Freshman Davion Bradford's two free throws with 44 seconds left proved to be just enough cushion as Kansas State held on to defeat Milwaukee 76-75 Friday night in Manhattan, Kan.

Bradford's foul shots gave the Wildcats a 76-69 lead. Kansas State's Nijel Pack's missed twice from the foul line with 1.8 seconds remaining, but the Panthers couldn't get off a shot at the buzzer.

The Wildcats (2-4) bounced back from an embarrassing Tuesday loss to Division II Fort Hays State. The Friday contest was the season opener for Milwaukee, which had multiple games canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Newcomers stole the show for Kansas State as Bradford scored a season-high 18. Freshman Selton Miguel had a season-best 17 points, transfer Rudy Williams had a season-high 16 and freshman Pack contributed 12. Senior Mike McGuirl chipped in 11 plus a career-high eight assists.

Kansas State head coach Bruce Weber, who graduated in 1978 from the school then known as Wisconsin-Milwaukee, had been searching for scoring all season. The Wildcats hadn't scored more than 70 points before Friday.

The Panthers were led by DeAndre Gholston with 15 points. He was joined in double figures by Grant Coleman (14 points), Te'Jon Lucas (11) and Josh Thomas (10). Lucas, the leading returning scorer for the Panthers, shot just 2-for-10 from the field.

When McGuirl hit the first of two free throws at the 14:58 mark of the first half, Kansas State had its first lead in three games. The Wildcats had fallen behind 7-0 to start the game before scoring the next 14 points, holding the Panthers scoreless for 6:34.

Milwaukee eventually retook the lead. There were five lead changes before Kansas State took a 38-31 halftime lead.

Miguel, Bradford and Pack combined for 28 of Kansas State's 38 first-half points. Miguel led the Wildcats with 12 and Bradford added 10. Gholston led the Panthers with eight points before halftime.

For the game, the Wildcats shot 54.7 percent from the floor while Milwaukee hit 41.5 percent of its field-goal attempts. The Panthers posted a 34-30 rebounding edge.

--Field Level Media