Brown scores 34, Kansas State tops Baylor 90-83

WACO, Texas -- Last week it was Kansas State's Dean Wade pulling down Big 12 and national accolades.

If Barry Brown has another game like he did against Baylor on Monday night, he might grab some of his own.

Brown scored 34 points, Wade added 24 and Kansas State beat Baylor 90-83 for its third straight victory.

"He was great tonight. Whenever he needed a big play he was there," Wade said of Brown. "Even on defense, he made some great plays. When they had their little runs, he was the one that shut the runs off defensively and then came out on offense and started our runs. He was the best player on the court tonight. He played amazing."

Kansas State (15-5, 5-3 Big 12) tied its highest point total of the season.

The Wildcats made five of their first six 3-point attempts in running out to a 29-13 lead with eight minutes to go in the first half. The Bears got within five points twice late in the first half, but a 16-3 run midway through the second half gave the Wildcats enough of a cushion at 71-52.

"I thought the beginning was really impressive for us on both ends of the court," Kansas State coach Bruce Weber said. "I thought we were really good defensively and disrupted them, took away their stuff. We only had a one-day prep, but we really talked about having to take away their quick-hitters and their sets, and we got some transition, great passing, great ball movement, made shots."

Baylor (12-8, 2-6) had six players score in double figures, led by Manu Lecomte with 18. Jo Lual-Acuil added 15, and Tristan Clark had 14 points and eight rebounds for the Bears.

"I think we were all embarrassed we didn't have more fight to us tonight, the way we started the first and second half," Baylor coach Scott Drew said. "I don't know if we were tired, the turnaround, whatever. The bottom line is it was unacceptable. You don't get opportunities to go back and redo things. We just need to make sure that doesn't happen again."

Kansas State's win comes on the heels of a week in which it earned a pair of home victories against ranked teams against then-No. 4 Oklahoma and No. 24 TCU. The Wildcats' win moves them into a tie for second in the Big 12 with No. 7 West Virginia, which lost to TCU on Monday. They are both a game and a half behind No. 5 Kansas.

"It's not just my goal (to win the Big 12), it's everybody on the team's goal, the coaching staff and all of Kansas State nation," Brown said. "We're playing for everyone right now, and I think all the hard work we're putting in is paying off with these games. We've just got to keep the streak rolling."

BIG PICTURE

Kansas State: The Wildcats average a Big 12-low 11.3 turnovers per game, and they improved upon that mark with 10 miscues. But more importantly, none of those came in live-ball situations until there were 12 seconds remaining. That helped the Wildcats hold Baylor without a fast-break point and made up for a 36-20 deficit on the boards.

Baylor: For the second straight game, the Bears trailed by double digits less than six minutes in and spent the rest of the night trying to get back in it. Unlike in Baylor's road tilt against then-No. 10 Kansas on Saturday, the Bears never got back in this one.

UP NEXT

Kansas State returns home for its Big 12-SEC Challenge game against Georgia on Saturday.

Baylor travels to meet Florida in the Big 12-SEC Challenge on Saturday.