STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) — Kansas State’s Dean Wade didn’t know he had a perfect shooting night going from the field until assistant coach Chris Lowery told him.

“Honestly, I had no idea,” Wade said. “I didn’t really know until the very end, when coach Lowery said something to me about, ‘Oh, you just don’t want to shoot, don’t want to mess up your percentage.’ I was like, ‘What are you talking about?'”

Wade scored a season-high 24 points on 9 of 9 shooting to help Kansas State defeat Oklahoma State 75-57 on Saturday night. It was just the seventh time in school history that a Kansas State player had a perfect shooting night with at least nine attempts. He also made three 3-pointers.

Barry Brown scored 18 points and Cartier Diarra added 10 for the Wildcats (16-5, 6-2 Big 12), who entered the night tied for the conference lead.

The Wildcats were ranked seventh out of 10 Big 12 teams in 3-point percentage during league games and 10th in all games before Saturday. They made 16 against Oklahoma State, the most in school history for a conference game and the second-most overall.

“I’ve said all among we could be a good shooting team,” Kansas State coach Bruce Weber said. “We should be. The ball movement was really spectacular. Kind of what we’d hoped all year.”

In a building where Oklahoma State has pulled numerous upsets the past two seasons, the Wildcats were unusually comfortable.

“I think a lot of the credit has to go to the coaching staff,” Wade said. “The scouts — they put so much time into the scouts, and it gives us just a great base of how we’re going to play. We went out tonight and executed.”

Curtis Jones scored 14 points and Lindy Waters added 12 for the Cowboys (9-12, 2-6).

Oklahoma State hung tough for a while, but a putback dunk by Kansas State’s Makol Mawien put the Wildcats ahead by 13 late in the first half. Brown hit a 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer to give Kansas State 43-27 advantage. Kansas State shot 61.5 percent before the break.

Oklahoma State didn’t score for more than six minutes to start the second half as Kansas State pulled away. The Wildcats led by 34 at one point, and Oklahoma State went on a 13-0 scoring run late in the game to make the game seem closer.

“They shot the ball better than what they have all season, and a team that’s that good defensively shooting the ball that well offensively — you’re in for a tough game then,” Oklahoma State guard Thomas Dziagwa said.

BIG PICTURE

Kansas State: The Wildcats won their sixth straight conference game, and their fourth straight by double digits. Other than a loss to Texas A&M in the SEC/Big 12 challenge, the Wildcats have been dominant lately and could make their way into the Top 25.

Oklahoma State: The Cowboys were scrappy for a while, but they were simply overmatched. It was Oklahoma State’s fourth straight conference loss. The long-term effects of four players leaving the program or being kicked off the team this season are taking effect.

WADE’S WORLD

Wade has rounded into form since returning from a foot injury. He scored just two points in his first game back, but has been on a tear since then. In his past five games, he’s averaging 18 points on 58 percent shooting, including 53 percent from 3-point range.

STAT LINES

Oklahoma State made just two of nine free throws, making just one in each half. Kansas State made 7 of 12.

HE SAID IT

Oklahoma State forward Cameron McGriff: “It’s a bad loss. It’s just one loss.”

UP NEXT

Kansas State hosts Kansas on Tuesday.

Oklahoma State plays at TCU on Wednesday.

ATLANTA (AP) — Patrick Mahomes’ breathtaking breakthrough season earned him the NFL’s Most Valuable Player award.

The Chiefs quarterback landed a pair of honors at NFL Honors on Saturday night, taking The Associated Press 2018 MVP and Offensive Player of the Year awards. In his second pro season, Mahomes led Kansas City to its first AFC title game since 1993 with some of the most creative and clutch plays the league has seen in years.

“I’m so humbled,” he said. “This is just the beginning. We’ve got a long ways to go.

“It is an honor. It’s a hard award to win. The next award I hope I can get is the Super Bowl.”

Mahomes received 41 votes from a nationwide panel of media members who regularly cover the league. New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees got the other nine.

With only one previous start, Mahomes entered the season as something of a curiosity in Kansas City after the Chiefs traded veteran Alex Smith to open up the job. It didn’t take long to erase any doubts as Mahomes led the Chiefs to their first AFC title game since the 1993 season, throwing for 50 touchdowns, 5,097 yards and had a 113.8 QB rating, trailing only Brees.

Mahomes’ ingenuity — the guy can throw from all angles and make plays inside and outside the pocket — energized the Chiefs’ fan base and excited fans across the league.

“The play is never dead. He can find new ways to get you the ball,” Chiefs All-Pro tight end Travis Kelce said. “It may look like a screwball, a slider here or there, but it’ll get to you eventually.”

Mahomes is the sixth straight quarterback and 11th of the past 12 years to win MVP. No Kansas City player had won the award since the Chiefs joined the NFL in 1970.

Earlier, he was selected as the top offensive player, beating Brees 30 votes to 16.

“Yeah, I mean, it’s awesome … I got put into a great situation,” he said. “I got to learn behind a great quarterback in Alex Smith. I got to be on a team with a lot of playmakers who helped me excel my game and make me look really good on a daily basis. And, then, to be able to go out there and win football games in front of a passionate fan base is something I get the luxury of doing.”

Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald, who will play in Sunday’s Super Bowl against New England, took his second straight Defensive Player of the Year award.

Donald, the only unanimous All-Pro this season and the first Rams player selected for top defensive honor, joins Lawrence Taylor and J.J. Watt as players to win the award in back-to-back seasons. Donald led the NFL with 20½ sacks.

“Any time you put a body of work into it and then it pays off,” Donald said, “and you’re rewarded for it, it means a lot. It’s a blessing.”

Chicago’s Matt Nagy, in his first season with the Bears, was voted Coach of the Year.

Nagy has overseen the development of quarterback Mitchell Trubisky, who blossomed in his second pro season, and saw a defense befitting the “Monsters of the Midway” dominate opponents at times. He is the fifth Bears coach to win the award, joining team founder George Halas (1963, 1965), Mike Ditka (1985, 1988), Dick Jauron (2001) and Lovie Smith (2005).

“It’s crazy to think this is one person, so for me, it’s being a part of this organization and for our players,” Nagy said. “Just being able to believe in what we wanted to do with our culture and then follow through with it.”

Colts quarterback Andrew Luck was chosen the Comeback Player of the Year, following a lost 2017 season to a shoulder injury with a sensational 2018 campaign.

“I truly believe there are players on every team, every roster that could be Comeback Player of the Year in their own ways,” he said. “Honestly, the best part was playing football again — having fun playing football and being pain free.”

Giants running back Saquon Barkley was the top offensive rookie, while the defensive rookie award went to Indianapolis linebacker Darius Leonard.

Described by some as a “generational running back,” Barkley rushed for 1,307 yards and 11 touchdowns behind a weak New York offensive line. He drew 26½ votes and edged Baker Mayfield. The Cleveland quarterback who was selected first overall in the draft, one spot in front of Barkley, earned 21½ votes.

Barkley also made a team-high 91 receptions for 721 yards, and his 2,028 yards from scrimmage led the NFL.

For his work as defensive coordinator of the Chicago Bears, Vic Fangio got the head coaching gig in Denver. He also won The Associated Press 2018 NFL Assistant Coach of the Year Award on Saturday.

Philadelphia Eagles DE Chris Long won the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award for community service.

“I don’t know, I’m very humbled,” Long said. “It’s hard to feel deserving with those guys on stage and, obviously, this guy right here on the statue. It’s a very heavy statue and it makes sense because his legacy is immense. I’m just honored.”

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Kansas coach Bill Self had been waiting most of this season for a moment to galvanize his team.

He may have gotten it during practice on Friday.

First, the Jayhawks lost starting guard Marcus Garrett to a sprained ankle, robbing them of their defensive stopper. Then, they learned that sophomore forward Silvio De Sousa would be ineligible for this season and next after the NCAA determined his guardian had accepted impermissible benefits.

With everything going against them, the No. 11 Jayhawks responded Saturday by throwing haymakers from the opening bell in their showdown with No. 16 Texas Tech. Dedric Lawson piled up 25 points and 10 rebounds, Devon Dotson added 20 points and Kansas cruised to a 79-63 victory over the Red Raiders.

“There comes a point in every season when a team becomes a team,” Self said, “and we’ve been given an opportunity — and maybe fortunately so — that we’ve dealt with some crap, and you can become a team off that, and I hope today is a step toward it.”

Lagerald Vick added 13 points and Ochai Agbaji had 10 for the Jayhawks (17-5, 6-3 Big 12), who came into the showdown of Big 12 title contenders having lost two straight and three of four.

Yet suddenly and unexpectedly, they looked every bit the program that has won 14 straight crowns.

The Jayhawks roared to a 20-point halftime lead against the Red Raiders (17-5, 5-4), the league’s dominant defensive team, then weathered a shaky start to the second half before pulling away again.

It left a stark change in mood in Lawrence from 24 hours earlier.

“You’d have to be an idiot not to understand what we were walking into,” Texas Tech coach Chris Beard said. “Their backs were against the wall. This is how good Coach Self is. There’s too much pride in that locker room. And for whatever reason, we didn’t hear that message.”

Davide Moretti led the Red Raiders with 14 points, but nobody really got on track. Leading scorer Jarrett Culver was held to 10 points on 5-for-17 shooting, the Red Raiders were 6 of 28 from beyond the arc and they continually gave up easy opportunities on the fast break.

“We really came together. That’s what I think our statement was,” Agbaji said. “We had a lot of pressure coming into this game. We didn’t have a really good week, so we had a lot of pressure.”

Lawson got the Jayhawks off to a hot start, draining an early 3-pointer on his way to 16 points and seven boards by the break. Vick also got into the act, knocking down a trio of first-half 3s and at one point gesturing to the Texas Tech bench to bring it on.

The Red Raiders never really did.

Only three times in the first half did Texas Tech score on consecutive trips down the floor, and a team that relies on defense to dictate tempo could not contain the Jayhawks at the other end.

By the time Lawson buried two more 3s, the Jayhawks had a 46-26 lead headed into halftime.

To put its offensive efficiency into perspective, Texas Tech had been holding opponents to an average of 56.8 points. Four times the Red Raiders have allowed 46 points or fewer.

Texas Tech began to pound the paint with Norense Odiase in the second half, but misfires from the foul line prevented the Red Raiders from trimming their deficit. And when they managed to get within 15 points, the Jayhawks would answer with a driving layup or crucial putback.

Or they’d make a key defensive stop a la their opponents.

The lead swelled to 25 down the stretch, and Self was able to empty his bench with a couple of minutes remaining against a team that topped Kansas in Allen Fieldhouse last season.

“Victory favors the team that was more aggressive,” Beard said. “They were more aggressive than us the whole game, every possession, offense and defense.”

MORE ON GARRETT

Kansas announced 30 minutes before tipoff that the sophomore guard would not play, and he’s almost certain to miss Tuesday’s trip to Kansas State. Garrett has become the Jayhawks’ defensive stopper along with averaging 7.2 points and 3.6 assists this season.

NCAA APPEAL

Kansas athletic director Jeff Long said before the game the school will appeal the NCAA’s punishment of De Sousa. At issue is the NCAA’s finding that his guardian, Fenny Falmagne, received a $2,500 payment from a booster or agent but without De Sousa’s knowledge. “If the NCAA is trying to send a message or make a statement through unwarranted punishment,” Long said, “they are doing it through the wrong avenue and with the wrong man.”

UP NEXT

Texas Tech returns home to face West Virginia on Monday night.

Kansas visits the Wildcats for the Sunflower Showdown on Tuesday night.