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McGruder's career-high 28 points leads 'Cats
spt ap kansas state
Kansas State center Jordan Henriquez (21) winds up for a dunk as Long Beach State forward Edis Dervisevic, bottom right, looks on in the first half of an NCAA basketball game on Sunday in Honolulu. - photo by The Associated Press

HONOLULU (AP) — Kansas State isn’t ranked in the AP Top 25, but the Wildcats appear destined to be there soon.
Rodney McGruder scored a career-best 28 points and the Wildcats (10-1) went on a big first-half run and beat Long Beach State 77-60 on Sunday to win the Diamond Head Classic.
McGruder finished 10 of 11 from the field, including 2 of 3 from 3-point range. He also went 6 of 7 from the line.
“I do feel like we should be ranked, but that doesn’t really matter to us,” McGruder said. “We’re just going to keep working hard and keep striving for greatness.”
For now, Kansas State is among the teams also receiving votes in the poll.
“We were No. 3 in the preseason last year, and in January everyone said we stunk, so as long as at the end of the year we’re where we need to be,” Kansas State coach Frank Martin said.
“I’d love to be ranked. Don’t get me wrong — you’re on ‘SportsCenter’ every time you play, and that helps you in recruiting, it helps you sell your product. I’d love to be ranked, but I don’t invest a lot of time in that.”
McGruder was averaging 10.8 points entering the game, just fourth best on the team. His previous career high of 24 points came against UMKC on Dec. 23, 2010. The 6-foot-4 junior guard led Kansas State in rebounding last season at 5.9 per game.
Will Spradling added 17 points, and Jamar Samuels had 11 points and eight rebounds for the Wildcats (10-1).
Larry Anderson and Casper Ware each scored 17 points for the 49ers (7-6).
The Wildcats went on a 29-13 run for a 38-22 lead with 2:27 left in the first half. McGruder had eight points, including two 3-pointers, during the surge.
Kansas State finished 26 of 52 from the field, while Long Beach State went 21 of 57.
“I think we’re playing pretty good offense,” Martin said. “We’re not a well-polished machine; we’re not awesome. We spend a lot of time on defense in the preseason, and now our offense gets better ... it happens every year.
“The one thing that happened tonight was we made shots. When you make shots, all of a sudden, your offense looks a whole lot better, and we did it against a real good team.”
Spradling’s 3-pointer gave Kansas State its biggest lead at 49-31 with 15:43 remaining. Long Beach State got as close as 62-52 with 6:41 to play.

DIAMOND HEAD CLASSIC
Championship game
Kansas State 77,
Long Beach State 60


LONG BEACH ST. (7-6)
      1-4 0-0 2, Ennis 2-5 2-4 7, Robinson 4-8 0-0 8, Anderson 5-11 4-8 17, Ware 5-18 5-7 17, Caffey 4-7 0-0 8, Jackson 0-2 0-0 0, Dervisevic 0-2 1-2 1, Vantrimpont 0-0 0-0 0, Starkey 0-0 0-0 0, Shepherd 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-57 12-21 60.
KANSAS ST. (10-1)
     Irving 3-4 0-0 6, McGruder 10-11 6-7 28, Samuels 4-8 3-4 11, Gipson 2-6 1-2 5, Spradling 4-7 6-7 17, Southwell 1-3 1-2 3, Ojeleye 0-0 0-0 0, Williams 0-0 0-0 0, Rodriguez 0-6 0-0 0, Diaz 0-1 0-0 0, Henriquez 2-5 3-4 7, Jones 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 26-52 20-26 77.
     Halftime—Kansas St. 40-28. Three-point goals—Long Beach St. 6-19 (Anderson 3-6, Ware 2-6, Ennis 1-4, Caffey 0-3); Kansas St. 5-13 (Spradling 3-5, McGruder 2-3, Jones 0-1, Samuels 0-1, Rodriguez 0-3). Fouled Out—Ennis. Rebounds—Long Beach St. 32 (Caffey 9), Kansas St. 39 (Samuels 8). Assists—Long Beach St. 10 (Anderson 4), Kansas St. 14 (Samuels 4). Total Fouls—Long Beach St. 21, Kansas St. 20. A—6,270.