IT’S OVER: Kansas State men’s basketball ends 13-game losing streak, picks up 1st win in 2021

Time to read
1 minute
Read so far

IT’S OVER: Kansas State men’s basketball ends 13-game losing streak, picks up 1st win in 2021

Tue, 02/23/2021 - 13:11
Posted in:
Body

Feb. 21—Down 51-46 with 5:01 to play on the road Saturday, following a 5-0 run from TCU, it appeared Kansas State was heading for yet another loss. A historic one. Its 14th straight, tying the school’s all-time record.

The Wildcats left that mark in the history books, though.

K-State responded to TCU’s 5-0 run by doubling up the hosts — going on a 10-0 spurt of its own — to pull itself off off the mat and take a 56-51 lead with 2:34 remaining.

A little more than two minutes (of game time) later: K-State 62, TCU 54. Game over.

The Wildcats (6-18, 2-13 Big 12), at long last, had their first win of 2021.

“I’m just thrilled for our guys,” K-State head coach Bruce Weber said. “Obviously, it’s been a long stretch. I begged and pleaded for them not to quit. I know we’ve made improvement. It hasn’t shown in wins and losses, but we’ve become a competitive team, where probably at times earlier (in the season), we weren’t. Some of that (is because) we’ve had some continuity (having) the same guys in there. It definitely has helped us.”

The Wildcats’ last victory prior to Saturday was Dec. 29 over Omaha. After that, they lost 13 consecutive outings. Had the Horned Frogs (11-9, 4-7) held serve at home Saturday, K-State would have tied the longest losing streak in school history — a skid nearly 100 years old, when it lost the final five games of the 1921-22 season and the first nine of the 1922-23 campaign.

Now, all of that is in the past.

K-State returns to action Tuesday, hosting Oklahoma at 8 p.m. The game will air on ESPNU.