Updated: January 8, 2012, 11:49 am ET

Kansas State hands Missouri first loss

By HOOPSWORLD
Basketball News & NBA Rumors

Missouri’s lack of depth inside was finally exploited as No. 22 Kansas State dominated the paint and knocked off the undefeated Tigers, 75-59.Kansas State (12-2, 1-1) led the points in the paint battle 46-18. Rodney McGruder led the Wildcats with 20 points and Will Spradling chipped in 14. Kansas State outrebounded No. 6 Missouri (14-1, 1-1) by 14 and forced the Tigers into a season-high 14 turnovers. The Wildcats also swatted away seven shots and held the nation’s best shooting team to just 32.7 percent from the field. Missouri came in averaging 86.2 points per game, second in the country.The Tigers finished the game with just five scholarship players as center Steve Moore and point guard Phil “Flip” Pressey both fouled out. Ricardo Ratliffe, who leads the nation in field goal percentage, played most of the second half with four fouls. Moore and Ratliffe are Missouri’s only scholarship players taller than 6-foot-6. Kansas State jumped out to a 14-4 lead and Missouri went eight minutes without a field goal as the Wildcats led 44-25 at the half. Missouri never got closer than 13 the rest of the way.Missouri got 17 points from Marcus Denmon and 16 from Michael Dixon, but the two combined to shoot just 9-for-25.The loss ends Missouri’s best start since the 1981-82 season. The Tigers haven’t won in Manhattan since 2004.Kansas State improved to 5-3 at home against teams ranked in the Top 10 under Frank Martin.

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