Wildcats get physical in win against Tigers

~ Gardner scored 21 points for Missouri but Kansas State was pleased with its defense on him.

MANHATTAN, Kan. -- David Hoskins broke out of his scoring slump by working on everything but his shooting.

"I just needed to play harder and let everything fall into place," the sophomore guard said after scoring 18 points in Kansas State's 79-64 victory over Missouri on Saturday night. "The way we play the game, how hard you play determines how many points you score."

Hoskins had been held to a total of eight points in the Wildcats' previous three games. But on Saturday, when leading scorer Cartier Martin's first-half playing time was limited by foul trouble, Hoskins stepped into the gap -- cutting to the basket, drawing fouls, hitting layups and going 6-for-10 from the line.

"He was a beast out there," said center Dramane Diarra, who had a career-high 13 rebounds for the Wildcats.

Martin, despite playing only 9 minutes in the first half, led Kansas State (12-4, 3-2 Big 12) with 20 points.

Kansas State won its third straight -- the Wildcats' first three-game conference winning streak since the Big 12 Conference was formed in 1996-97. They had last won three consecutive conference games in January 1996, in the last Big 8 season.

Missouri (10-6, 3-2) lost to Kansas State for the third time in a row, something the Tigers hadn't done since dropping four straight from 1974-75.

The Wildcats evened the series, which dates to 1907, at 111 wins each.

The Tigers, who trailed 73-53 with 7 minutes left, went on an 11-2 run and closed within 75-64 on Marshall Brown's basket with 4:16 to go. But they didn't score again, and Kansas State went 4-for-6 from the line in the closing minutes to seal the win.

Missouri's Thomas Gardner, who scored 40 points in Monday's 89-86 overtime victory over Kansas, had 21 points Saturday but was held to six points in the first half.

Gardner missed his first three shots, all from long range, and didn't score until he was fouled on a 3-point try with just under 8 1/2 minutes left in the first half and hit all three of his foul shots. His first field goal, on a drive along the baseline, came with 5:11 to go in the half.

"Defensively, we did a great job on Thomas Gardner," Hoskins said. "Akeem Wright did a great job on him in the first half, and really got him out of his rhythm. It was easier for us to convert on the offensive end when he's not scoring for them."

But after the game, a physical affair in which each team was called for 24 personal fouls and one technical, Gardner claimed the Wildcats had mugged him.

"Holding jerseys, tripping, bumping when I'm running," said Gardner, who got kicked in the nose while going for a loose ball in the second half. "But it's something that I've got to take and keep my composure and not let it affect me and stay positive with my team and keep fighting."

Wright, who had defended Gardner ferociously in the first half, picked up his third and fourth fouls early in the second. Gardner scored 10 points in the next 6 1/2 minutes but got virtually no help over that span from his teammates, who accounted for only four points in the first 8:49 after the half.

"They put our other guys in the position to make plays, and there are some plays that we didn't make tonight," Missouri coach Quin Snyder said. "When that is not happening, you have to be better defensively."

Jimmy McKinney fouled out with 13 points, Brown had 11 points, and Kevin Young had 13 rebounds for Missouri.

Kansas State, which led 40-29 at the break, continued to pull away early in the second half.

Tyler Hughes' free throw with just under 11 1/2 minutes to go gave the Wildcats their first 20-point lead, 62-42.

Missouri was 24-for-32 from the line, 14-for-19 in the first half alone, to the Wildcats' 16-for-23.

Hoskins and Brown were each given a technical foul with just over 4 minutes gone in the game, after Hoskins fouled Brown under the Missouri basket.

The game went through 11 lead changes, all in the first half.

Missouri last led, 20-19, on McKinney's free throws with just under 8 minutes left in the first half. Mario Taybron answered with a 3-pointer at the other end 20 seconds later.

Taybron's basket started a 21-6 run, capped by Taybron's 3-pointer, that put the Wildcats up 40-26 with 1:27 left in the half.