No. 12 Houston used a well-balanced scoring attack, led by Emanuel Sharp’s 15 points, and defeated Kansas State 87-57 Saturday evening in Manhattan, Kan. The Cougars had five players in double figures and two others with eight points.
Houston (12-3, 4-0 Big 12) is tied with Iowa State atop the Big 12 standings and has won eight straight. Kansas State (7-8, 1-3 Big 12) has lost six of its last seven games.
Houston had held seven straight opponents to 55 or fewer points, a Big 12 record, but Kansas State eclipsed that total.
Besides Sharp, the Cougars got 13 points from Joseph Tugler, 11 each from LJ Cryer and Ja’Vier Francis and 10 from J’Wan Roberts.
Kansas State has not scored more than 71 points in its last seven games, a stretch in which the Wildcats have gone 1-6. The Wildcats were led by Brendan Hausen with 15 points. Max Jones added 13 points. The Wildcats shot 40 percent (10-of-25) from 3-point range.
Houston held huge advantages in several key statistics, including forced turnovers (15-5), rebounds (44-20, including 16-2 on the offensive end), points in the paint (52-18) and second-chance points (20-1).
Kansas State never really threatened in the second half. The Wildcats got within 16 points multiple times, but never got closer than 14.
K-State jumped out quickly in the first half, but the momentum didn’t last. Houston used a 16-2 run early in the first half to turn a 4-point deficit into a 21-11 lead. The lead steadily grew to as many as 24 points in the half at 46-22, and Houston went to the locker room ahead 46-24.
Both teams shot the 3-point ball fairly well. The Cougars were 4-of-7 (57.1 percent) and the Wildcats were 6-of-16 (37.5 percent).
–Field Level Media
