Wildcats’ upset win at the Sprint Center is aguably their biggest since 1981.
By KELLIS ROBINETT
The Kansas City Star
The Kansas City Star
Updated: 2012-12-23T03:39:20Z
SHANE KEYSER | The Kansas City Star
Kansas State forwards Nino Williams (11) and Jordan Henriquez (21) celebrated at midcourt after the unranked Wildcats beat No. 8 Florida 67-61 on Saturday night at the Sprint Center.
Kansas State has its first marquee victory of the Bruce Weber era.
Behind Will Spradling and Jordan Henriquez, and in front of the most vocal friendly crowd of the year, the Wildcats beat No. 8 Florida 67-61 on Saturday at the Sprint Center.Spradling led K-State, 9-2, with 17 points while Henriquez scored nine points, grabbed seven rebounds and played impressively on defense. Senior Rodney McGruder added 13 points in the Wildcats’ first nonconference win over a top-10 opponent since 1981.The win ended a disappointing trend for K-State, which started the season by beating eight teams from small conferences and losing twice to national powers.Most disappointing was that both losses came in exactly the same fashion. It competed with No. 2 Michigan for a half at Madison Square Garden but ended up losing by double digits. Then it played No. 14 Gonzaga to within a point at halftime in Seattle but couldn’t hang in the second half.Poor offense and brutal starts in the second half hurt the Wildcats both times.On Saturday, they were determined to break through against a prominent opponent. They did, sending Florida, 8-2, home with its second loss of the season. Its only other defeat came in the final seconds at Arizona. K-State got off to a strong start behind the hot shooting of Spradling and impressive defensive play.Spradling, who attended Shawnee Mission South High School, drained three three-pointers in the first half and helped K-State play with energy from the get-go. His biggest shot came late in the first half when he came off a screen and hit a three-pointer to put K-State ahead 20-19. His teammates responded to the shot and as K-State went on a 9-0 run.Spradling scored five points during that stretch, Thomas Gipson added two free throws and McGruder hit a runner in the lane that gave the Wildcats a 26-19 lead.They continued playing well from there and went into the locker room up 33-23.But the first half has never been a problem for K-State. Even during double-digit losses to No. 2 Michigan and No. 14 Gonzaga, the Wildcats went into halftime trailing by a combined six points. The first 5 minutes of the second half is where things have gone wrong.The Wolverines and Bulldogs pulled away from the Wildcats early in the second half. And Florida threatened to do the same.Behind back-to-back baskets from Patric Young, who led Florida with 19 points, an ugly turnover from Angel Rodriguez, a breakaway layup and two free throws the Gators pulled to within 36-35 with 15:58 remaining. Just like that, the Wildcats’ comfortable lead was gone.But K-State didn’t back down. It regained its 10-point lead at 57-47 with about 5 minutes remaining.Florida kept things interesting until the end, but K-State was too strong.It played well enough to pick up its first statement victory of the season.
To reach Kellis Robinett, send email to krobinett@kcstar.com. Follow him at Twitter.com/KellisRobinett.
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