University of Missouri
Kansas State
Missouri Knocks Off Kansas State, 77-70
3/1/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 1, 2003
By STEVE BRISENDINE
AP Sports Writer
MANHATTAN, Kan. - Rickey Paulding scored 23 points and Ricky Clemons hit two key late 3-pointers as Missouri beat Kansas State 77-70 on Saturday.
Paulding was 3-for-3 from the line and scored eight points inside the final two minutes for the Tigers (18-7, 9-5 Big 12), who won for only the third time in nine road games this year.
Clemons, playing with a broken left hand for the second straight game, finished with 17 points. He was 4-for-4 from the line in the final 26.8 seconds for the Tigers, who were coming off a 67-52 upset of No. 3 Oklahoma on Wednesday.
Gilson DeJesus led Kansas State (13-14, 3-11) with four 3-pointers and 17 points before fouling out.
Matt Siebrandt added 16 points for the Wildcats, who went 6? minutes without a field goal late in the first half and early in the second before Tim Ellis finally hit a jumper with just under 15 minutes left.
Free throw shooting kept the Wildcats in the game, though, and they went up by five points as DeJesus hit two 3-pointers in a 10-0 run midway through the second half.
His second one gave Kansas State a 56-51 lead with just over 7? minutes left, but Missouri came back to take leads of 60-59 and 65-62 on 3-pointers by Clemons.
The Wildcats never regained the lead. They were still within 68-66 when Siebrandt scored with 1? minutes left, but Paulding hit a 3-pointer with 1:15 left and added two free throws with 36.6 seconds left to put the game out of reach at 73-66.
Jimmy McKinney added 12 points and Travon Bryant finished with 10 for Missouri.
Frank Richards had 13 points and Pervis Pasco added 10 for Kansas State, which was hurt by poor free-throw shooting.
Pasco had the roughest day, going 6-for-11 from the line as the Wildcats hit just 65 percent (17-for-26) of their shots from the line. Missouri was 17-for-20, 85 percent.
DeJesus and Clemons each converted 3-shot fouls in the closing seconds of the first half, which ended in a 37-all tie.
