The No. 13 La Salle Explorers defeated the No. 4 Kansas State Wildcats in a game that shouldn't have been theirs. Leading by almost 20 points at the half, they let Kansas St. rally back, but they couldn't avoid the upset and La Salle advanced to the third round of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament after somehow closing the game and defeating Kansas St. 63-61.
Jerrell Wright sunk 3-4 final free throws to give La Salle the lead and eventually increase their lead to two points as Kansas St. couldn't convert on their final possession despite having a timeout. For Kansas St., it was a shame they couldn't complete a dramatic comeback.
Kansas St. fell behind early on in this one. Five minutes in and it was already a double-digit lead for La Salle. By the end of the half, La Salle led 44-26, holding on to an 18-point lead.
During this period, Ramon Galloway and Wright led the way for La Salle. Galloway finished the game with 19 points and Wright had 21. However, in the second half, it was all Kansas St. as La Salle was completely shut down on offense and Kansas St. depended on their big man, Jordan Henriquez. He scored six of their first 10 points in the second half of this game.
All in all, Henriquez finished with 17 points, 12 rebounds and five blocks as he made his presence felt when the Wildcats needed it most. Shane Southwell also added 17 points on 7-10 shooting and he was 3-3 from three point land.
Kansas St. took their first lead of the game with 7:12 remaining in the game Rodney McGruder grabbed an offensive rebound and then completely the play by laying it up. He made solid contributions in this game scoring 13 points and grabbing five rebounds.
The game remained tied for at 60 for almost two minutes until Henriquez went to the line and sunk 1-2 free throws giving his team the lead. La Salle looked completely drained and they couldn't get good looks as the Kansas St. defense stiffened.
With the score 61-60 and trailing, Wright grabbed a rebound and was fouled by Henriquez. He sunk both free throws giving La Salle a 62-61 lead. Then grabbed another rebound after a Kansas St. miss and was fouled again. He made 1-2 free throws increasing the lead 63-61. Angel Rodriguez rushed the ball up, but was trapped and hurled a desperation jumper that was nowhere near the basket.
La Salle will attempt to continue their upsetting streak alive as they will face off against Ole Miss who also upset Wisconsin Friday afternoon.
