Manhattan ? Kansas State didn’t beat Kansas last year at Bramlage Coliseum.

But the Wildcats, who have dropped 22 straight overall to KU and 18 in a row in the Little Apple, did provide major resistance in a 77-65 setback.

Kansas was trailing 13-7 with 12:31 left in the first half when irate Jayhawk coach Roy Williams yanked all five of starters at Bramlage, site of tonight’s KU-KSU game.

Kansans Brett Ballard, Lewis Harrison, Chris Zerbe, Todd Kappelman and Missouri native Jeff Carey were inserted and outscored the Wildcats, 5-0, during the next two minutes.

“It was nice getting in the game. I think we outscored them, 5-0, when we went in,” Ballard recalled correctly. “Hopefully this year it doesn’t happen because that will mean we aren’t playing well. Hopefully we’ll be ready to go from the start.”

Ballard, a senior from Hutchinson, takes the KSU game mighty seriously.

“Growing up in Kansas, I know how important the rivalry is,” Ballard said. “It’s gone down a little bit in recent years, but it’s still important. The Missouri game has become so big, that might be bigger, but don’t get me wrong, Kansas State is a very important game for us.”

The Jayhawks have six Kansans on the roster; the Wildcats three.

“It’s real special to me,” Leavenworth freshman Wayne Simien said. “They are coming off two big wins (Texas and Oklahoma State) and have a lot of momentum. Plus it’s Kansas State. It’s like KU-Missouri. It’s the same thing, KU-K-State.”

Boschee hot versus Cats: Jeff Boschee’s career high in points (24) and three-pointers made (seven) are against Kansas State. Last year the KU guard had 23 points versus KSU in the Big 12 Tournament, 12 at Allen Fieldhouse and 11 points in Manhattan. Two years ago, he scored 24 in Manhattan and 21 in the Big 12 tournament.

“I’m not talking about that,” Boschee said good naturedly, not wanting to jinx himself.

Pasco sees physical game: Pervis Pasco, a 6-foot-9 junior from Clearwater, Fla., takes averages of 11.7 points and 8.6 rebounds into tonight’s game.

“I expect it to be a physical game,” he said. “We have to play defense like we did against Oklahoma State and execute on offense. After beating Texas and defeating the No. 9 team (Oklahoma State on Saturday), these are great confidence boosters going into the KU game.”

Top teams on schedule: Matt Siebrandt, a 6-8 junior from Reno, Nev., who averages 7.3 points and 3.6 boards, on KSU’s three-game stretch of Texas, Oklahoma State, and Kansas. “Everybody thought it would be a tough stretch for us. We’ve come out and played really well. We’ve got one more (game) and it’s the toughest one yet. Hopefully, we’ll have the same fire and energy for Kansas.”

Telecast: Tonight’s game is on ESPN. The game, which is part of ESPN’s Big Monday package, was originally slated to be shown on ESPN2, because the network’s ESPY Awards show was going to be on the flagship network at that time. Because of the events of Sept. 11, however, the ESPY Awards were re-scheduled for a later date, therefore the Kansas game was moved to ESPN.