MANHATTAN, Kan. — Jamar Samuels scored 15 of his 20 points in a dominating first half and No. 10 Kansas State withstood a gut-check rally to knock off top-ranked Texas 71-62 on Monday night.
Kansas State (16-2, 3-1 Big 12) smothered Texas with its extended man-to-man defense to overcome a 1-for-12 effort from 3-point range and held on to beat a No. 1 team for the third time in school history.
Curtis Kelly scored 17 points and freshman Rodney McGruder chipped in 11 key points for the Wildcats, who used a late 11-1 run to take control in their record 14th consecutive victory at Bramlage Coliseum.
Texas (17-1, 3-1) trailed by 14 points in the first half, made a run early in the second but couldn’t keep it going in its second week ever at No. 1. The loss leaves No. 2 Kentucky (18-0) as the lone unbeaten team in Division I.
Avery Bradley had 11 points for the Longhorns, who shot 36 percent from the field following a season-low 35 percent against Texas A&M.
Texas had passed every test on the way to its first No. 1 ranking. The Longhorns beat North Carolina at Cowboys Stadium, Michigan State in Austin, and pulled out a tougher-than-expected road win against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. It was a tough first week as the nation’s top-ranked team against Iowa State and Texas A&M, but Texas still won both.
Monday’s game represented the Longhorns’ toughest task so far, and they didn’t seem ready for it.
Uncharacteristically frazzled, Texas struggled against Kansas State’s pressure and its own indecisiveness, shooting 10-of-33 from the field with 11 turnovers to trail by 10 points at the half.
