by David Cassilo / @dcassilo
The number of unbeatens fell from four to three on Saturday as No. 23 Kansas State handed No. 7 Missouri its first loss of the season, 75-59. Only No. 1 Syracuse, No. 4 Baylor and No. 19 Murray State have yet to lose.
The Tigers were never in the game against the Wildcats and their raucous home crowd. By halftime, Missouri trailed 44-25 and wasn’t able to get that deficit to single digits. Missouri entered the game second in the nation, averaging 86.2 ppg, but the 59 points were a season low and the Tigers shot just 32.7 percent from the field, a far cry from their nation’s best 52.2 percent.
Aside from the Wildcats’ stellar defensive effort, it was the play of junior guard Rodney McGruder, who led all scorers with 20 points, that paced the team.
The win was extra sweet for Kansas State, who’s former star guard Jacob Pullen called out Missouri before the game.
From Kansas.com:
And just a little while earlier, former K-State guard Jacob Pullen had chimed in on Twitter about Missouri, posting this: “I don’t like that team, (they) always thought they were better than they were… especially (Mike) Dixon and (Denmon) #trash.”
Kansas State won’t have to wait long to get another chance at an undefeated team. The Wildcats host Baylor on Tuesday.
