MANHATTAN, Kan. _ Kansas basketball players Devonte Graham, Mitch Lightfoot and Frank Mason walked through the south tunnel of Bramlage Coliseum onto the court to a chorus of boos from thousands of purple-clad Kansas State students at 6:39 p.m., Monday _ about an hour and a half before tipoff for the Sunflower Showdown.
Graham hoisted three halfcourt shots and missed them all to the delight of Wildcat fans, who were armed with signs that included, "Svi's Walk of Shame," referring to KU's Svi Mykhailiuk taking extra steps before hitting a game-winning layup in the Jayhawks' 90-88 win over K-State on Jan. 3 at Allen Fieldhouse.
Perhaps motivated _ or at least focused _ in a hostile atmosphere, the No. 3 Jayhawks' nine eligible scholarship players (including Carlton Bragg, who had been taken off indefinite suspension by coach Bill Self earlier in the day) stormed to a 74-71 victory over a Wildcats team (16-8, 5-6 Big 12) that defeated No. 2 Baylor on Saturday in Waco, Texas.
KU, which was coming off a home loss to Iowa State on Saturday, improved to 21-3 overall and 9-2 in the conference.
It was junior guard Mykhailiuk who hit a big 3-pointer with 2:32 left to bust a 63-63 tie and give KU a 3-point lead. It turned out to be the bucket that put the Jayhawks ahead for good. Frank Mason followed with two free throws and Josh Jackson one, giving KU a 69-63 lead with 1:45 left.
K-State whittled the lead to 72-69 on a Kamau Stokes 3-pointer, but Graham hit two free throws with 16.3 seconds left to up the lead back to five.
Mykhailiuk finished with eight points on a night Mason tallied 21 points on 7-of-17 shooting. Jackson added 18 points and Graham had 10 points, seven rebounds and six assists.
Bragg scored six points with three rebounds in his return to action. He appeared to injure an ankle early in the second half, but he returned to the game.
K-State was led by Dean Wade, who scored 20 points. Stokes added 16, D.J. Johnson had 14 and Wesley Iwundu scored 13. Iwundu had 11 rebounds, and Stokes grabbed eight.
KU, which trailed by as many as 12 points (20-8) in the first half but surged to a 37-35 lead by intermission, used a 10-3 run to grab a 47-38 lead with 17:49 to play. Jackson opened that run with a pair of 3s, followed by buckets by Landen Lucas, who had seven points and seven rebounds, and Mason.
However, Kansas State was far from finished, cutting the gap to 56-54 at 7:30, and regaining the lead at 60-59 on a Wade basket with 4:21 left. Mason hit two free throws at 4:21 to put KU back on top 61-60.
In the first half, Jackson had 11 points with three steals and three rebounds, while Mason had eight points and Bragg six with two rebounds in 9 minutes. Wade scored 10 points, Stokes had nine and Johnson and Iwundu added seven each for the Wildcats.
K-State stormed to an early 13-5 lead, thanks to five points from Wade and three from Stokes and Johnson and a bucket from Barry Brown.
K-State led, 20-8 at 14:01. However, Bragg scored four straight points to open a 20-7 run that gave KU a 28-27 advantage at 3:51. Bragg also closed that run with a bucket, giving him six points at that point and KU the lead.
After an Iwundu 3-pointer put the Wildcats back in front at 29-28, Jackson scored a bucket and Graham followed with a three, giving KU a 33-29 lead with 2:55 left in the half. KU upped the lead to 37-31 at 1:44, but the Cats closed the half on a 4-0 run, with Stokes hitting a three and Iwundu a free throw to slice the gap to 37-35 at halftime.
The Jayhawks will meet Texas Tech at 1 p.m. Saturday, in Lubbock, Texas.
