Baylor junior guard Manu Lecomte scored 18 of his game-high 26 points in the second half, as the top-ranked Bears rallied past No. 25 Kansas State, 77-68, on Saturday afternoon in front of a sold-out crowd of 12,528 fans at Bramlage Coliseum.
K-State (13-4, 2-3 Big 12) fought hard against Baylor (16-1, 4-1 Big 12), leading 44-43 with just over 10 minutes to play. However, the Wildcats lost the lead just moments later, as the Bears scored 6 straight points out of a timeout to recapture the lead and the momentum en route to their fourth straight win in the series.
K-State pulled within 71-66 with 31 seconds to go on a layup senior D.J. Johnson, but Baylor made six free throws in the final 27 seconds to prevent any further comeback.
The Wildcats connected on 43.1 percent (22-of-51) from the field, including 34.8 percent (8-of-23) from behind the arc. The team shot 52.4 percent (11-of-21) after halftime and 86.7 percent (13-of-15) from the charity stripe.
Baylor finished at 48.2 percent (27-of-56) from the field, including 55.6 percent (15-of-27) after halftime.
Johnson paced four Wildcats in double figures with 20 points on 9-of-13 field goals, including 6-of-6 in the second half, while sophomore guard Barry Brown and freshman Xavier Sneed finished with 13 and 12 points, respectively. Sophomore guard Kamau Stokes added 10 points, 8 of which came in the first half.
Lecomte was one of three Bears in double figures, scoring a game-high 26 points, 18 of which came in the second half, while senior forward Ishmail Wainright and junior guard Al Freeman each added 15 points.