Late 9-0 Run Propels K-State Past 9/9 Baylor in Overtime, 68-64

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas State’s magic in overtime games under head coach Jerome Tang continued Tuesday night, as the Wildcats ended the game on a 9-0 run, highlighted by junior Arthur Kaluma’s 4-point play with 20 seconds left, to collect a 68-64 overtime win over No. 9/9 Baylor before 10,055 fans at Bramlage Coliseum.

K-State (13-4, 3-1 Big 12) are now 10-0 in overtime games under Tang, including 5-0 this season. The 5 overtime wins tie the school record for the second consecutive season and third time overall. The 10 total overtime wins are the third-most by a head coach in school history.

Down 64-59 with 1:12 remaining in the extra period, the Wildcats started their game-ending 9-0 run with a 3-pointer from freshman R.J. Jones with just over a minute to play. Following a stop on defense, senior David N’Guessan got a big offensive rebound off a missed 3-pointer from redshirt freshman Dorian Finister with 22 seconds remaining, delivering it to Kaluma at the top of the key where he nailed the 3-pointer before being fouled with 20 seconds.

After Kaluma’s free throw gave K-State a 66-64 lead, Baylor (14-3, 3-1 Big 12) had another opportunity to respond but redshirt freshman Langston Love’s 3-pointer from the corner was off the mark and senior Tylor Perry snagged the rebound before being fouled with 6 seconds left. Perry nailed both free throws to finish off the win and complete the night 11-of-12 from the line.

Three Wildcats scored in double figures led by a game-high 18 points from junior Cam Carter and Perry, while Kaluma added his team-leading fourth double-double with 12 points and team-high 10 rebounds. Sophomore Jerrell Colbert and redshirt freshman Dorian Finister came up big off the bench with 6 and 5 points, respectively. Finister added 5 rebounds and 3 assists in nearly 20 minutes.

The Wildcats needed special heroics to even get to overtime, as they trailed the Bears, 52-46, with 1:53 to play. After a timeout by Tang, Kaluma started a run of 7 consecutive points that pulled the Wildcats ahead 53-52 after 2 free throws by Perry with 34 seconds. A layup by junior Jayden Nunn gave Baylor the lead with 16 seconds to play but Perry was fouled bringing the ball up the floor just 2 seconds later. He made 1-of-2 from the line to tie the game at 54-all before Nunn’s 3-pointer missed at the buzzer.

All told, K-State led for just 4 minutes and 9 seconds compared to more than 36 minutes by Baylor.

The overtime win was highlighted by another stellar defensive effort by K-State, which held one of the nation’s top scoring teams (86.1 ppg.) to nearly 22 points under its scoring average and its second-fewest points of the season. Baylor scored its 64 points on a season-low 32.9 percent (25-of-76) shooting, including 17.9 percent (5-of-28) from 3-point range.

Two Bears scored in double figures led by 15 from Love, who finished 6-of-14 from the field, including 3-of-7 from 3-point range. Senior Jalen Bridges scored 11 points on 5-of-13 shooting, while freshman Yves Missi had near double-double with 9 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Senior RayJ Dennis dished out a game-high 8 assists to go with 7 points and 9 rebounds.

K-State finished the night shooting 40.7 percent (22-of-54) from the field, including 30.4 percent (7-of-23) from 3-point range, while hitting on 77.3 percent (17-of-22) from the free throw line.

Playing in its 200^th game against a Top 10 opponent, K-State claimed its 53^rd Top-10 victory in school history, including its fourth under Tang. The Wildcats now have 21 Top 10 wins at Bramlage Coliseum.

Tang is now 3-0 all-time against his friend and former boss Scott Drew after his Wildcats swept the season series in 2022-23. This will be the only regular-season meeting between the schools with the new 14-team format, snapping a 12-year streak of playing home-and-home every year since 2011-12.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Neither team shot the ball particularly well early, as Baylor led just 6-2 at the first media timeout with 14:59 left in the first half. Junior Arthur Kaluma closed the gap to 6-5 on the game’s first 3-pointer out of the media timeout, but the high-scoring Bears rattled off 7 straight to push ahead 13-5.

The Wildcats got a lift from redshirt sophomore Jerrell Colbert, as his 2 free throws started a run of 9 straight points that gave them their first lead at 14-13 with 8:22 remaining in the half. The lead seesawed back and forth between the teams, as the Bears took advantage of second-chance points to take a 22-19 edge at the final media timeout of the half with 3:25 to play.

Kaluma was able to nail a 3-pointer from the corner to knot the game at 24-all with 1:15 to play before halftime, but Baylor was able to close out the half with back-to-back buckets, including one at the buzzer, to take a 31-26 lead at the break. K-State narrowly out-shot Baylor, 42.1 percent to 39.4 percent, but the Bears had 22 points in the paint and held an 11-3 advantage in second-chance points.

The offenses struggled in the early going of the second half, as the teams combined for just 7 points in the first 6-plus minutes, as Baylor led 33-31 at the 13:35 mark. After the Bears connected on their first field goal of the second half – a 3-pointer from Langston Love from the corner at the 12:22 mark – to go ahead 37-34, redshirt freshman Dorian Finister gave the Wildcats a 38-37 lead on back-to-back baskets to force a timeout by head coach Scott Drew at the 11:38 mark.

The Bears were able to record consecutive baskets for the first time in the half to push ahead 41-38 with 10:14 to play, but the Wildcats were able to score 7 of the next 8 points, including a 3-pointer from senior Tylor Perry, to go ahead 45-42 and force a timeout by Drew with 8:03 remaining.

The timeout seemed to be exactly what Baylor needed, as the Bears used a 10-1 run to go ahead 52-46 right before a K-State timeout with 1:53 to play. The Wildcats responded with 7 straight out of the timeout, including a pair of free throws by Perry to push ahead 53-52 with 34 seconds. Junior Jayden Nunn’s layup with 16 seconds gave the lead back to Baylor before Perry split a pair of free throws to tie the game at 54-all with 14 seconds. Nunn’s 3-pointer at the buzzer just missed.

The Bears’ lethal 3-point attack got going to open the extra period with consecutive triples from senior RayJ Dennis and Love while the Wildcats countered with a 3-pointer from junior Cam Carter and a layup from senior Will McNair Jr. to close the deficit to 60-59 with 2:25 to play.

Layups by Love and Dennis gave Baylor a 64-59 lead with 1:12 remaining before the final 9-0 sequence highlighted by the 4-point play by Kaluma with 20 seconds to play.

HEAD COACH JEROME TANG

On the game…

“Opening statement…

“Well, first of all, God is good and I’m so thankful that I get to do this at this place with these guys. I’m so proud of them, they could have easily let the Texas Tech loss beat us twice. But they were able to put it in a box and put it away and focus on preparation and on another one-game season. I knew RJ [Jones] was going to play well, I didn’t know he was gonna hit the big three. But I knew he would play well because of his preparation and practice. He was the scout team point guard and he volunteered to do it, Jerrell [Colbert] volunteered to do scout team as well. Guys are really taking ownership of the team and really invest more into it and we’re figuring out ways just to get better, a little bit better every day. I could brag about all of these guys.

But what I want to say is that when I was driving in it was 6 degrees and there were people in the parking lot like workers, helping park and I’m thinking man, 6 degrees, they’re out there working in that. There were students lined up at 2:30 p.m. I told the guys ‘when people make this kind of sacrifice, they deserve a special kind of effort to allow us to have this opportunity and we have to reward them with an effort that’s worthy of their sacrifice.’ Whether we had won this game or not, I was really proud of our guys because of the effort that they gave, the togetherness that they showed that I felt honored our fans who were unbelievable tonight, and we don’t win that game without them. Normally homecourt advantages are plus 10 and I think they were plus 15 to us so thank you to everyone who helped us get this dub. I was really proud of the guys who gave an effort that honored the people in our community who give us the opportunity to play this game.”

On what the team is doing right in overtime and finding ways to win…

“Maturity. Some older guys believe and then we work on it every day. Every single day. We work on 5-to-grind every day. So, it’s something our guys take pride in.”

What has allowed Jerrell Colbert to help out these last couple games…

“I said maturity, right? And then what I was meaning is that those guys need to stop thinking about themselves and what they were going through and start thinking about the team and what they could contribute to the team that had nothing to do with playing time. And I think Jerrell and I know RJ [Jones], both of those guys have, they made some big strides maturity wise and understanding that this is a team thing, and they just have to be ready. Their numbers will get called at some point in time and I mean, he’s [Jerrell] been great at practice. You can see it right? You can see his approach, you can see his preparation, the extra work that he’s putting in, just all those things and so as a coach when you see that, and you see that he’s doing it with a certain joy. It’s not like I’m doing this to try and get on the court but doing it because he loves his teammates and he wants his team to be better, but then you feel comfortable getting them in there. And so, I mean he’s earned it. He’s earned it. And we knew from the last game that we couldn’t have Will [McNair] play 37, 36 minutes, whatever it was right? And so, we needed somebody to step up and Jerrell did that this week for us and he’s done it like the last couple of weeks where he’s really kind of earned more trust.”

On what is making the defense so special at this point of the season…

“The attention to detail. Coach U [Ulric Maligi], Coach Marco [Borne], Coach ‘Reem [Jareem Dowling], they handle our defense. We’ve like pinpointed some things that we got to get better at, and the guys have been really intentional about what we’re doing in practice and paying attention to details.”

TEAM NOTES

K-State (13-4, 3-1 Big 12) won for the third time in Big 12 play, including the second consecutive time at home, with a 68-64 overtime win over No. 9/9 Baylor.
Head coach Jerome Tang is now 10-0 in overtime games in his K-State career.
The 5 overtime wins this season tie the school record for overtimes played and won in a single season, which has been set on 2 other occasions (1992-93 and 2022-23).
K-State earned its 53^rd Top 10 victory in school history, including its fourth under Tang… The Wildcats now have 21 Top 10 wins at Bramlage Coliseum.
K-State earned a Top 25 victory for the 18^th consecutive season.
K-State now has 47 Top 25 wins in Bramlage Coliseum history, including 44 vs. ranked Big 12 opponents.
Tang now has 8 career Top 25 wins, including 6 at home, and 4 career Top 10 wins.
K-State is now 24-2 in Bramlage Coliseum, including 10-1 in Big 12 play, under Tang.
K-State now leads the all-time series with Baylor, 26-25, including 14-11 at home… The Wildcats have now won 3 in a row over the Bears.
K-State led for just 4:09 compared to Baylor which led for 36:29.
K-State held one of the nation’s top scoring teams (86.1 ppg.) to 22 points under its scoring average and its second-fewest points of the season… The Bears were held to a season-low 32.9 percent (25-of-76) shooting, including 17.9 percent (5-of-28) from 3-point range.
K-State scored its 68 points on 40.7 percent (22-of-54) shooting, including 30.4 percent (7-of-23) from 3-point range, and 77.3 percent (17-of-22) from the free throw line.
K-State lost the rebounding battle for just the fifth time this season, as Baylor held a 47-40 advantage, which included 23 offensive rebounds.
K-State turned the ball over 17 times compared to just 11 for Baylor, but the Bears held just a 14-11 advantage in points off turnovers.
Baylor held advantages in points in the paint (38-28), second-chance points (18-9), points off turnovers (14-11) and bench points (22-14).
K-State started a lineup of senior Tylor Perry, junior Cam Carter, junior Arthur Kaluma and senior David N’Guessan and senior Will McNair Jr. … It marked the 13th time using this lineup… Carter has now started all 53 games in his K-State career… Carter, N’Guessan and Perry have started all 17 games… Kaluma and McNair earned their 15th starts, respectively.

PLAYER NOTES

Three Wildcats scored in double figures, including 18 points each by junior Cam Carter and senior Tylor Perry.
The tandem was joined in double figures by junior Arthur Kaluma registered his team-leading fourth double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds… He now has 7 career double-doubles.
Carter scored his 18 points on 7-of-14 field goals, including 2-of-5 from 3-point range, and 2-of-3 free throws to go with 2 assists, a steal and a block in 35 minutes… He has now scored in double figures in 25 career games, including a team-best 15 times this season.
Perry scored his 18 points on 3-of-14 field goals, including 1-of-8 from 3-point range, and 11-of-12 free throws to go with 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals in 43 minutes… He has now scored in double figures in 71 career games, including 14 times this season.
Kaluma scored his 12 points on 4-of-9 field goals, including 3-of-6 from 3-point range, to go with his team-best 10 rebounds and 2 assists in nearly 40 minutes… He now has 7 career double-doubles, including a team-best 4 this season… He has now scored in double figures in 54 career games, including 14 times this season.
Redshirt freshman Dorian Finister continued his impressive play with 5 points on 2-of-7 field goals and 1-of-2 free throws to go with season-highs in rebounds (5) and assists (3) in nearly 20 minutes off the bench.
Sophomore Jerrell Colbert scored 6 points on 2-of-2 field goals and 2-of-2 free throws to go with a rebound and a blocked shot in 17 minutes off the bench.

UP NEXT

K-State concludes its homestand on Saturday afternoon, as the Wildcats play host to Oklahoma State (8-9, 0-4 Big 12) at 5 p.m., CT. The game is sold out.