Kansas state sends Kentucky to a stunning exit

They brought to Thursday’s matchup a 24-11 record, a mid-pack finish in Big 12 Conference play and a seeding of No. 9.

Star power? Few outside Manhattan, Kansas, had heard of Xavier Sneed. They know him now. Behind Sneed’s 22 points and gritty all-around play, Kansas State defeated Kentucky, 61-58, and will face No. 11 seed Loyola here in an improbable South Regional final — the first game between a No. 11 seed and a No. 9 in tournament history.

What went wrong for the Kentucky Wildcats? About everything.

Kentucky started five freshmen — all projected future NBA stars. Two of them, Kevin Knox II and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, could enter the pro ranks as early as next year. But on Thursday they played their age, shooting a dismal 38 percent from the field and 25 percent from beyond the 3-point arc. They turned the ball over 15 times and were dismal from the foul line, shooting 62 percent and missing several during the last four minutes.

“I was 8 for 20 from the line. If I would’ve made half of those we would’ve won,” forward P.J. Washington said.

It was a stunning turn of events for the blue-clad Kentucky faithful who filled up Phillips Arena here expecting to see their Wildcats roll over the Midwestern pretenders (also Wildcats, coincidentally). But a funny thing happened on the way to Kentucky’s coronation: No one told Kansas State it didn’t belong here. Well, actually, their coach, Bruce Weber, did. He collected all the nasty assessments of his team over the past week.

“We made sure they saw it, and we put it up on the board,” Weber said.

So it was little wonder that K-State wasted no time putting a 13-1 run together that first surprised and then silenced the Big Blue faithful.

With 59.6 seconds left in the half and Kentucky trailing, 30-25, there was a desperate edge in voices of the “Go, Big Blue” chant. Still, Kansas State went into the locker room with a 33-29 lead and the knowledge that they could definitely play with Kentucky’s stars.

Every time Kentucky tried to close the gap, a bad shot or decision caused the momentum to fizzle. With 14:25 left in the game and Kentucky trailing by four points, coach John Calipari picked up a technical foul after Knox was called for a charge and his basket was disallowed.

Sneed then answered with a 3-point dagger.

Kentucky got its first lead, 55-54, with 4:02 left on a driving basket by Quade Green. But once more the other Wildcats answered: Cartier Diarra slashed through the lane for a twisting layup and was fouled as the ball fell through the net.

Washington battled on the boards for a couple putbacks and was sent to the foul line in the closing minutes. But he could not put them down.

It allowed Kansas State junior Barry Brown break the tie with on a layup with 19 seconds remaining. Still, after a Kansas State free throw, the Wildcats had a chance — but Gilgeous-Alexander missed a potential tying 3-pointer at the final buzzer.

Just like that, Kentucky was disinvited from its own invitational.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.