David N’Guessan had a career-high 23 points and host Kansas State used a strong second half to defeat Abilene Christian 81-64 Tuesday night in Manhattan, Kan.
N’Guessan was joined by three others in double figure scoring for Kansas State (8-1), which dominated the visitors from Texas 46-30 in the second half.
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Markquis Nowell added 15 points, Keyontae Johnson and Nae’Qwan Tomlin had 12 points each. All four double-figure scorers pulled down at least five rebounds, led by Tomlin with eight.
Abilene Christian (5-5) had won three straight games, but none against a Power-5 opponent. The Wildcats were led by Tobias Cameron with 14 points. Immanuel Allen added 11. Abilene Christian got 28 points off their bench.
Kansas State was intent on controlling the paint from the start. They outscored Abilene Christian 52-30 in the paint and outrebounded ACU 36-26.
K-State outscored ACU 17-7 in the first five minutes of the second half to take a double-digit lead. KSU took a 66-51 lead with just under 8:00 left, and the lead never dipped below 10 after that.
K-State started the game trying to pound it inside, while Abilene Christian bombed away from long range. The first five K-State baskets were from close range, while ACU hit five of its first seven three-pointers (from five different players) to build a 17-10 lead before the second media timeout.
ACU used a 12-0 run to extend the lead to 23-10. They led by as many as 14 in the first half before K-State used a 19-4 run to take the lead. Kansas State led 35-34 at intermission.
N’Guessan led Kansas State with 16 points in the first half, surpassing his career high of 15, set last year for Virginia Tech. Johnson, who came into the game as K-State’s leading scorer, was held to one point.
Like it has all season, Abilene Christian had balanced scoring, with eight players in the scoring column led by Allen with eight points.
–Field Level Media
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