Kansas State holds off Mississippi 69-64 in Big 12/SEC Challenge

Two years ago, when ESPN pitched the idea of the Big 12/SEC Challenge in the middle of conference play to Big 12 coaches, they did a heck of a sales job.

“Sounded pretty good back then, with them telling us about exposure and getting our profile up and all that,” Kansas State coach Bruce Weber said. “After last season, though, when we all beat up on each other in league play, we all weren’t so sure what we’d gotten ourselves into.”

K-State appeared more than up to the challenge on Saturday afternoon with a 69-64 win over Mississippi in front of 12,258 fans at Bramlage Coliseum.

The victory put an exclamation mark on the Wildcats’ non-conference schedule and gave K-State, 13-8, some much-needed momentum headed into the rest of Big 12 play.

“The last few weeks we’ve talked about things we need to accomplish,” Weber said. “Obviously, this was one of the things we need to accomplish. I thought we started out very well … they came out in a man, switched to zone and we didn’t do very good against that, but we adjusted.”

K-State held Ole Miss leading scorer Stefan Moody to 10 points — 14 below his SEC-leading 24.3 average and all in the first half. K-State point guard Kamau Stokes, who left and didn’t return after a first-half knee injury, started off guarding Moody, then gave way to Wesley Iwundu.

Ole Miss coach Andy Kennedy sat Moody for the last 10 minutes of the game.

“I didn’t feel we got the fight we needed from our core group,” Kennedy said. “I didn’t think (Moody) had much pop and that’s why I sat him at the end.

“On those key possessions that turn the game, we didn’t show very much maturity. We let one mistake turn into a bunch of mistakes.”

The Wildcats used a 19-2 run in the second half to blow open the game, going up 63-45 with 7:46 left, then held on for the victory after their shooting went cold late, hitting 1 of 10 field goals to end the game.

Junior forward D.J. Johnson led K-State with 14 points and seven rebounds, including a pair of authoritative, two-handed slams.

Iwundu added 11 points, while Justin Edwards and Stephen Hurt added 10 points each.

“My teammates work so hard,” said Johnson, who missed all of last season with a broken foot. “Just to do anything to help them win is important to me.”

Anthony Perez led Ole Miss, 13-8, with 13 points.

K-State led 16-8 lead with 13:28 left in the first half – a lead the Wildcats saw almost completely evaporate over one possession as Ole Miss hit back-to-back three-pointers to make the score 16-14.

It was part of an early onslaught from the outside for the Rebels, who hit six three-pointers to open the game and didn’t hit a field goal from inside the arc until Rasheed Brooks connected on a short basket with 7:13 left for a 22-19 Ole Miss lead.

K-State rallied late in the first half, tying the score 33-33 on a basket by Carlbe Ervin, then taking a 38-36 lead at halftime thanks to back-to-back baskets in the final minute by Hurt and Iwundu.

K-State returns to Big 12 play on Wednesday at No. 4 Kansas.

“This was a step in the right direction, going into second half of conference we feel like we needed this game as a step, as far as moving forward,” Iwundu said. “I think we can be succesful as long as we keep taking steps moving in the right direction.”

KANSAS STATE 69

MISSISSIPPI 64

TableStyle: SP-bkwideplayersCCI Template: SP-bkwideplayers

Percentages: FG .393, FT .706. Three-Point Goals: 8-20, .400 (Perez 3-4, Moody 3-6, Coddington 1-1, Gielo 1-4, Brooks 0-5). Blocked Shots: 0. Turnovers: 17 (Fitzpatrick-Dorsey 5, Moody 3, Perez 3, Hymon 2, Gielo, Finley, Brooks, Newby). Steals: 8 (Hymon 2, Perez, Moody, Davis, Brooks, Gielo, Finley). Technical Fouls: Perez.

TableStyle: SP-bkwideplayersCCI Template: SP-bkwideplayers

Percentages: FG .460, FT .667. Three-Point Goals: 3-19, .158 (Ervin II 1-5, Edwards 1-5, Brown 1-6, Stokes 0-1, Hurt 0-1, Iwundu 0-1). Blocked Shots: 4 (Hurt, Iwundu, Johnson, Edwards). Turnovers: 18 (Iwundu 5, Johnson 4, Edwards 4, Wade 2, Stokes, Freeman, Ervin II). Steals: 8 (Edwards 3, Johnson 2, Hurt 2, Budke). Technical Fouls: None.

Half: Kansas State 38-36. Attendance: 12,528. Officials: Gary Maxwell, Darron George, Marques Pettigrew.

AP-WF-01-30-16 2126GMT

This story was originally published January 30, 2016 at 2:18 PM with the headline "Kansas State holds off Mississippi 69-64 in Big 12/SEC Challenge."