Kansas State rolls past Texas A&M 64-53

MANHATTAN, Kan. — The way Will Spradling had been shooting lately, the Kansas State guard had little reason walking into Bramlage Coliseum to think he was going to have a big game.

Then he started draining 3-pointers during the shoot-around and his outlook brightened.

The sophomore wound up with a career high 19 points, and even the lone deep ball that he missed rimmed out. Angel Rodriguez added 13 points and the Wildcats rallied from a miserable first half for a confidence-building 64-53 victory Saturday.

"It felt good because I've really been in the gym working on my shot lately," Spradling said. "It was nice to see it pay off and get my confidence back."

The backcourt duo of Spradling and Rodriguez provided just enough offense to help the Wildcats (16-6, 5-5 Big 12) avoid their third consecutive loss.

"More than anything we want to win," Rodriguez said. "We lost two games, so I guess you could say there was a little pressure for us, but we responded in a good way."

The Wildcats improved to 21-3 in February over the past three-plus seasons, including a 12-1 mark at Bramlage Coliseum, which is fast becoming one of the league's most difficult venues.

The teams meet again in College Station later this month.

Texas A&M was forced to play again without Dash Harris and Khris Middleton. Harris missed his third game with a foot injury while Middleton was out for the fourth time with a knee injury.

"When they're not in the game, it's hard," said Elston Turner, who led the Aggies (12-10, 3-7) with 18 points. "On the road you have to play 40 minutes hard if you want to win."

Naji Hibbert finished with 14 points for the Aggies, but they also committed 19 turnovers and were beaten badly on the boards, which wiped out a good night shooting.

"They wore us down in the second half," Texas A&M coach Billy Kennedy said.

The first half was played at the pace of a broken-down jalopy.

It was 4-4 at the first media timeout. Texas A&M then embarked on a 12-2 run, fueled as much by Kansas State's inept offense as the Aggies' propensity for defense. Wildcat coach Frank Martin appeared downright forlorn sitting on the bench, never budging until he called for a timeout.

By that point, the Aggies led 16-6 with 12:03 left.