Kansas St. 72, Colorado 56

Jan 23, 2009, 11:28 pm

BOULDER, Colo. (AP) -- Michael Beasley scored 26 of his game-high 29 points in the second half and had 13 rebounds, leading Kansas State to a 72-56 victory over Colorado Wednesday night.

Beasley was 9-for-15 shooting in the second half. Bill Walker added 18 points for Kansas State (13-4, 3-0 Big 12) which won for the fourth straight time.

The Wildcats beat Colorado for the fourth consecutive time. They hadn't started out 3-0 in conference play since the 1987-88 season.

Richard Roby matched a season high with 27 points. Cory Higgins had 10 for Colorado (9-9, 1-3), which hurt itself by hitting only 17-of-31 free throws.

The Buffaloes got within 34-30 after scoring the first six points of the second half. But Beasley gave Kansas State some breathing room, 37-30, with his first field goal of the game on a two-fisted jam off a steal with 16:20 remaining.

The Wildcats led 45-33 after baskets by Walker and Beasley and 53-38 after Beasley's two free throws. Higgins' layup and a 3-pointer by Xavier Silas cut it to 53-43 with 8:08 to play, but Kansas State went up 64-47 as Beasley scored nine of his team's next 11 points.

Foul trouble limited Beasley to 10 minutes and three points in the first half, but he contributed three free throws in a 15-0 run that put Kansas State up 27-13 with 8:54 left. Roby had eight points the rest of the half as Colorado reduced the gap to 34-26 at halftime.