MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Markquis Nowell scored 14 of his 21 points in the second half, Mark Smith notched his seventh double-double and Kansas State rallied to beat West Virginia 78-73 on Monday night.
Nowell sank 7 of 11 shots from the floor, including 4 of 6 from 3-point range, and had three steals to help the Wildcats (14-11, 6-7 Big 12 Conference) win for the fourth time in five games and end a four-game skid against West Virginia (14-11, 3-9).
Taz Sherman, who entered the game second in the Big 12 with an 18.4 scoring average, had 15 first-half points to guide West Virginia to a 42-35 lead at intermission.
Isaiah Cottrell buried a 3-pointer to begin the second half to stretch the Mountaineers lead to 10. Kansas State battled back and moved ahead 55-54 on a layup by Nijel Pack and a go-ahead free throw by Selton Miguel with 11:26 remaining.
Sherman made two free throws 13 seconds later to put West Virginia up one, but Nowell answered with a layup and then nailed a 3-pointer following a Mountaineers turnover to give K-State a 60-56 lead with 9:46 left. They never trailed again.
Sherman’s jumper with 2:28 left pulled West Virginia within a point, but Ismael Massoud made three free throws after being fouled on a 3-point try and Nowell sank 1 of 2 with 1:02 to go to cap the scoring.
Sherman finished with 23 points to pace West Virginia. Kedrian Johnson scored 15 before fouling out. Cottrell added 13 points.
West Virginia beat Kansas State 71-68 in Morgantown in early January. The Mountaineers have won just 2 of 11 games since.
K-State hits the road to play Oklahoma State on Saturday. West Virginia heads back home to play No. 6 Kansas on Saturday.