Cartier Martin scored five points in the final 27 seconds to help Kansas State hold on and defeat Nebraska 66-64 Wednesday.

Kansas State (15-11, 6-9 Big 12) used an 8-0 run to take a 41-31 lead on Deilvez Yearby's free throw early in the second half.

Nebraska (17-11, 7-8) responded with 10-2 run in the next three minutes to cut the lead to 43-41 on a Jason Dourisseau jumper.

But the Cornhuskers could get no closer until the game's final minute.

The Wildcats led by six after David Hoskins' 10-foot leaner put them up 59-53 with 1:49 left.

The Huskers cut the lead to three on Wes Wilkinson's jumper that made the score 60-57 with 59 seconds remaining.

Martin answered that basket with a putback after an offensive rebound. Then after a Nebraska free throw, Martin added a pair of free throws of his own to put the Wildcats up 64-58 with 20 seconds remaining.

After another Yearby free throw, Nebraska's Marcus Walker hit a 3 pointer that made the score 65-61. Jamel White stole the ensuing inbound pass and hit another 3 that pulled the Huskers to within one at 65-64 with 3.1 seconds left.

Martin hit a free throw with 2.2 seconds remaining and White's last second 3-point attempt was blocked by Akeem Wright to seal the win for the Wildcats.

Martin led Kansas State with 16 points. Hoskins had 14 and Wright finished with 11.

Aleks Maric and Wilkinson had 16 each to lead Nebraska. Dourisseau had 14 for the Huskers.

Kansas State junior guard Cartier Martin became just the third Wildcat since the inception of the Big 12 to be named to the coaches’ all-conference second team on Monday in an announcement by the league office. 

 

A native of Houston, Texas, Martin follows former teammate Jeremiah Massey (2004-05) and Larry Reid (2001-02) as the only other Wildcats to earn second team All-Big 12 honors in the last 10 seasons.  He is just the fifth player in school history to be selected to one of the three all-conference teams in the Big 12 era by the league coaches and the 13^th overall to earn either first, second, third or honorable mention accolades since the inception of the league in 1996-97.

 

Co-champions Texas and Kansas swept most of the major awards announced by the conference.  Junior P.J. Tucker and sophomore LaMarcus Aldridge were named as the Big 12 Player and Defensive Player of the Year for the Longhorns, while freshman Brandon Rush and head coach Bill Self were honored as the league’s Freshman and Coach of the Year for the Jayhawks.  Oklahoma junior Michael Neal was named the Newcomer of the Year.

Tucker was the only unanimous selection to the All-Big 12 first team, which also included Aldridge, Rush, Colorado’s Richard Roby and Texas Tech’s Jarrius Jackson.  Martin was joined on the second team by Iowa State’s Curtis Stinson, Oklahoma duo Terrell Everett and Taj Gray and Texas A&M’s Joseph Jones.  The third team included Iowa State’s Will Blalock, Missouri’s Thomas Gardner, Texas duo Brad Buckman and Daniel Gibson and Texas A&M’s Acie Law.   

 

The team leader in both scoring (18.3) and rebounding (6.7), Martin also paced the squad in 10 other categories, including starts (27), minutes (33.0), 20-point games (13), double-figure scoring (25), field goals (158), 3-point field goals (50), free throws (128), free throw percentage (83.7), defensive rebounds (117) and steals (1.0).  His current 18.3 points per game average is on track to be the best by a Wildcat since Askia Jones averaged 22.1 points during the 1993-94 season.         

 

Martin ranks among the top 10 in six categories in the Big 12, including first in free throw percentage, fourth in scoring, seventh in field goal percentage, ninth in defensive rebounds and 10th in rebounding and minutes.  He is one of just three Big 12 players to be ranked among the league’s top 10 in scoring, rebounding, double-doubles, field goal percentage and free throw percentage.  

 

Kansas State (15-12, 6-10 Big 12), which is seeded ninth in the upcoming Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship, will play eighth-seeded Texas Tech (14-16, 6-10 Big 12) on Thursday at 11:30 a.m. at American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.