Nijel Pack scored 16 points, including the game-winning layup with 1:13 to play, as visiting Kansas State landed a final haymaker after a game of counterpunching to beat No. 23 Texas 66-65 on Tuesday in a back-and-forth Big 12 Conference slugfest in Austin, Texas.

Texas led 65-60 with 3:32 remaining but the Wildcats scored the game's final six points to overcome the dominating performance of the Longhorns' Marcus Carr, who had a season-high 25 points, with 16 of those over a seven-minute stretch of the second half.

Carr had a shot to win the game, but it rimmed out with two seconds remaining and Kansas State's Mark Smith corralled the rebound. The Wildcats (10-7, 2-4 Big 12) won their second straight game over a ranked team and avenged a loss at home to Texas on Jan. 4, when it had just seven scholarship players available because of COVID.

Smith poured in 22 points to pace the Wildcats, with Mike McGuirl adding 13 in the win.

Timmy Allen scored 15 points for Texas (13-5, 3-3), which was 1 of 8 from the floor in the closing minutes and dropped its second straight contest. The Longhorns are now 11-1 at home this season.

The Longhorns plodded their way through the first half, using an 8-0 run to take a 13-6 lead after a layup by Jones with 13:52 to play in the period. Texas built a nine-point advantage on two separate occasions, the latest on a 3-pointer by Courtney Ramey at the 9:18 mark.

Kansas State used some timely outside shooting and its defense to get back in the game, clawing to within 30-29 when McGuirl hit a 3-pointer with 2:59 remaining in the half. The Longhorns did not hit a field goal for more than six minutes before Allen's layup with five seconds to play garnered them a 35-31 lead at the break.

Smith led all scorers in the half with 10 points while Allen paced Texas with nine points over the first 20 minutes of play. The Longhorns outshot Kansas State 47.6 percent to 40 percent in the half and were 14 of 16 on their free throws.

--Field Level Media