MANHATTAN, Kan.-After Georgia State took the lead with just under 10 minutes to play, No. 24/25 Kansas State finished the game on a 21-6 run to top Georgia State 71-59 on Saturday night at Bramlage Coliseum.
Georgia State (7-4) took a 53-50 lead on a jumper by freshman Nelson Phillips with 9:51 to play, but Kansas State (7-2) held the Panthers to just six points the rest of the game to extend its home court winning streak to 27-straight non-conference games.
Phillips, who was celebrating his 20th birthday, finished with 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting in just 14 minutes off the bench. Senior Jeff Thomas led the Panthers with 13 points, including three 3-pointers, while Sun Belt Conference leading scorer D'Marcus Simonds was held to 10 points.
The Wildcats, which advanced to the Elite 8 of the NCAA Tournament last season, finished with four players in double figures led by All-Big 12 Second Team member Barry Brown who scored 21 points, going 8-of-10 from the floor and 4-of-5 from 3-point range.
“I want to give Kansas State a lot of credit,” head coach Ron Hunter said. “I thought the crowd really helped them. We took a top 15 program and hung with them wire-to-wire. I'm really proud of our guys. We have played a number of road games this season and to end our last non-conference game like this, I really like the direction we are going.”
Georgia State played its fifth 2018 NCAA Tournament opponent in its first 11 games on Saturday, finishing 2-3 against those opponents with none of those games coming on the Panthers' home court.
Kansas State used an early 8-0 run to take an 8-2 run at the first media timeout, but the Panthers immediately responded an on a jumper by Devin Mitchell, the Panthers led 11-9 with 13:35 to play.
Brown scored the first eight points of the game for the Wildcats, but picked up two quick fouls and ended the first half playing just six minutes.
Tied 15-15, Kansas State used a 10-0 run that included back-to-back 3-pointers to take a 25-15 lead with 8:41 remaining in the first half.
However, on a steal and fast-break lay-up by Phillips, the Panthers trailed 31-27 with 3:07 to play, causing K-State to call a timeout.
Thomas' 3-pointer with just seconds to play in the half sent the Panthers into the locker room trailing just 35-32, despite Georgia State shooting just 4-of-16 from beyond the arc in the opening half. The Panthers finished the game shooting an uncharacteristic 8-of-31 from 3-point range.
Georgia State scored the first five points of the second half to take a 37-35 lead just over a minute into the half before the Wildcats responded with a 10-0 run to take a 48-39 lead with 15:28 to play.
The Panthers responded again and tied the game 48-48 on a 3-pointer from Mitchell before taking a 51-50 lead on a trey from Phillips.
With Georgia State leading 53-50, Kansas State started its final run by using a 12-0 stretch to lead 62-53 with just over five minutes to play.
Sophomore Kane Williams finished with eight points and five steals as Georgia State forced Kansas State into 19 turnovers which led to 25 points. Mitchell came off the bench to score eight.
Dean Wade just missed a double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds for Kansas State before leaving the game with an injury. Kamau Stokes added 15 points while Xavier Sneed scored 14.
Notes:
- Georgia State fell to 0-3 all-time against Kansas State.
- The Panthers fell to 1-10 all-time against current members of the Big 12.
- Georgia State is now 2-1 against Power 5 opponents this season.
- Georgia State has played three Power 5 opponents in the same season for the first time since 2013-14.
- Since the start of the 2013-14 season, the Panthers have won more games (117) than any other NCAA Division I team in the state of Georgia.
Georgia State will return home to face UNC Wilmington on Wednesday in the GSU Sports Arena at 7 p.m. Tickets are available by visiting GeorgiaStateSports.com/Tix or calling 404-413-4020.
