RAPID RECAP: Wildcats sweep Bears with 75-65 win

MANHATTAN -- Kansas State didn’t make many jump shots Tuesday night. In fact, on shots from beyond the arc, the Wildcats were 4-for-21. But none of that mattered against the ninth-ranked Baylor Bears.

When things were going well for the Wildcats -- which was most of the time during another Big 12 matchup of top-15 teams -- Kansas State had a glorified layup line on the offensive end. After an 8-2 run for the Bears closed what was a 14-point Kansas State advantage in the game’s final three minutes, the easily penetrable Baylor defense allowed senior forward Keyontae Johnson to slip to the rim and convert on a layup that was no tougher than any shot taken during warm-ups.

Johnson's layup gave the Wildcats a 69-59 lead and added to a strong advantage in the paint for Kansas State. On a night in which the Wildcats outscored the Bears 44-31 in the second half, it was K-State’s 42-16 advantage in the paint that separated the two schools.

A large factor for Kansas State’s dominance in the paint was the vision of senior point guard Markquis Nowell. The 5-foot-8 guard has struggled with turnovers throughout Big 12 play, but was nearly perfect taking care of the basketball in Kansas State’s third win over a top-10 team this season.

Nowell tallied 10 assists and a spotless 0 assists to go along with 14 points, his fourteenth career double-double and ninth in his time at Kansas State. The Harlem, New York, native didn’t shoot the ball well, going 2-for-11 from the floor and 0-for-6 from deep, but was a perfect 10-for-10 at the free throw line to ice the game late and seal a 75-65 Kansas State win.

On the receiving end of a lot of those Nowell assists was Johnson, who scored a game-high 25 points on 11-of-17 shooting. The 25 points from Johnson were the third-best scoring performance for the Florida transfer during this season. Sophomore guard Cam Carter also scored in double figures, scoring 10 points in the Wildcats’ second win over head coach Jerome Tang’s former squad.

After Kansas State started fast with a 23-13 advantage over Baylor, a 21-3 run from the Bears in the first half allowed the Bears to take control of the game after an early run of misses from beyond the arc. The run came following a Scott Drew timeout with 7:09 remaining in the first half.

Kansas State ended the first half with a 5-0 run that cut the deficit to two points and created some second half momentum. Both baskets to close the half came from junior forward Nae’Qwan Tomlin, who knocked down a corner 3 and converted on a pick-and-roll with a slam dunk.

In the second half, Kansas State started with a 24-12 run to grab a 55-44 advantage. The Wildcats wound up defeating the Bears by double-digits despite being outscored by 21 from beyond the arc.

The win for the Wildcats gives the 14th-ranked team in the country a 9-6 record in Big 12 play and -- currently -- the third seed in the Big 12 Tournament. Beating the ninth-ranked Baylor Bears gave Kansas State its seventh win over a top-25 squad this season, tying a school record.

It also kept Kansas State’s slim chances of a Big 12 title alive for another week. On Saturday, the Wildcats will head to Stillwater to take on Oklahoma State.