No. 13 Kansas State routes Texas Tech
LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) -- Rodney McGruder had 18 points and nine rebounds to lead No. 13 Kansas State over Texas Tech 68-59 on Tuesday night, extending the Wildcats' winning streak to three games.
Angel Rodriguez added 13 points and Thomas Gibson had 12 for the Wildcats (18-4, 7-2 Big 12).
McGruder was 6 of 11 from the field, while Rodriguez was 3 of 6 from 3-point range and was flawless in four free throws attempts.
Jordan Tolbert scored 19 points and Dejan Kravic added 12 for Texas Tech (9-11, 2-7), which finished with four turnovers, its fewest of the season.
Kansas State finished with 38 rebounds, 23 defensive, while Texas Tech had a total of 20.
For Texas Tech it was its seventh loss in the past eight games after opening Big 12 play with a win at TCU.
Down by eight points to start the second half, Tech used a 5-0 run on a 3-pointer by Ty Nurse and a dunk by Jaye Crockett to pull within 37-34. Its defense got aggressive, forcing three turnovers in the first few minutes.
Wildcats coach Bruce Weber clearly saw the surge from the Red Raiders and hollered to his team, "You better wake up. They're playing."
His words seemed to sink in and the Wildcats used a 6-0 run, including a 3-pointer and a field goal by Martavious Irving, who finished with 10 points, to go up 48-38 with 12:25 remaining.
Josh Gray hit a jumper for the Red Raiders only to be answered by a 3 from Shane Southwell and a basket by McGruder to put Kansas State up 53-40 about a minute later.
But the Red Raiders didn't relent. Kravic hit a field goal and two free throws and Gray got another field goal before Tolbert hit a jumper and layup to pull them within 58-50 with 7:02 remaining.
A tip-in by Kravic off a miss by Gray cut the deficit to 58-52 before McGruder hit a layup and a free throw to put the Wildcats up 61-52 with less than 6 minutes to play.
A charging foul against Gray on the ensuing possession led to two free throws by Rodriguez to bump the lead to 63-52 with less than 4 1-2 minutes left. The Red Raiders couldn't cut into the deficit anymore.
Texas Tech pulled within three points with about 2:30 remaining in the first half before Will Spradling hit three straight field goals for Kansas State, which led 37-29 at halftime.