MANHATTAN, Kan. – Perry Jones scored 17 points and fourth-ranked Baylor held No. 18 Kansas State to one basket over the final 5 minutes for a 75-73 win on Tuesday night.
Quincy Acy and Brady Heslip added 13 points apiece for the Bears (16-0, 3-0 Big 12). Jones and Acy combined to go 14 of 18 from the floor. Pierre Jackson chipped in with 10 points for Baylor, which surged ahead with a 20-4 run over a 5 1/2-minute stretch midway through the second half.
Rodney McGruder scored 30 points on 10-of-14 shooting to lead Kansas State (12-3, 1-2). Jordan Henriquez added 10 points for the Wildcats.
Kansas State got off to a good start in trying to hand an undefeated team its first loss for the second time in four days.
The Wildcats, who beat No. 9 Missouri 75-59 on Saturday, went on an early 13-2 run to turn a 5-2 deficit into a 15-7 lead. Through the game's first 9 minutes, Baylor had eight turnovers and the Wildcats none.
But Jones hit two baskets at the rim to kick off a 9-0 Bears run that cut the deficit to 21-20. Quincy Miller and Jackson each had a dunk as part of another 9-0 run to put Baylor up 29-25 with 2:02 remaining in the half.
K-State finished the half by scoring eight of the final 10 points, including a runner by McGruder as the clock expired for a 33-31 halftime lead.
The Wildcats came out hot at the start of the second half and needed just over 3 minutes to push their lead to 44-37.
Baylor answered with a 20-4 run over the next 5 1/2 minutes. At one point, the Bears scored eight points in 84 seconds, forcing two K-State timeouts. A.J. Walton keyed the run with six straight points, and Jackson sank a 3-pointer for a 58-50 Baylor lead with 10:36 remaining.
But McGruder kept K-State in it with nine points during an 11-4 run, including a driving layup that pulled the Wildcats to 62-60 with 7:36 remaining.
Henriquez hit two free throws to give K-State a 71-69 lead with 4:13 to play, but Acy scored five straight points to put Baylor up 74-71 with 2:22 remaining.
McGruder converted a baseline drive 17 seconds later, cutting Baylor's lead to 74-73.
Heslip missed from 3-point range with 25 seconds remaining, but Jones got the offensive rebound and was fouled. He made one free throw with 20.9 seconds to go.
K-State appeared ready to tie it when Angel Rodriguez was open in the lane in the final 5 seconds, but he had the ball stripped with 3 seconds on the clock. The Wildcats' ensuing inbound pass was tipped away as time expired.
Baylor had just 10 turnovers in the final 31 minutes and shot 53.7 percent for the game.
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