No. 9 Wildcats rout Oklahoma State 83-64

? Jamar Samuels scored 21 of his career-high 27 points in the first half, helping No. 9 Kansas State turn a rematch into a rout with an 83-64 win over Oklahoma State Thursday night in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 tournament.

Kansas State (25-6) had been waiting to play Oklahoma State again since a home loss in January. The Wildcats opened the game with a big run and closed the first half with an even bigger one, leaving no doubt while tying a school single-season record for wins.

Denis Clemente had 12 points and 10 assists, Jacob Pullen added 19 points and Samuels had 10 rebounds to send Kansas State into Friday’s semifinals against the Baylor-Texas winner.

Oklahoma State (22-10) shot poorly and defended even worse, following up an impressive win over rival Oklahoma with a clunker.

The Cowboys will still likely get into the NCAA tournament, but their seeding is sure to drop. Big 12 player of the year James Anderson had 27 points to lead Oklahoma State.

Kansas State had been hoping this game would come.

The Wildcats were riding an emotional high into the first meeting on Jan. 23 after knocking Texas from the top spot in the polls earlier that week. Oklahoma State put a quick end to the euphoria, beating Kansas State 73-69 in the Little Apple for its 12th win in 14 games against the Wildcats since the inception of the Big 12.

The Cowboys won that game by packing into a zone and daring K-State’s guards to shoot over them. Clemente and Pullen went a combined 8 of 29, including 6 for 21 from 3-point range, and Oklahoma State ended the Wildcats’ Bramlage Coliseum-record 14-game winning streak.

Kansas State seemed to be counting the days to get back at the Cowboys.

Charged up by what felt like a home crowd at the Sprint Center, the Wildcats got off to a good start when the Cowboys opened in man-to-man and kept rolling when they switched to zone, working the ball around for open shots to outscore Oklahoma State 23-8 in the first 8 minutes.

Kansas State wasn’t bad on defense, either. Oklahoma State had seven turnovers and just six shot attempts in that span.

The Cowboys tried to make a game of it. Behind two 3-pointers by Keiton Page and one from Anderson, Oklahoma State reeled off a 15-4 run to get within 27-23.

All that seemed to do was make the Wildcats angry.

Led by Samuels, Kansas State closed the half with a 24-3 run, scoring the final 16 points as Oklahoma State missed its final eight shots. Samuels matched his career high with 21 points and had nine rebounds by halftime, scoring on jumpers and flying putbacks, and adding his second 3-pointer just before the buzzer to put Kansas State up 51-26.

The Wildcats made sure Oklahoma State never stood a chance after that, pushing the lead to as much as 33 in the second half.