MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) – Barry Brown scored 15 of his 25 points in the second half and No. 12 Kansas State held off pesky Denver 64-56 on Monday night.

Dean Wade and Xavier Sneed each had 12 points for the Wildcats (2-0), who have won 25 consecutive home games against nonconference opponents. Wade added 16 rebounds and four assists.

Joe Rosga paced the Pioneers (1-1) with 18 points. Ronnie Harrell Jr. and Ade Murkey scored 14 apiece. Harrell also grabbed 12 rebounds.

Kansas State pulled this one out despite shooting 38 percent from the field, including 6 of 27 (22 percent) from 3-point range. The Wildcats were terrible at the foul line, too, going 12 for 27.

But the Pioneers were hurt by 17 turnovers, and they forced only nine.

Sneed got the Wildcats going in the first 10 minutes as he scored seven of the first nine points for Kansas State.

Denver held a 12-11 lead with nine minutes left in the first half before Kansas State went on a 7-0 run highlighted by Brown’s dunk. The Pioneers kept the game close with a 7-0 spurt to end the half and trailed 31-28 going into the locker room.

BIG PICTURE

Denver showed it they can compete with a ranked team. The Pioneers will need to play even better in a month when they face No. 3 Gonzaga on the road.

Kansas State struggled with a low-major program for the second straight game, a bit concerning for a team hoping to contend for a Big 12 title this season. The Wildcats will play more lower-tier teams in the Paradise Jam, but those games won’t be in the comfort of Bramlage Coliseum.

UP NEXT

Denver gears up for a home game against Abilene Christian on Thursday night.

Kansas State travels to the U.S. Virgin Islands to participate in the Paradise Jam, where the Wildcats will play Eastern Kentucky in the first round Friday night. A potential matchup with former Big 12 foe Missouri would be Monday night in the championship game if both teams win their first two games in the tournament.

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) – Lagerald Vick was 8 of 8 from beyond the 3-point arc and scored a career-high 32 points, Udoka Azubuike added 23 points and 10 rebounds, and second-ranked Kansas slogged its way to an 84-68 victory over Vermont on Monday night.

The Jayhawks (2-0) were jumped by Duke for the top spot in the AP poll earlier in the day, even though they beat then-No. 10 Michigan State in the Champions Classic last week. And for most of their game against the Catamounts (1-1), they did little to prove the voters wrong.

Kansas led just 40-36 at halftime before two big runs allowed coach Bill Self to breathe easy.

Anthony Lamb had 24 points, Ernie Duncan added 17 and Stef Smith scored 13 for the Catamounts, who have lost nine straight to ranked teams dating to a win over Boston College in 2006.

The Catamounts looked as if that streak might end when they went on an early 18-4 run, hitting a series of quick 3-pointers while double-teaming Azubuike on defense whenever he got the ball.

The Jayhawks’ 7-footer still muscled his way to 12 first-half points.

But while the Catamounts sent waves of bodies at Azubuike inside, and made fellow Kansas forward Dedric Lawson a non-factor, they didn’t account for Vick on the perimeter.

After struggling mightily in the Jayhawks’ season-opening win over the Spartans, Vick poured in four first-half 3s and piled up 16 points. Most of them came while the Jayhawks struggled to run offense through their two freshman guards, Devon Dotson and Quentin Grimes.

Eventually, the Jayhawks’ depth and talent wore down Vermont.

It was 44-40 before Azubuike added another of his rim-rattling dunks and then scored on a putback. Vick followed a jumper with his sixth 3-pointer and added his seventh a couple of minutes later as the Jayhawks’ lead swelled to 61-45 midway through the second half.

Vermont went on one last run to get its deficit under 10, but Azubuike added two more baskets and Vick curled in his eighth 3-pointer. That matched Mario Chalmers for the most in the Self era at Kansas and left Vick trailing only Terry Brown, who hit 11 in a game in 1991.

Vick finished 12 of 14 from the field in helping Kansas win its 46th straight home opener.

BIG PICTURE

Vermont: The favorites to win America East did nothing to diminish their outlook, standing toe-to-toe with the reigning Big 12 champs for nearly 30 minutes. In a league where they should match up better physically, keep an eye on Vermont to roll toward another NCAA Tournament appearance.

Kansas: Lawson followed his excellent debut against the Spartans, when he had 20 points and 14 boards, with a dud at the Phog. The transfer from Memphis and the Big 12’s preseason player of the year was held scoreless on 0-for-6 shooting.

UP NEXT

Vermont plays its home opener against Northern Vermont-Lyndon on Wednesday night.

Kansas plays Louisiana on Friday night before heading to New York for the NIT semifinals.

HMS

Hays Middle School 7th and 8th Grade girls’ basketball games scheduled for today (11-12-18) are postponed due to weather. They will be played on Tue., Dec. 4th.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Patrick Mahomes will always have some special TV footage of the Kansas City Chiefs celebrating his record-setting touchdown pass in a win over the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.

That’s because Tyreek Hill was the one recording it.

Mahomes threw for 249 yards at was too with two TD strikes to Hill, but it was the second one that sent the Chiefs’ first-year starter past Hall of Famer Len Dawson for the single-season TD record. It was the 31st for Mahomes — with six games yet to play — and it helped lift Kansas City to a 26-14 victory over the Cardinals and another game closer to the No. 1 seed in the playoffs.

Hill celebrated the score by leaping into the stands, then commandeering the CBS camera — earning him an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty from the officials and a sharp rebuke from coach Andy Reid.

“The celebration just came into my head,” Hill said. “For him to come in and do that, that’s amazing, man. People doubted him — ‘He wasn’t going to do this, he wasn’t going to do that.’ I’m proud of him.”

Hill had seven catches for 117 yards. Kareem Hunt pounded his way for 71 yards rushing. The defense came up with five sacks and two picks. And the Chiefs’ special teams were nearly perfect, helping to keep the Cardinals (2-7) winless in six meetings at Arrowhead Stadium.

“It was definitely a grind out there,” Hunt said, “and definitely a team that was trying to come up big in a big-time win to get their program back on track, but most importantly we got the win.”

Josh Rosen had 195 yards passing with a touchdown, but two interceptions and several brutal hits in the fourth quarter no doubt left a lasting impression. David Johnson ran for 98 yards with TDs on the ground and through the air, while Larry Fitzgerald had six catches for 50 yards and passed Terrell Owens for No. 2 on the NFL’s career receiving yardage list in the closing minutes.

Fitzgerald has 15,952 yards in 15-year career, trailing only Hall of Famer Jerry Rice.

“I’m pretty close to T.O. His friendship and my relationship with him is valuable to me. He means a great deal to me,” Fitzgerald said. “It’s frustrating that it comes in another loss.”

The Chiefs’ weekly air show got started on the game’s first play, when Hill ran right past Patrick Peterson to haul in a 38-yard reception. Two plays later, Hill ran past the rest of the Arizona defense and Mahomes found him streaking into the end zone for a 37-yard scoring catch.

Arizona answered with a time-consuming 75-yard touchdown drive of its own.

Both defenses fared better the rest of the half, with the Cardinals sacking Mahomes four times and the Chiefs’ rejuvenated defense getting enough pressure to keep Rosen uncomfortable.

The Chiefs finally reached the end zone again when Mahomes zipped a third-and-goal pass into double coverage to Hill, who cradled it for his quarterback’s record-setting score.

“Listen, he’s had a heck of a year,” Reid said of Mahomes, who was not available after the game because of a family emergency. “He’s played his heart out and I love the backside of that, how he goes about his business. He has a lot on his plate as far as responsibility goes to run the offense.”

As for Hill’s touchdown celebration?

“That was too much,” Reid said, hiding a smile. “I was not happy.”

The Cardinals stuck with Johnson in the second half, and they slowly grinded their way to another touchdown. He carried it six times and finished a 12-play, 61-yard drive with a TD plunge to get Arizona within 20-14 midway through the third quarter.

But after the Cardinals got the ball back early in the fourth, Rosen had a screen pass picked by Justin Houston at the line of scrimmage. And instead of marching for a go-ahead TD, the Cardinals watched Spencer Ware dive in for a touchdown to extend a lead the Chiefs would never relinquish.

“Thought the guys fought to the end,” Cardinals coach Steve Wilks said. “There are no moral victories in this game. All credit goes to Kansas City. Well-prepared, good football team.”

QUOTABLE

“I think we did a couple things really well. We’ve just got to duplicate it. Our opening drives were pretty long and sustainable, and kept our defense off the field. We had pretty well-timed possessions. A little good nugget here and there, but some bad things to clean up.” — Rosen.

COIN-TOSS LOSS

The Chiefs lost their first coin toss all season when the Cardinals successfully called tails. They deferred to the second half, forcing Kansas City to start on offense for the first time.

INJURIES

Cardinals: WR Chad Williams (ankle), LG Mike Iupati (back) and DL Robert Nkemdichi (calf) were inactive. … RG Justin Pugh left early in the second half with a knee injury.

Chiefs: WR Sammy Watkins (foot), SS Eric Berry (heel), LB Frank Zombo (hamstring) and OL Mitch Morse (concussion) were inactive. … Houston (hamstring) was active for the first time since Oct. 7.

UP NEXT

Arizona returns home to face the Raiders next Sunday.

Kansas City faces the Rams next Monday night in Mexico City.