 on the offensive end, but the Wildcats won it when the Bears didn't corral a defensive board off a missed 3-pointer by Dorian Finister.

Trailing by two with under 30 seconds left, KSU came up with a huge four-point play off a second chance when David N'guessan got the offensive board. Creighton transfer Arthur Kaluma drained a 3-pointer from the top of the key and hit the follow free throw when he was fouled by freshman Ja'Kobe Walter, putting the Wildcats up 66-64.

"The moment it left my hand, I knew it was good," said Kaluma, who was 3-for-6 from outside the arc. "We work on these situations a lot during practice. Once we got to overtime, we did what we've done before."

Kaluma had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds after getting 11 points and seven boards in Creighton's 85-76 win over Baylor last year in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

"I know there's a lot of things he does that maybe don't show up in the stat sheet," Drew said of Kaluma. "He's definitely progressing, so he must be working hard and they're doing a good job coaching him."

The Bears had another chance to win it with about 12 seconds left in overtime, but Langston Love missed a 3-pointer from the corner. Perry iced it with a pair of free throws, matching Cam Carter for game-high scoring honors with 18 points.

Asked to explain the team's overtime success, which includes a 5-0 mark this season, Tang replied, "Maturity, right? Some older guys. Belief. And then, we work on it every day. It's something our guys really take pride in."

Love led the Bears with 15 points, hitting 3-of-7 from distance, but Baylor shot just 33% overall, 5-of-28 from outside the arc and 9-of-19 from the line. Jalen Bridges scored nine of his 11 points in the first half, while freshman Yves Missi finished with nine points and 11 rebounds.

While Dennis' shot wasn't falling, he helped in a lot of different ways with seven points, nine rebounds, eight assists and only two turnovers in 42 minutes.

"We weren't playing tight, we were just playing basketball," Love said. "We all believe in ourselves, we all work hard, we're in the gym every day. Shots just didn't' fall tonight. We just need to get back in the gym and keep working."

Baylor will go back on the road to face Texas (12-4, 1-2) at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Moody Center in Austin. The Longhorns, coming off a 76-73 loss at West Virginia to fall out of the Top 25, will host UCF Wednesday night in the first of back-to-back home games.