<table> </table> LINCOLN, Neb. | No. 24 Kansas State sure looked as if it had gotten past the NIT stage of its program. But the way the Wildcats are playing on the road, their game is better suited for that second-tier tournament.</p><p>You get home games in the NIT. You don&#8217;t in the NCAA Tournament.</p><p>And that could be a big problem for K-State, which fell for the third straight time on the road. Unranked Nebraska did it to the Wildcats this time, scoring the final six points and knocking off the Wildcats 71-64 on Wednesday night at the Devaney Center.</p><p>&#8220;I thought it was the most embarrassing defensive performance of any team I&#8217;ve coached in 23 years,&#8221; K-State coach Frank Martin said, &#8220;and that&#8217;s including 13-year-olds.</p><p>&#8220;I saw them (Nebraska) shooting uncontested layup after uncontested layup after uncontested layup, and whenever they chose to miss one, I saw them getting offensive rebounds. They punched us in the mouth, and we ran away.&#8221;</p><p>Remember those road wins at Oklahoma and Colorado? Seems like a distant memory following consecutive road setbacks at Missouri, Texas Tech and now Nebraska.</p><p>&#8220;No doubt we can do it,&#8221; Martin said about K-State&#8217;s road resume. &#8220;It&#8217;s our whole mental approach. It&#8217;s not a physical thing. I don&#8217;t know what it is mentally. We go on the road lately, and we don&#8217;t play with that next gear. We all kind of stand around and watch.&#8221;</p><p>That&#8217;s the same Martin who was ecstatic about the Wildcats&#8217; defense Saturday in the trouncing of Missouri. But after Nebraska shot 51.9 percent from the field and got a career-high 20 points from guard Steve Harley, who was averaging only 7.7, Martin didn&#8217;t hold back.</p><p>&#8220;We should give them pom-poms,&#8221; Martin said. &#8220;They would have been great cheerleaders today.&#8221;</p><p>Nebraska, 15-9 and 4-7, celebrated as its fans flocked to the floor.</p><p>&#8220;We are trying to build something, and this was just the first step,&#8221; Huskers coach Doc Sadler said. &#8220;This is probably the biggest win since I&#8217;ve been here.&#8221;</p><p>K-State, though, still had a crack at preventing it when Nebraska led 66-64. Wildcats freshman guard Jacob Pullen missed a layup as he surged straight through the middle of the paint with 32.1 seconds to go, and K-State fouled center Aleks Maric on the rebound. He sank both attempts to make it a four-point difference.</p><p>The loss was costly for K-State in its quest to capture its first regular-season conference crown since 1976-77. The Wildcats slipped to 18-7 overall and 8-3 in the Big 12. They trail co-leaders Texas and Kansas by one game with five remaining in the regular season.</p><p>The meltdown this time for K-State occurred in a variety of ways. Like with Pullen, who despite scoring 15 points didn&#8217;t do enough on the other end.</p><p>&#8220;I guess when you make shots, it makes it seem like you play well,&#8221; Martin said.</p><p>As for freshman standout Michael Beasley, well, he got his 22nd double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds, tying Carmelo Anthony for the NCAA freshman record. But it continued a pattern in which he didn&#8217;t exactly go off like he does at home. In the last three road games, Beasley has averaged 18.6 points.</p><p>Martin, though, wasn&#8217;t ready to fault Beasley as much as his players for not finding their meal ticket.</p><p>&#8220;We battled and battled, got it to one (with 4:51 left), then we go brain-dead and don&#8217;t let him touch the ball four straight times down the floor,&#8221; Martin said.</p><p>If that weren&#8217;t bad enough, K-State&#8217;s other main option on offense wasn&#8217;t even on the court.</p><p>Freshman Bill Walker scored on a follow, chopping Nebraska&#8217;s advantage to three with 9:38 left, but when the ball dropped through, Walker spiked it after bumping bodies with Maric and got whistled for a technical foul.</p><p>Walker, who scored 12, never returned. Why?</p><p>&#8220;I just thought we were playing well,&#8221; Martin said. &#8220;I don&#8217;t see why we should make a substitution when we&#8217;re playing well.&#8221;</p><p>And look what&#8217;s next: A road game Saturday at Baylor. Then a home game against Texas and another road game at Kansas.</p><p>&#8220;We should be winning these games,&#8221; K-State senior guard Blake Young said. &#8220;We&#8217;re better than that.&#8221;