COLLEGE STATION, Texas _ Kansas State was far from an impressive basketball team during the majority of its nonconference games earlier this season, and the Wildcats reverted back to that underwhelming form in the Big 12/SEC Challenge.
Texas A&M defeated K-State, 65-53, on Saturday at Reed Arena, a result that will go down as one of the most puzzling of the year for Bruce Weber's team.
The Aggies seemed like an ideal opponent for this annual conference clash. They have been playing like pushovers lately, losing six of seven and getting off to a 1-5 start in SEC games. A sparse crowd turned out to support them, but the building got loud as they reversed their recent fortunes against a K-State team that had been red hot in the Big 12.
K-State hadn't looked this bad at full strength since a 47-46 loss at Tulsa in early December. That game, by the way, is no longer its worst nonconference defeat of the season.
Wendell Mitchell led Texas A&M past K-State with 22 points and a scintillating second half that featured one highlight play after the next.
Dean Wade hit a 3-pointer that gave K-State a 33-26 lead at the beginning of the second half, and it was all Texas A&M the rest of the way. The Aggies scored the next 13 points, with Mitchell hitting 3s and throwing down dunks.
K-State was hampered by an ineffective offense. It looked completely lost when Texas A&M went to a zone and the Wildcats made just 20 of 61 shots. They were at their worst from 3-point range, hoisting up 31 shots and making only seven.
Wade led K-State with 17 points and Cartier Diarra had a surprisingly strong game that featured 14 points, but there were few other positives for the Wildcats.
Texas A&M (8-10, 1-5 SEC) looked like a better team than K-State (15-5, 5-2 Big 12).
The good news, if you can call it that, is that this result won't hurt K-State's conference record. It will negatively impact their perception, perhaps keeping them out of the top 25 when they were on the verge of breaking back into the national polls, but they will remain in first place of the Big 12 standings when they return to league games next week.
K-State will get a week off before it tries to bounce back at Oklahoma State on Feb. 2.
