Box Score Kansas State rallied from 10 points down early in the second half to defeat West Virginia 78-73 Monday night at Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan, Kansas.
 
West Virginia led the Wildcats 54-44 with 16:12 to go on an Isaiah Cottrell 3, but it took the Mountaineers more than 10 minutes of game time to make their next one when Kedrian Johnson scored a layup with 6:22 remaining.
 
At that point, West Virginia was trailing by seven and was in chase mode. Still, the Mountaineers managed to close their deficit to one when Taz Sherman got a 3 to go down with 2:28 left.
 
But at the other end, Dimon Carrigan fouled Ismael Massoud while attempting a 3, he made all three, and the game's final 2:22 consisted of WVU committing three turnovers and the basketball never making it to the rim.
 
Kansas State's offensive strategy in the second half was to simply drive the ball to the basket and either score or get fouled, and it mostly ended up being the latter. The Wildcats made 19 of its 26 free throw attempts after intermission and ended the game 31 of 39 from the line. West Virginia was equally effective at the stripe, hitting a higher percentage than K-State at 83.3%, but it attempted 15 fewer free throws than the Wildcats.
 
"We didn't get the breaks that we needed to get," West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said afterward.
 
A turning point in the game came with 14:05 left and West Virginia leading 54-50 when Malik Curry was called for a flagrant 1 foul on Mark Smith's drive to the basket. The Missouri transfer got both free throws to go down and after Kansas State was awarded the ball, Nijel Pack's layup tied the game on the ensuing possession.
 
K-State's biggest run was 18-2, giving it a nine-point advantage, 67-58.
 
West Virginia's recent second half offensive woes going back to the Kansas loss on Jan. 15 continued tonight. West Virginia was 9-of-25 from the floor with eight turnovers after intermission.
 
"This is another time when we came out after halftime flat, and that's when they took the lead," Huggins pointed out. 
 
Sherman led the way with a game-high 23 points - 15 of those coming in the first half. The senior was 7 of 15 from the floor and 8 of 10 from the free throw line.
 
Senior Kedrian Johnson scored 15 points before fouling out with 1:02 remaining, while freshman forward Isaiah Cottrell contributed a career-high 13 points, including a couple of 3s.
 
Kansas State, which shot just 37.3% from the floor, got 21 points from Markquis Nowell, 17 from Smith and 13 from Pack. Those three were a combined 17 of 19 from the free throw line.
 
Sophomore forward Jalen Bridges grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds to help WVU to a 37-34 advantage on the glass, which included 12 offensive rebounds, but those 12 offensive boards only translated into 14 second-chance points.
 
Scoring close to the goal has been a season-long issue for WVU, which drops to 14-11, 3-9 after tonight's loss.
 
"I thought they played their butts off," Huggins said. "I've got no issues with them (effort wise). We're playing some young guys that are going to be really good players and they've just got to continue to grow and we're going to try and help them to continue to grow."

Senior forward Gabe Osabuohien, who was ejected in the waning moments of last Saturday's Oklahoma State loss, did not play in tonight's game.
 
Kansas State has now won four of its last five games and improves to 14-11, 6-7. The Wildcats, despite being just three games over .500, have moved into the "Next Four Out" in Joe Lundardi's latest Bracketology.
 
West Virginia returns to the Coliseum on Saturday to face sixth-ranked Kansas at 8 p.m. The game has already been announced a sellout.