MANHATTAN, Kan. — Another commendable effort. Another defeat for the Kansas State men’s basketball team.
The Wildcats showed obvious signs of progress for the second straight game, but it wasn’t quite enough for them to end their long losing streak as the No. 13 Texas Longhorns on Tuesday escaped Bramlage Coliseum with an 80-77 victory.
There aren’t many college basketball teams that can beat the Longhorns when they heat up from the three-point line, and the Wildcats are not one of them.
K-State gave it its best shot and challenged the Longhorns for 40 minutes, but they were eventually unable to keep pace with an opponent that made 13 of 16 shots from three-point range.
Its upset bid came up short on the final play of the night when Mike McGuirl missed a desperation heave from midcourt as time expired.
The Wildcats (5-16, 1-11 Big 12) have now lost 11 straight games for the first time since 2000. The Longhorns (12-5, 6-5 Big 12) bounced back and ended a three-game losing streak to move above .500 in the conference standings.
Andrew Jones led all scorers with 24 points for Texas, while Courtney Ramey added 14.
Nijel Pack led K-State with 22 points and McGuirl added 18 points.
Some fans gave K-State players a standing ovation for their effort as they walked off the floor. Perhaps the days of the Wildcats getting blown out in every conference game are over. Even though this wasn’t a victory, it did represent the first time K-State has stayed within single digits of an opponent since a 67-60 loss against TCU on Jan. 2.
The Wildcats will hope to bounce back in their next game against Oklahoma State on Saturday.
