|
Always double- and sometimes triple-teamed when he touched the ball inside, the 6-foot-10 Beasley was held to only eight points in the first half but scored six in a row in the first few minutes after intermission and No. 2 Kansas never caught up.
Beasley, the nation's leading rebounder and No. 4 scorer, was 4-for-4 from behind the 3-point arc as the Wildcats (15-4, 5-0 Big 12) took over first place in a Big 12 conference they've never even competed in, let alone won.
Kansas (20-1, 5-1), two victories short of matching the best start in its storied basketball history, lost on its state rival's home court for the first time since 1983. The 24-game streak in an opponent's home gym came within one of tying the NCAA Division I record which UCLA set against California from 1961-85.
The capacity crowd of 12,528 in Bramlage Coliseum, where Kansas had been 19-0, sensed the victory with more than 5 minutes to go and security guards, worried about a near-riot, moved near the court.
It didn't keep the floor from being flooded by delirious Wildcats fans, who jumped over the press table and sent reporters, computers and notebooks flying.
Jacob Pullen had 20 points for Kansas State, giving the freshman trio of Beasley-Walker-Pullen a combined 67.
Mario Chalmers had 19 for Kansas. Brandon Rush had 15 and Darrell Arthur 12.
The Jayhawks had beaten Kansas State 35 of their last 36 overall. With Kansas going down, No. 1 Memphis is the only unbeaten team left in Division I.
Arthur, the leading scorer in Kansas' well-balanced offense, drew his fourth foul with 13:33 left and went to the bench, weakening the Jayhawks offensively and defensively. After Sherron Collins hit a 3-pointer 30 seconds later to slice Kansas State's lead to 47-45, the Jayhawks went almost seven minutes without a field goal, missing six straight shots.
[to top of second column]
 |
Beasley, in the meantime, had become his nearly unstoppable self and Pullen was darting in and out and having his best game of the season.
Walker hit a 3-pointer for a 52-45 lead, his first points since drawing his third foul and going to the bench in the first half after throwing a vicious elbow to the face of Chalmers.
Then Pullen hit a 3-pointer, Beasley rebounded Chalmers' miss and put in a thunderous dunk on the other end off a nifty feed from Pullen that made it 57-45.
Chalmers and Russell Robinson, who had combined to average almost six steals this season and rank 1-2 in the Big 12, figured prominently in a game plan that was supposed to have the Jayhawks' quicker, deeper back court dominate the Wildcat guards and create turnovers.
But Kansas State's guards were more than up to the challenge. Pullen had four assists to go with 10-for-10 from the foul line. Clent Stewart, a senior guard, had 11 points and five rebounds. Together they outscored Chalmers and Robinson 31-25.
Kansas, which averaged only 12 turnovers while winning its first 20 games, had 10 in the first half of the rough-and-tumble 263rd meeting of the Sunflower State rivals and wound up with 16.
Sherron Collins had 12 points for the Jayhawks, who came into the game leading the nation with a scoring margin of 24.9 points.
[Associated Press; By DOUG TUCKER]
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or
redistributed.
|
