Khamari McGriff scored 18 goals in Kansas State’s win over West Virginia.

Khamari McGriff scored 18 points to help Kansas State overcome the absence of leading scorer PJ Haggerty and record a 65-63 victory over West Virginia in Tuesday’s Big 12 contest in Manhattan, Kansas.

Haggerty was actually scratched late after suffering an undisclosed injury, the school announced. He ranks second among the Big 12 in scoring, averaging 23.3 points per game.

Nate Johnson had 16 points, 9 rebounds, and 7 assists against the Wildcats (12-18, 3-14 Big 12), who scored 21 consecutive points in the second half to pull away by one point. Kansas State was able to hold off a late charge from the Mountaineers to secure its third win in its last 17 games.

West Virginia’s Chance Moore had 18 points off the bench and Brenen Lorient added 14.

But the Mountaineers (17-13, 8-9) made just 6 of 23 3-pointers en route to their fourth loss in their last five games.

McGriff sank a pair of free throws to push Kansas State’s lead to 57-38 with 7:29 left in the second half before West Virginia sparked a 20-4 run. But Moore missed a layup, and Johnson and McGriff each made two free throws to seal the win.

After a poor first half, Kansas State came out of the blocks scoring 23 of the first 28 points of the second half to take a 48-31 lead. Honor Huff’s 100th 3-pointer of the season gave West Virginia a 31-27 lead and the Wildcats scored 21 straight points, with McGriff totaling eight points during that sequence.

The first half left much to be desired for both teams, as West Virginia took a 26-23 lead at the break despite making just 2 of 10 attempts from 3-point range. Kansas State didn’t help itself, shooting just 30.8% (8 of 26) from the floor.

Andrej Kostic hit a 3-pointer to put Kansas State ahead 8-5 before West Virginia responded with a 10-0 run. Moore hit 3-of-6 3-pointers during the surge.

–Field level media