STILLWATER, Okla. Kansas State was without one of its main contributors from the opening tip, had another key player foul out with more than 10 minutes left and made just 36.4 percent of its shots Saturday.</p><p>Not exactly the ideal recipe for ending an 11-game losing streak at Oklahoma State that dated back to 1993, but the Wildcats found a way to beat the Cowboys 66-58 in front of 10,338 fans at Gallagher-Iba Arena.</p><p>&#x201C;We knew it wasn&#x2019;t going to be an easy game here,&#x201D; said Angel Rodriguez, who scored 14 points, including four important free throws late that helped clinch the victory. &#x201C;We took the challenge, stepped up and played good defense. It gave us a win.&#x201D;</p><p>A win that &#x2014; while ugly by most measures &#x2014; the Wildcats badly needed.</p><p>With the victory, No. 25 K-State, 14-4 overall, recovered from a slow start in Big 12 play and evened its conference record at 3-3 before turning its focus to another road game at Texas Tech on Wednesday. The Wildcats also exorcised a few haunting memories in the process.</p><p>&#x201C;It&#x2019;s good to get a road win in the Big 12, and to be in Stillwater makes it a lot better,&#x201D; said Jamar Samuels, who had a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds. &#x201C;Just knowing that we had come in here and lost every time since I&#x2019;ve been here, it&#x2019;s very exciting.&#x201D;</p><p>K-State had to work hard to make it happen. </p><p>Despite controlling the game in the first half with junior forward Jordan Henriquez serving a suspension, and building a 57-44 lead with 4 minutes, 27 seconds to go in the second half, the Wildcats had to fight until the end. </p><p>With some in the crowd beginning to file out of the arena, Oklahoma State, 9-10 overall and 2-4 in the Big 12, went on a 12-2 run and pulled within three points on a three-pointer by senior guard Keiton Page with 2 minutes left. </p><p>The home crowd came alive, and it was clear the Cowboys weren&#x2019;t going to let their streak against the Wildcats go without a fight. K-State coach Frank Martin had seen this before. He&#x2019;s only coached three games at Gallagher-Iba Arena, but his teams lost leads in the first two.</p><p>With Thomas Gipson fouling out several minutes earlier on a technical, and Oklahoma State possessing all the momentum, Martin had reason to worry. He called a timeout and feared the worst.</p><p>&#x201C;I just sat there and said, &#x2018;I can&#x2019;t believe this is happening again,&#x2019; &#x201D; Martin said.</p><p>K-State has been less than spectacular trying to close out games lately &#x2014; it blew a late lead against Baylor with a string of poor plays and missed five free throws in the final minute in a narrow win over Texas &#x2014; but responded this time with poise and steady defense.</p><p>With the game on the line, Rodriguez made four of six free throws, putting K-State ahead 63-56. Clearly, he has come a long way since making several mistakes against Baylor two weeks ago. </p><p>Then Rodney McGruder made three more free throws and finished with 14 points. During that time, the Cowboys never got a good look at the basket.</p><p>&#x201C;The whole K-State theory of defense is to take you away from what you do,&#x201D; Oklahoma State guard Brian Williams said, &#x201C;and we did not adjust to that.&#x201D;</p><p>A few more three-pointers from Page would have closed the gap, but the Wildcats made life miserable for Oklahoma State&#x2019;s shooters from start to finish. The Cowboys they made one of 16 shots from beyond the arc, with Page missing eight of nine.</p><p>&#x201C;That&#x2019;s a huge thing that we really tried to improve from years past &#x2014; defending that three-point line,&#x201D; Martin said. </p><p>Combined with a big advantage on the glass &#x2014; K-State outrebounded Oklahoma State 50-29, with six players grabbing five or more boards &#x2014; the Wildcats could afford to miss a few more shots and free throws than normal and still escape with a victory. </p><p>Even at Gallagher-Iba Arena.