MANHATTAN, Kan. — Jerome Tang no longer has a perfect record against Kansas State’s biggest basketball rival inside Bramlage Coliseum.

The Kansas Jayhawks defeated the Wildcats, 86-62, on Saturday to end a three-game losing streak in this building.

K-State (10-10, 1-6 Big 12) pushed KU (15-5, 5-2) for most of the night. The Jayhawks led just 37-35 at halftime. But Kansas pulled away in the final moments and its players celebrated in front of a dejected crowd.

The Jayhawks won without Darryn Peterson in the lineup, as he missed the game with an injury.

The Wildcats were also not at full strength, as Abdi Bashir, Khamari McGriff, Elias Rapieque and Mobi Ikegwuruka all missed the game.

Up next for K-State is a road game against West Virginia.

Until then, here are takeaways from Saturday’s action:

K-State isn’t built to win low-scoring games

The Wildcats are at their best when they play fast, make 3-pointers and force their opponent to try and beat them in a shootout.

But they don’t play strong enough defense to win low-scoring games.

This stat says it all: the Wildcats are 0-6 when they fail to score at least 81 points this season.

They simply didn’t have enough fire power to challenge Kansas until the bitter end. PJ Haggerty led the way with 23 points and Andrej Kostic had 12. But no other K-State player reached double figures.

Kostic was a spark plug off the bench

If there is a silver lining to K-State missing four players this week, it is that Andrej Kostic has finally gotten an opportunity to show off his offensive skills.

The Serbian wing has been relegated to the bench for most of the season. Tang has chosen not to play him a single minute in five games, mostly because he is still learning how to play defense at a Big 12 level.

But there is a hole in K-State’s backcourt without Abdi Bashir in the lineup, so Kostic has been thrust into action.

He responded by making a pair of 3-pointers during an 81-78 victory over Utah. Then he followed it up with four more 3-pointers against Kansas.

Buca made a huge difference in the paint

The tallest player on the floor used his size to his advantage in this game.

Dorin Buca, a 7-foot-2 center from Italy, gave the Wildcats his best effort whenever he was in the paint.

He scored six points, grabbed 11 rebounds and made the Jayhawks think twice about every shot they attempted from close range.

His impact was felt the most when he went to the bench. All of a sudden, things were much easier for Kansas without a rim protector in the way.

Buca has been a steady contributor for K-State all season, but he has rarely played extended minutes as he has mostly come off the bench behind Khamari McGriff. But with McGriff sidelined with an injury, Buca saw 26 minutes of action against the Jayhawks.

He has proven he can handle a bigger workload and help the Wildcats for an entire game in the paint.

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