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MANHATTAN, Kan. – A 3-pointer by senior Jameer Nelson Jr. with 1.1 seconds on the clock proved to be the game winner, as TCU held on for a 75-72 win over Kansas State on Saturday afternoon before 9,609 fans at Bramlage Coliseum.

K-State (15-10, 5-7 Big 12) battled back from a 10-point deficit with 7:14 to play to tie the game at 72-all on a pair of free throws by junior Cam Carter with 15.6 seconds. However, after a full timeout by head coach Jerome Tang to set up his defense, it was TCU which had the final answer as Nelson’s step back 3-ponter rose above the outstretched hands of Carter for the game-winner with 1.1 seconds remaining.

It was the Wildcats’ first buzzer beater loss since February 19, 2022, when Oklahoma State’s Avery Anderson III connected on a 3-pointer with 3 seconds left in overtime for an 82-79 victory at the Gallagher-Iba Arena. It was the first such loss at home since Kevin Samuel’s layup with 1 second left lifted TCU to a 59-57 win on January 7, 2020.

The loss sank K-State to its sixth setback in the last 7 games, including the second in the last 3 games at Bramlage Coliseum. TCU (18-7, 7-5 Big 12) continued its good fortune in Manhattan, winning for the fourth time in the last 5 visits to Bramlage Coliseum.

Senior Tylor Perry led the Wildcats with 24 points, including an impressive 12-of-12 effort from the free throw line. It was his 27^th career 20-point game, including his team-leading eighth this season. He was joined in double figures by senior David N’Guessan (12 points) and junior Arthur Kaluma (11 points).

TCU was led by a game-high 26 points from senior Micah Peavy, who had one of the more impressive stat lines you will ever see. In addition to going 8-of-16 from the field and 8-of-10 from the line, he had a game-high 9 rebounds to go with team-highs in both steals (3) and blocked shots (3) in 33 minutes. He was joined in double figures by senior Emanuel Miller, who added 10 points.

The loss was particularly heartbreaking because K-State made 66.7 percent (22-of-33) of its 2-point field goals, including tying a Big 12-best with 44 points in the paint, and were nearly perfect from the free throw line (25-of-29) but couldn’t get anything to fall beyond the 3-point arc, where the Wildcats finished 1-of-15, including 0-of-7 in the second half.

The 6.7 3-point field goal percentage (1-of-15) marked the 10^th-lowest in school history and the lowest since 2016, while the 1 3-point make tied for the seventh fewest in school history and the fewest since also hitting one against Kennesaw State on November 9, 2018.

Overall, K-State finished the day at 47.9 percent (23-of-48) from the field.

TCU rebounded from a poor first-half shooting the ball (29.6 percent/8-of-27) to connect on 56.2 percent (16-of-29) of its field goals in the second half, including 62.5 percent (5-of-6) from 3-point range. The Horned Frogs also made the most of their length in the paint, grabbing 14 offensive rebounds and turning those into a 20-8 advantage in second-chance points.

K-State enjoyed a strong start to the game, leading by as many as 10 points in the first half before posting its first halftime lead (28-24) in more than a month.

The second half saw a back and forth affair with the teams combining for 95 points. After TCU regained the lead with consecutive 3-pointers early in the second half, K-State responded with a 17-7 run that gave the Wildcats a 47-39 lead with 13:13 to play and forced a timeout by head coach Jamie Dixon.

The timeout sparked the Horned Frogs, which scored 22 of the next 26 points to take 61-51 lead with 7:14 to play. The Wildcats were able to slowly chip away at the lead, using a 10-2 run to close to within a possession at 63-61 right before the final media timeout.

K-State was able to take advantage of some missed free throws by TCU down the stretch, getting some big free throws from Kaluma, who made all 3 free throws after being fouled. After Perry made a pair of free throws to cut the deficit to 72-70, the Horned Frogs made an errant pass on the inbounds play, giving the Wildcats the ball with 15.6 seconds. Junior Cam Carter was fouled on the ensuing inbounds play and calmly made before free throws to tie the game at 72-all and set up the final sequence.

This will be the first and only regular season meeting between the schools with the new unbalanced Big 12 schedule. The schools had met home-and-home every year since 2012-13.

HOW IT HAPPENED

TCU scored the game’s first 3 points, including a jumper off a steal, but K-State settled down to score 14 of the next 15 points, including 10 in a row, and forced a timeout by head coach Jamie Dixon near the 12-minute mark. The scoring came from 5 players, including 5 points from junior Arthur Kaluma.

The timeout seemed to spark the Horned Frogs, as they responded with 9 straight points to close the deficit to 14-13 at the third media timeout with 7:50 to play before halftime. The visitor continued the run and took its first lead at 15-14 on a free throw by senior Essam Mostafa at the 6:32 mark.

K-State broke a near 6-minute scoring drought on the next possession on a layup by redshirt freshman Dorian Finister on a feed from senior David N’Guessan to retake the lead at 16-15. However, TCU scored on consecutive offensive possessions to push back ahead 19-16. The Wildcats were able to score 6 of the next 9 points before the final media timeout to tie the game at 22-all.

Out of the timeout, TCU’s Chuck O’Bannon Jr. was called for a technical, resulting in a pair of free throws by senior Tylor Perry and sparking a 6-0 run that gave K-State a 28-22 lead with 1:15 remaining. The Horned Frogs were able to score a basket before half to close the deficit to 28-24 at the break. Micah Peavy led all scorers with 9 points, while Perry paced the Wildcats with 6 points.

TCU quickly erased the halftime with consecutive 3-pointers early in the second half to grab a 32-30 advantage. K-State responded to the fast start with 7 straight points, capped by a layup by junior Cam Carter, to push back ahead 37-32 at the 16:29 mark. After a 3-pointer from the Horned Frogs, the Wildcats rode the back of Perry who had 5 points in a 10-4 spurt that push the lead to 47-39 and forced a timeout by Dixon at the 13:13 mark.

TCU benefitted from the timeout, as the Horned Frogs scored 12 of the next 14 points to retake the lead at 51-49 and force a timeout by head coach Jerome Tang with 9:31 to play. After Carter knocked down a pair of free throws to keep the Wildcats within 53-51, the Horned Frogs ran off 8 straight points to nab their first double-digit lead at 61-51 with 7:14 to play.

K-State kept clawing at the deficit, responding to the run with a 10-2 spurt that closed the deficit to 63-61 with 3:42 remaining on a layup by Perry. However, TCU was able to get a tip-in on the next possession to stay ahead at 65-61 before the final media timeout with 3:05 to play.

The Wildcats were able to stay within striking distance, as the Horned Frogs made just 3 of 6 free throws while N’Guessan made consecutive baskets that cut the deficit to 70-65 with 41 seconds left. On the ensuing possession, Kaluma was fouled on a 3-pointer, resulting in 3 free throws, which he knocked down to get the home team within a possession at 70-68 with 30 seconds.

After each team knocked down a pair of free throws, K-State forced an errant pass and turnover by TCU with 15.1 seconds. Carter was fouled on the inbounds pass and knocked both free throws to tie the game at 72-all. Tang called his final timeout to set up his defense, as the Horned Frogs ran the clock all the way down to end before Nelson hit the game-winning 3-pointer with 1.1 seconds left.

HEAD COACH JEROME TANG

On the game…

“Big-time shot by a big-time player. Games like this, players have to make plays and he did, so credit to them. They were 20 to 8 on the offensive glass, we couldn’t overcome that especially when we didn’t shoot the ball well. All that’s a credit to TCU. They did a great job. Thankful for our fans who showed up and they were great, great support. I thought our guys fought. We aren’t always the smartest (team) and so we can try to correct some of that. But I thought they gave everything they had.”

On what allowed TCU to come back multiple times…

“Well, I don’t know if you watched any of their other games, but in every game, pretty much every game they’ve played, they’ve either been up big, and the other team comes back or the other team has a big lead and they’ve come back. They’re just a team of runs. They play in spurts. We knew that was going to happen. But we also knew that when we couldn’t extend it, you knew that they would make a comeback, and when they extended it they would give us the opportunity to come back. They’ve been like that all year long. So why couldn’t we extend the lead? I think they got a really veteran group over there. I think before the season started that team had scored over 8,000 points in their college careers, and they’re the third-oldest team in college basketball so they don’t get rattled. Whereas when the crowd’s going crazy and for some teams that could like affect them, they have the ability to come out and end runs and make plays. So, there’s more credit for them than then our shortcoming.”

On David N’Guessan’s hustle plays…

“We showed some stuff on film where we thought we could get in the passing lane and really disrupt what they were doing, being more assertive. I didn’t feel like we have been aggressive enough defensively and when you have a high turnover percentage the only thing to really combat that is to create a high turnover percentage. That’s really what I wanted to see today. I thought David in particular, did a great job of getting in the passing lane, getting deflections, and I want to see us do more of that going forward.”

On Tylor Perry’s perseverance…

“TP [Tylor Perry], he’s a fighter and I was real proud of him because of how they were guarding him. It was hard for him to get off shots, but it didn’t stop him from putting his head down, getting to the lane, and taking the contact. He finished a couple of and-ones, so really, really proud of him for that. As a team, we didn’t shoot it well, it wasn’t just him. As a team, we didn’t shoot it well from three and when you don’t shoot it well from three you can’t allow other teams to get second chance points.”

TEAM NOTES

• K-State (15-10, 5-7 Big 12) lost a heartbreaker on Saturday afternoon, as senior Jameer Nelson Jr.’s 3-pointer with 1.1 seconds left lifted TCU to a 75-72 win at Bramlage Coliseum.
• It was the Wildcats’ first buzzer beater loss since Oklahoma State’s Avery Anderson III connected on a 3-pointer with 3.0 seconds in overtime for an 82-79 win by the Cowboys on Feb. 19, 2022… It was the first at home since a 59-57 win by TCU on Jan. 7, 2020.
• K-State has now lost 6 of their last 7 games after a 4-1 start to conference play.
• K-State is now 12-3 at home this season, including 11-3 at Bramlage Coliseum… Tang is now 26-4 at Bramlage Coliseum, including 12-3 in home Big 12 games.
• K-State still leads the all-time series, 21-13, including 18-11 in the Big 12 era… The Wildcats are 9-6 at home in the series, including 7-6 at Bramlage Coliseum… TCU has won 4 of the last 5 meetings in Bramlage Coliseum.
• K-State scored its 75 points on 47.9 percent (23-of-48) shooting, including just 6.7 percent (1-of-15) from 3-point range, and 86.2 percent (25-of-29) from the free throw line.
• The 6.7 3-point field goal percentage (1-of-15) was the 10^th-lowest in school history… It ties for the seventh-fewest 3-pointers in a game and fewest since also hitting 1 3-pointer against Kennesaw State on Nov. 9, 2018.
• K-State tied a Big 12 high with 44 points in the paint.
• K-State connected on 86.2 percent (25-of-29) from the free throw line.
• Both teams turned the ball over 14 times with K-State posting a 19-13 advantage in points off turnovers.
• TCU won the rebounding battle, 31-27, which included 14 offensive rebounds that resulted in 20 second-chance points.
• K-State used a starting lineup of senior Tylor Perry, freshman Dai Dai Ames, junior Cam Carter, junior Arthur Kaluma and redshirt sophomore Jerrell Colbert… It marked the fourth straight game using this lineup and just the fifth different lineup this season… Carter has now started all 61 games in his K-State career… Carter and Perry have started all 25 games… Kaluma earned his 23rd start… It was the seventh start for Ames and the fourth career start for Colbert.

PLAYER NOTES

• Three Wildcats scored in double figures, including a season-high 24 points from senior Tylor Perry… He was joined by senior David N’Guessan (12 points) and junior Arthur Kaluma (11 points).
• Perry scored his 24 points on 6-of-13 field goals and 12-of-12 free throws in playing nearly 40 minutes… He scored his 24 points without making a 3-pointer (going 0-of-6 from 3-point range) for the first time this season… He now has 27 career 20-point games, including a team-high 8 this season… He has now 75 career double-digit scoring games, including 18 this season.
• Perry’s 12-of-12 effort from the free throw line marks the second time this season he has gone perfect from the line… He went 14-of-14 from the line in a win over Providence on Nov. 17, 2023, which ranks as the third-best performance in school history.
• Perry has now led the team in scoring on a team-best 13 occasions.
• N’Guessan scored his 12 points on 5-of-6 field goals and 2-of-2 free throws with 4 rebounds, a team-high 3 blocks and an assist in 33 minutes off the bench… He has now scored in double figures in 19 career games, including 8 this season.
• Kaluma scored his 11 points on 3-of-11 field goals and 4-of-5 free throws to go with 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 block in 30 minutes… He has now scored in double figures in 61 career games, including 21 this season.
• Junior Cam Carter led the team in rebounding with 6 on the day… It marked the fifth time this season.

UP NEXT

K-State makes a quick turnaround with a trip to Austin, Texas to take on the Longhorns (16-9, 5-7 Big 12) at 8 p.m., CT on ESPN2.