McGruder, held to four points on a 1-of-9 performance in Saturday's loss to Gonzaga, went 12-of-17 from the floor. Thomas Gipson added 14 points and 12 rebounds for his first double-double of the season for the Wildcats (8-2).
Ray Penn hit 6 of 8 3-pointers and finished with 24 points for the Tigers (1-10), who have lost eight straight.
McGruder scored seven points during a 16-3 run early in the second half that pushed Kansas State's lead to 53-38 with 11:48 left. Penn hit three 3-pointers later in a 2:17 span and Lawrence Johnson-Danner added another to cut the lead to 72-66 with 1:14 left.
The Tigers hit six first-half 3-pointers to keep the game tight but the Wildcats closed the first half on an 11-6 run for a 35-31 halftime lead.
GAME NOTEBOOK: The Wildcats have won 27 consecutive non-conference home games in the month of December. ... The Tigers went 13-of-28 from the 3-point line (46.4 percent). ... Kansas State will turn it attention to its third top 15 opponent when it faces Florida in Kansas City on Saturday.
Texas Southern | Kansas St. | |
Ray Penn 24 | Scoring | Rodney McGruder 26 |
Ray Penn 5 | Assists | Angel Rodriguez 5 |
Fred Sturdivant 9 | Rebounds | Thomas Gipson 12 |
Ray Penn 2 | Free Throws Made | Thomas Gipson 4 |
Lawrence Johnson-Danner 2 | Steals | Thomas Gipson 3 |
Fred Sturdivant 2 | Blocks | Thomas Gipson 4 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Texas Southern | 69 | 45.6 | 13-28 | 4-10 | 15 | 23 | 2 | 6 | 13 |
Kansas St. | 78 | 56.4 | 2-13 | 14-22 | 21 | 34 | 4 | 5 | 15 |