MANHATTAN — Guard Tyshawn Taylor of No. 4 Kansas is making a strong push to challenge teammate Thomas Robinson for Big 12 Conference Player of the Year honors.
Seven-footer Jeff Withey, meanwhile, continues to cement his status as the conference’s most improved player.
With Robinson having an off-night, the Jayhawks, following the lead of Taylor and Withey, withstood every run the gritty Kansas State Wildcats made at electric Bramlage Coliseum on Big Monday and chalked up a 59-53 victory over their intrastate rival before a ESPN national television audience.
Taylor had 20 points and five turnovers, and Withey narrowly missed a triple-double with 18 points, 11 rebounds and nine blocked shots in a game where Robinson had 10 points and nine rebounds for the first-place Jayhawks (21-5, 11-2). KU won in Manhattan for the 22nd time in the last 24 meetings.
“Tyshawn has been unbelievable in conference play,” Kansas head coach Bill Self said. “Unbelievable, arguably as good a player as there is in the league. But for somebody (Withey) that has kind of come out of left field, I don’t know if I can remember anybody to be as dominant, to go from scoreless to now … how do you win without him?
“He’s such a bonus for us because Thomas trusts him. Those two should get better playing with each other as (Withey) continues to produce and take pressure off of (Robinson).”
Withey’s shot-blocking total was one shy of the KU record of 10 set by Cole Aldrich against Dayton during the 2009 NCAA Tournament.
Taylor fueled a decisive 11-0 second-half run with eight points, including back-to-back 3-pointers and a driving layup, where he angled a shot off the glass to give KU a 47-37 edge with 6:30 remaining.
“It’s a hostile environment,” Taylor said. “I love playing in environments like this.
“I think this is good for us. We’re going to have to keep fighting these battles to win the league.”
Taylor, after coming up big time and again, appeared ripe for goat horns after missing front ends of two one-and-one foul shooting chances in the final 1:30.
After all, it was Taylor who missed a crucial free throw in the final seconds of a road loss to Missouri earlier this month in Columbia, Mo.
Taylor passed the horns to Kansas State freshman guard Angel Rodriguez, who was held scoreless in missing all eight of his shots from the floor. Rodriguez had five assists, but committed seven of Kansas State’s 11 turnovers.
Down 53-44, The Wildcats (17-8, 6-7) closed to 55-51 after Kansas State guard Will Spradling hit a floater along the baseline, Jamar Samuels dropped in a 3-pointer and then Rodney McGruder hit a jump shot off a spin move into the lane with 1:14 remaining.
After Taylor missed a free throw with 1:02 left, both teams missed opportunities before the 5-11 Rodriguez attacked the basket and had his shot blocked by Withey with 33 seconds remaining.
After he was again fouled, Taylor then missed again at the line with 31 seconds left.
“I just suck at free throws right now,” Taylor said. “I have no idea what it is. I shoot free throws tight all of the time and I’ll make a bunch of them at practice and then get into the game and just miss them.
“I just to got to fix my shot a little bit on my free throws.”
Needing a basket, Rodriguez led Spradling, making a backdoor cut, a little much on a lob to him and Spradling got too far underneath the basket and missed.
Robinson grabbed the rebound and was fouled by Spradling with 18 seconds left. He made both free throws for a 57-51 lead before Rodriguez missed a deep 3-pointer on the other end. KU’s Travis Releford got the rebound, but teammate Connor Teahan turned the ball over and Rodriguez assisted McGruder for a basket to make it a four-point game with 8.1 seconds remaining.
Teahan made two free throws with 0:06 left to secure the six-point win.
“I think, before this year, those were the little kinds of plays that made Thomas Robinson, Thomas Robinson, you know, and I don’t think he forgot that at all,” Taylor said of the 6-10 junior, who entered the game averaging 17.9 points and 11.7 rebounds in conference games.
“He’s a beast around the boards and a beast in the paint and he’s going to try to find ways to score.”
Trailing 32-25 early in the second half, Kansas State went ahead of KU with a 12-4 run over the next five-plus minutes for a 37-36 lead.
Samuels, who finished with 20 points and 12 rebounds, nailed one of his four 3-pointers during the surge. Wildcats post player Jordan Henriquez added a basket at the 15-minute mark, Spradling nailed a baseline jumper and forward Thomas Gipson converted two free throws with 11:49 remaining for their 37-36 edge.
“I thought we were scrambling, we didn’t have anything good going for the most part,” KU head coach Bill Self said. “They had actually whipped us to start the second half for about 10 minutes.”
Withey helped neutralize the Wildcats with his wing span and defense. He also made 6 of 8 field goals and converted 6 of 7 free throws.
“I noticed after the game,” Withey said of his near-triple-double. “I’m going to get it, sooner of later. My teammates always lift me up in practice and they’re always on me and they never let me get away with anything.
“It was definitely a physical game. I got hit in the face a couple times and I got a lot scratches. It’s one of those games. Whenever we play Kansas State, we know it’s going to be a battle.”
After Taylor blew past Rodriguez for a scintillating dunk and a 49-41 KU lead, Robinson was whistled for a charging foul at the 4:09 mark and stepped over Gipson, who took exception and got in Robinson’s face and was whistled for a technical foul.
Withey converted both free throws on the technical to make it 51-41 before Spradling responded with a pair of foul shots on the other end to make it an eight-point game at the four-minute mark.
The Wildcats got it down to four points late, although they managed just two points during the final 1:13.
“You’ve just to got to make shots,” Kansas State head coach Frank Martin said of his team, which shot only 30 percent from the floor (20 for 65), including missing 14 of 18 3s. “You play a good team like Kansas and you get a crack, you’ve got to make it.
“When you’re 7-for-31 at halftime with eight turnovers (trailing 28-18 at the break), you’re lucky you’re in the game against anybody in the Big 12, let alone one of top 5 teams in the country. We made some shots (in the second half), it gave us a little life and then we self-destructed again.”
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Big 12 Conference
At Manhattan
Bramlage Coliseum
Monday
MEN
No. 4 Kansas 59, Kansas State 53
KANSAS (21-5)
Robinson 3-7 4-6 10, Withey 6-8 6-7 18, Taylor 8-19 1-4 20, Johnson 2-9 0-0 5, Releford 2-7 0-0 4, Tharpe 0-0 0-0 0, Teahan 0-2 2-2 2, Wesley 0-0 0-0 0, Young 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 21-53 13-19 59.
KANSAS ST. (17-8)
Henriquez 2-4 0-0 4, Samuels 7-15 2-3 20, Rodriguez 0-8 0-0 0, McGruder 5-15 2-4 12, Spradling 4-13 2-3 10, Southwell 0-4 0-0 0, Irving 0-1 0-0 0, Ojeleye 0-0 0-0 0, Diaz 0-0 0-0 0, Gipson 2-5 3-4 7. Totals 20-65 9-14 53.
Halftime — Kansas 28-18. Three-point goals — Kansas 4-13 (Taylor 3-6, Johnson 1-3, Releford 0-2, Teahan 0-2), Kansas St. 4-18 (Samuels 4-6, Southwell 0-1, McGruder 0-2, Rodriguez 0-4, Spradling 0-5). Fouled out — Johnson. Rebounds — Kansas 39 (Withey 11), Kansas St. 45 (Samuels 12). Assists — Kansas 13 (Johnson, Taylor 5), Kansas St. 13 (Rodriguez 5). Total fouls — Kansas 18, Kansas St. 16. Turnovers — Kansas 14, Kansas State 11. Technical foul — Gipson. A — 12,528.
