Top 25: No. 10 Kansas State 81, Baylor 61

Top 25 basketball • Kansas State improved to 9-3 in the Big 12.

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Manhattan, Kan. • Angel Rodriguez scored 22 points and Shane Southwell added 18 on six 3-pointers to lead No. 10 Kansas State to an 81-61 win over Baylor on Saturday night.

The game remained fairly close in the first half, but the Wildcats (20-5, 9-3 Big 12) took control in the second, outscoring the Bears 43-32 after the break.

A.J. Walton led Baylor (16-9, 7-5) with 14 points and Isaiah Austin added 13.

Bears coach Scott Drew called a timeout less than two minutes into the second half after the Wildcats bolted out of the break with three straight baskets. Jordan Henriquez drew a foul and converted on a free throw, Rodriguez finished a fast break layup, and Henriquez scored in the paint.

Baylor's Brady Heslip turned over the ball right after the timeout, but he quickly redeemed himself with a pair of 3s. After Rico Gathers scored and Pierre Jackson hit a 3 of his own, Baylor trailed 43-41 with 12 minutes, 51 seconds remaining.

Before the Bears could creep any closer, Rodriguez drilled a 3, his third of the game from beyond the arc. After Walton scored, Southwell hit a 3 that ignited a 13-2 run by the Wildcats.

Martavious Irving sank a 3, and after another 3 from Southwell, the big men got going. Henriquez dunked and followed it with a block on the other end. Thomas Gipson converted in the paint the next time down. —