The Kansas State Wildcats never lead by more than five points and Ole Miss never lead by more than four in the inaugural Big 12/SEC Challenge.

The Wildcats took the lead early and seemed to never let it get to far out of their hands winning 61-58.

Bruce Weber, KSU Head Coach called the win huge, “It’s a huge win for us there’s no doubt. We didn’t play very well and I’m not sure we coached very well but we fought and toughed it out.”

Ole Miss took there final lead with 4:48 to play and stretched it to four 49-53 before the Wildcats surged back. Between Thomas Gipson and Marcus Foster the Wildcats were able to regain the lead for good.

K-State was led in scoring by Thomas Gipson and Marcus Foster who had 15 points each. Foster’s 3-point shot with 1:22 left in the game gave the Wildcats a four point lead. “It was a big shot knowing that my shot hadn’t really been falling from the three,” Foster said.

A missed 3-point shot with :03 seconds to play by Marshall Henderson, the stand out guard for Ole Miss, put the game in the hands of K-State. A foul on the rebound by Ole Miss sent Wesley Iwundu to the free throw line with :01 seconds left. Iwundu went 1-1 from the charity stripe and sealed the win for the Wildcats.

After the game Andy Kennedy, Ole Miss Head Coach, said that the students at K-State really impressed him.

“You guys are a little spoiled, we don’t see that very often. In our league obviously Kentucky you’re going to go there and play infront of 23,000 and you go to Arkansas and play in front of 18,000 but not like that. They were really into it. I thought it made for a very festive fun college environment,” Kennedy said.

Thursday night’s attendance was 11,990.

The Wildcats will play South Dakota next Tuesday at Bramlage Coliseum. That game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. tip.