Kansas State hadn't been truly competitive recently in Big 12 Conference play, but - if nothing else - you can at least say that wasn't the case Saturday when the Wildcats took on the No. 1 ranked Kansas Jayhawks.

At the end of the day, however, the contest ended in another Wildcat loss, as Kansas slowly pulled away late for a 62-58 win inside of Bramlage Coliseum.

The teams battled back and forth throughout, with no real second-half separation coming until a Christian Braun 3-pointer with 4:52 left to play put the Jayhawks up 53-48. K-State had led much of the second half up to that point, but Kansas stayed poised and made plays down the stretch.

A DaJuan Gordon 3-pointer with 26.5 seconds left did slice what was once an eight-point deficit in the final four minutes to just three, but it was as close as K-State would get late.

Free throws would be a deciding factor, as Kansas got to the line 31 times compared to 18 trips for the home team, and K-State didn't get into the bonus until a minute was left in the contest.

We recap Saturday's Sunflower Showdown in The Final at K-StateOnline.

1. More of the same... but a different response

A staple of K-State's losing streak has been digging an early hole, leading to Bruce Weber eventually calling a timeout in the opening minutes to try and get things back on track.

It took a bit longer against Kansas - that timeout didn't come until 12:30 was left in the first half - but an 11-1 KU run after Cartier Diarra scored the game's first points on a 3-pointer gave the Jayhawks a 12-4 edge to force Weber's timeout.

That Diarra triple came just 44 seconds into the game. K-State went nearly another eight minutes before making its next field goal, also from Diarra.

Credit to K-State, though, for working its way back this time. It helped that Mike McGuirl knocked down triples on back-to-back possessions to turn an eight-point deficit into just a two-point game.

It looked as if Kansas would create separation multiple times in the first half, but it never happened and the Wildcats responded to that early 11-1 KU run by outscoring Kansas 30-23 over the final 12:36 of the first half.

Kansas led by just one, 35-34, at halftime.

2. Carti keeps coming

I've been impressed with Diarra's play ever since the events in Texas Tech a few weeks ago, and his strong play continued Saturday against the Jayhawks.

The 6-foot-4 junior scored eight of K-State's first 19 points and was largely responsible for helping the Wildcats trim that early deficit back to just 21-19 with 7:37 left in the first half.

Unfortunately for Diarra, he - like many Wildcats - battled severe foul trouble throughout the contest that limited his time on the floor and ability to produce. Still, Diarra would finish with a team-high 15 points on 5-of-11 shooting in just 25 minutes.

3. K-State starts small

The Wildcats went with Xavier Sneed at the four spot along with center Makol Mawien and guards Cartier Diarra, Mike McGuirl and DaJuan Gordon in the starting lineup to match up against a Jayhawk team starting four guards around Udoka Azubuike.

K-State still got off to a slow start with the new lineup, but I was in favor of Weber's decision to start a group that probably represented not only his best five players, but also the group that - on paper - matched up the best with this Jayhawk bunch.

The Wildcats would stay small essentially the entire game, and Sneed would finish with 13 points and five boards.

4. Dotson dominates

As K-State closed the gap in the first half Kansas star point guard Devon Dotson ensured the Wildcats would not get all the way over the hump.

At least initially.

The sophomore scored nine consecutive points for the Jayhawks after the Wildcats had sliced the deficit to just a basket and brought life into Bramlage Coliseum.

That 21-19 score quickly turned into a 30-22 Kansas lead, with Dotson doing all the damage.

K-State would obviously come all the way back, but Dotson established himself again in the second half. His 3-point play with 13:16 left put Kansas back in the lead for the first time since the opening possession of the half, 44-43. His next hoop did the same, putting Kansas back up one after the Wildcats had regained a slight advantage.

A pair of Dotson free throws with 6:54 left broke a 48-48 tie. Maybe the biggest basket was another 3-point play with four minutes left to play that put the Jayhawks up a relatively comfortable 56-48.

Dotson was easily the best player on the floor, finishing with 25 points on 8-of-11 shooting and a perfect 8-of-8 at the foul line.

5. Mak attacks

Even before Udoka Azubuike went down with an injury in the first half - he returned not long after - Makol Mawien was giving the star seven footer fits.

Mawien's third make on six tries (at that point) less than a minute into the second half would give the Wildcats their first lead since the opening minute of the contest. Mawien's next make was a fade-away jumper in Azubuike's face, and he talked trash on the way back down the floor after putting the Cats up three points. He then swatted Kansas Marcus Garrett on the next possession and forced two more misses inside from Azubuike early in the second half.

Mawien would hit another jumper (his third straight make in the second half) with 15 minutes left to put the Wildcats up 43-39.

At game's end Mawien had 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting compared to six points for Azubuike on 2-of-4- shooting.

K-State went toe-to-toe with the No. 1 team in the country in Bramlage Coliseum, but once again a prolonged scoring drought and inability to finish a close game cost the Cats. Xavier Sneed's jumper at the 7:57 game tied the score at 48, and K-State wouldn't score again until a Cartier Diarra driving lay up with 2:30 left to cut the KU lead to six. The Cats still pushed until the end, but didn't have enough to beat the Jayhawks.

One of my keys was for Diarra, Sneed, and Mawien to combine for 45 points and have at least two with efficiencies of 1.10 or better. They went for 41, and Diarra and Mawien both had efficiencies above the number. It was a good effort from the trio, but not quite enough. Diarra and Sneed combining to only go 1-of-9 from 3 in the second half was big as well. McGuirl made a big pair of threes in the first half, but was 0-of-3 in the second half. DaJuan Gordon had a ridiculous efficiency, but that was buoyed by a low usage and no turnovers with his two made threes. Sloan had some nice moments, but ended with a only one assist to go with three turnovers.

A second key was turnovers, and K-State managed to win the TO rate battle 26.8% to 20.1%. I thought K-State needed to keep that number at 18% or better, and that one or two turnovers may have been the difference. Still, K-State enjoyed a 19-5 advantage in points off turnovers, but that was offset by KU's advantage of 10 more points from the FT line.

The third key was making some threes and for a while K-State was on pace to do just that. However, the Cats struggled to only 2-of-13 in the 2nd half and finished 8-of-15. 10 makes was the mark I thought K-State needed to get.

K-State was oh so close in all three keys, but each came up just short as the Cats lose a close one to the Jayhawks.

TRADITIONAL STATISTICS PROVIDED BY KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY

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