Markquis Nowell had seven of his game-high 23 points in overtime as host Kansas State defeated No. 24 West Virginia 82-76 in Manhattan, Kan., on Saturday in the Big 12 opener for both clubs.
Kansas State scored the first six points of overtime as the Mountaineers missed their first four shots. West Virginia never got closer than four the rest of the way.
Kansas State (12-1, 1-0 Big 12) has its best start since going 12-1 in the 2016-17 season. Keyontae Johnson scored 18 points for the Wildcats, Abayomi Iyiola added 14 points and eight rebounds, and Nae’Qwan Tomlin had 11 points.
Tre Mitchell led West Virginia (10-3, 0-1) with 16 points and 13 rebounds, Emmitt Matthews Jr. scored 12 points, and Mohamed Wague chipped in 10 points and 10 rebounds.
The Wildcats outscored the Mountaineers 31-12 over the first 10 minutes of the second half, turning an 11-point halftime deficit into an eight-point lead.
West Virginia then tied it with eight straight points. Kansas State pulled away by five points, but the Mountaineers regained the lead on Mitchell’s layup with 1:03 left.
Johnson scored with 42 seconds left to give Kansas State the lead. West Virginia’s Kedrian Johnson missed a jumper in the lane with 17 seconds left, and Kansas State got the rebound. Iyiola hit both free throws to stretch the lead to 66-63. Kedrian Johnson’s 3-pointer with 0.9 seconds left sent it to overtime.
The Wildcats missed their first nine 3-pointers before Nowell hit one with 14:26 left in the second half to cut their deficit to two points. When Nowell hit the second of two free throws, Kansas State had climbed all the way back to tie it at 42-all.
West Virginia raced out to a 13-1 lead before the first media timeout. Kansas State missed its first eight shots before Keyontae Johnson hit a layup with 14:04 left in the half. Johnson then picked up his second foul with 13:15 left in the half and the Wildcats trailing by 11.
West Virginia went to the locker room with a 32-21 lead. The Wildcats finished the first half shooting just 29.0 percent (9-of-31), including 0-of-8 from 3-point range. West Virginia outrebounded the Wildcats 31-12.
Mitchell and Jimmy Bell Jr. led West Virginia with seven points apiece, and Iyiola paced Kansas State with eight.
–Field Level Media
