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Kansas State survives late hiccup, beats Texas

Jan 19, 2012 - 7:14 AM Manhattan, KS (Sports Network) - Enduring five missed free throws in the final 35 seconds Wednesday night, No. 25 Kansas State came up with a key steal down the stretch to beat Texas and snap its two-game losing streak.

Rodney McGruder scored the last of his game-high 33 points on a fastbreak dunk following the steal to punctuate the Wildcats' 84-80 win over the Longhorns.

Jamar Samuels added 14 points for Kansas State (13-4, 2-3 Big 12) while Will Spradling and Thomas Gipson scored 11 apiece.

J'Covan Brown had 22 points to lead Texas (12-6, 2-3) and Sheldon McClellan scored 19, but the Longhorns lost their second straight despite being gifted chances at the end of the game.

"Our guys fought, we battled," Texas head coach Rick Barnes said.

McGruder, Spradling and Angel Rodriguez were a combined 1-for-6 from the foul line in the last 34.9 seconds, with McGruder and Rodriguez both missing a pair.

Texas trailed by as many as 15 points in the first half and was down seven on a Martavious Irving foul shot that made it 80-73 Kansas State with 74 seconds left.

But the Longhorns got a spark from Brown's long three-pointer at the other end and cut their deficit all the way to one as Kansas State missed free throws.

Texas even escaped its own clumsiness after knocking the rebound out of bounds on Hernandez's second miss. McGruder then missed a pair with 30.8 seconds left and Texas pulled within 81-80 on McClellan's dunk with 20.3 ticks showing.

Spradling clanked his first free throw off the rim -- Kansas State's fourth miss in a row -- but made the second, setting up the final breathless seconds.

Crossing half court, Texas guard Myck Kabongo tried to hand the ball off to Brown on the right side but it was lost in the exchange, stolen by Irving to set up McGruder's dunk for the 84-80 lead.

"I was taking out my frustration because I had just missed two free throws," McGruder said of his funk.

Game Notes

Kansas State had a 43-42 lead at halftime. The Wildcats shot 47.5 percent and pushed their lead in the all-time series to 13-9...Texas shot 45.8 percent and will host No. 7 Kansas on Saturday...Kansas State will play at Oklahoma State on Saturday.