MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Junior Shane Southwell made two free throws with 21 seconds left, then blocked Gary Browne's layup attempt with a second left to preserve No. 18 Kansas State's 65-64 win over West Virginia on Saturday.

Southwell and reigning Big 12 Player of the Week Rodney McGruder both scored a game-high 17 for Kansas State (13-2, 2-0 Big 12), which extended its season-best winning streak to six games.  It is the longest winning streak for the Wildcats since running off six in a row from Dec. 11, 2011. 

K-State is 2-0 in Big 12 play for just the second time since the league’s inception in 1997 and for the first time since the 2007-08 team won its first five conference contests.

Senior Jabarie Hinds had a career-high 15 points for West Virginia (8-7, 1-2 Big 12), while junior Aaric Murray and freshman Terry Henderson added 11 and 10 points, respectively.

After Southwell's free throws, West Virginia had two chances to retake the lead.  But Hinds missed a wild jumper from 16 feet with 12 seconds left.  The Mountaineers got the rebound and called its last timeout with 9.1 seconds remaining.

After K-State responded with its own timeout, sophomore Angel Rodriguez was able to tip the inbounds pass away from Hinds into the backcourt.  Browne grabbed the loose ball, dribbled the length of the court and attempted a layup, which Southwell swatted away just before the final buzzer.

The Wildcats led by as many as seven points in the second half before the Mountaineers made run to take its last lead at 56-54 on a Hinds jumper and a free throw by Murray with 5:31 to play.  However, Rodriguez gave the squad the lead for good with an arching 3-pointer just 20 seconds later at 57-56. 

Both teams shot remarkably well with each converting on more 51 percent of its field goals with West Virginia edging K-State, 51.1 percent to 51 percent.  The Wildcats were able to score 19 points off of 14 Mountaineer turnovers, while allowing just 11 on their own 14 miscues.  The squad is now 12-1 on the season when out-scoring its opponents in points off turnovers.  K-State also won the battle of boards, 28-27, and now are a perfect 12-0 this season when out-rebounding an opponent.

In addition to double figure efforts by McGruder and Southwell, Rodriguez and senior Jordan Henriquez each added nine points.  Henriquez led the rebounding effort with seven.
 
The win continued a remarkable turnaround for K-State on the road, as the Wildcats have now won five consecutive road games, including four in a row in Big 12 play, dating back to last season.  Since winning just 10 of its first 80 road games in conference play from 1997 to 2006, the Wildcats have now posted a 26-24 record away from home in Big 12 play in the last seven seasons. 

K-State held a 36-33 edge at halftime, as both teams shot over 64 percent from the field in the first half.  Henriquez gave the Wildcats the lead with an old-fashioned 3-point play with 3:37 remaining then followed with a dunk just 27 seconds later.  Southwell finished off the half with a jumper.

Kansas State concludes its short two-game road trip on Wednesday with its first trip to TCU (9-6, 0-2 Big 12) since 1969 for 8 p.m. CT tip against the Horned Frogs on ESPNU.