Baylor holds off Kansas State 79-72 in double overtime

A trip to Ferrell Center is the type of game that stands out for its difficulty for many teams, but it was simply the latest challenge in a season filled with them for Kansas State.

The Wildcats have faced six ranked teams this season. Taking on No. 13 Baylor, even on the road, was nothing new.

Neither was the result.

Baylor defeated K-State 79-72 in double overtime Wednesday, leaving the Wildcats winless against ranked opponents. They have dropped games to No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 2 North Carolina, No. 6 West Virginia, No. 10 Texas A&M and No. 19 Iowa State, mostly by painfully narrow margins. But this might have been the most frustrating loss of all.

K-State fought with Baylor every step of the way, taking a 34-28 halftime lead, making plays at the end of regulation to force overtime and then coming through in the final moments of overtime to keep the game going. But it eventually succumbed to the Bears’ depth, size and talent in the final minutes.

“It is hard for our kids to accept,” K-State coach Bruce Weber said. “We have been there in a lot of the games. We just haven’t found a way to win. My heart goes out to our kids. I hope they stick with it. We have got to stay with it. Good things will happen.”

This one turned bad when Baylor guard Lester Medford hit a driving layup with 38 seconds remaining to give the Bears a 77-72 advantage. Just like that, K-State’s upset bid was finished. It tried to mount a last-gasp answer, but was unable to do so. Fifty minutes of hard work resulted in the same outcome it has experienced too often this season.

It is difficult to pinpoint where this one went wrong. The matchup favored Baylor and its zone defense, which K-State has struggled mightily against all season. But the Wildcats didn’t seem fazed by that, at least in the early going.

K-State (11-7, 1-5 Big 12) came out loaded with energy and raced to a 10-point lead. Players made a deliberate effort to move the ball and pound the ball inside, taking advantage of open space within Baylor’s zone. The Wildcats had balanced scoring in the first half and appeared in control, especially when freshman point guard Kamau Stokes hit a three to put K-State ahead 34-24 with 2:16 remaining before halftime.

“We played as good a first half as we have all year,” Weber said. “We had 13 assists on 14 field goals, and our defense was really good.”

But Baylor (15-3, 5-1) scored the final four points of the half and stepped up its game from there, toughening up its defense significantly. The shots K-State made in the first half were harder to come by afterward. And Baylor shooters got hot.

Stokes responded well to a surprise move to the bench and led K-State with 20 points. Junior forward D.J. Johnson added 11, and Welsey Iwundu did a little bit of everything, finishing with 10 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists.

Baylor countered with 19 points from Taurean Prince and 15 points from Johnathan Motley. But it was Al Freeman who made the biggest plays for the Bears, scoring all 11 of his points in the two overtimes.

K-State briefly looked like it was about to seize control in the first overtime, ahead 64-63, but Freeman made a big three-pointer that helped regain the lead and pushed Baylor to the top of the Big 12 standings.

“Winning close games makes the difference between good years and average and bad years,” Baylor coach Scott Drew said. “You aren’t going to win them all, but you need to win your share. Lester, Prince and Rico (Gathers) did a great job down the stretch keeping everyone focused. Al didn’t play his best ball, but he came up big late.”

They did enough to give Baylor a lead near the end of regulation and in overtime, forcing K-State to make clutch plays to extend the game.

First, Stokes made a pair of free throws with 6 seconds remaining to force the first overtime. Then Iwundu grabbed a rebound and made a difficult shot in traffic to force the second.

The Wildcats stayed enthused as the game went on and never backed down, but the Bears were too strong and pulled away in the second overtime in front of a loud home crowd.

“We had our chances,” Weber said. “They just made the plays when it mattered.”

K-State players walked off the court dejected, thinking about another game that got away.

“It all comes down to finishing the game and executing,” Stokes said. “We have to take care of the ball at the end of games. These are games that we work so hard for that we expect to win them. Now we need to do what needs to be done to win them.”

This story was originally published January 20, 2016 at 10:09 PM with the headline "Baylor holds off Kansas State 79-72 in double overtime."