KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Standing along the baseline opposite the ball, Dominique Sutton raced to the other side of the rim and snatched an offensive rebound, setting up the decisive shot. A single play, one of hundreds on the night made all the difference for Kansas State and set up what should be one of the biggest nights in Kansas City sports history.
Sutton grabbed a key offensive rebound that led to Jacob Pullen’s 3-pointer with 2:02 left, giving No. 9 Kansas State an 82-75 victory over No. 21 Baylor on Friday night and setting up a monumental Big 12 title game matchup against rival Kansas.
“That’s a big-time play,” Kansas State coach Frank Martin said. “That’s a guy making a play who has an unbelievable desire to win.”
Pullen finished with 26 points, and Denis Clemente added 24 points and seven assists to give Kansas State (26-6) a school single-season record for wins.
Sutton provided the spark for listless Kansas State early on and made the big plays when it got tight, finishing with 14 points and 14 rebounds to send the second-seeded Wildcats into their first conference title game since 1993.
“He had the will tonight,” Pullen said. “He decided he wanted to get every rebound that came off the rim.”
If it weren’t for Sutton, Baylor (25-7) would likely be headed to a second straight Big 12 title game.
The Bears baffled Kansas State with their zone early, shot 54 percent overall and got big nights from LaceDarius Dunn (26 points) and Ekpe Udoh (18 points, 11 rebounds). Baylor’s biggest problem was keeping the Wildcats off the glass, giving up 17 offensive rebounds that led to 18 points, including eight by Sutton.
No. 1 Kansas 79, No. 23 Texas A&M 66
Outplayed all night, the Jayhawks (31-2) went with a zone and a variation of a zone and embarked on a stunning 21-2 run that broke a tight game wide open.
Xavier Henry scored 11 points in the run, while Texas A&M went eight minutes without a field goal.
“Maybe it just got them out of rhythm, and it was hard for them to get it back,” Kansas coach Bill Self said.
Texas A&M (23-9) led by as many as nine points early in the second half while the Jayhawks fouled and fumbled and committed turnover after turnover.
But when the Aggies went cold, the Jayhawks went hot, hitting seven straight shots at one point.
“I thought we were great for 32 minutes,” Texas A&M coach Mark Turgeon said.
