Bring On The Cats, a Kansas State Wildcats community

James Allen struck out the final two batters with the tying run at second base in the ninth inning and Kansas State defeated No. 12 Oklahoma 4-3 on Friday night in an elimination game at the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship at RedHawks Field at Bricktown in Oklahoma City. The sixth-seeded Wildcats, now 2-1 in the tournament, improved to 36-22 on the year and advanced to play against No. 2 seed Texas A&M at 12:30 p.m. today. K-State, which has won eight of its last 10 games, defeated Oklahoma for a fourth time this season — the most wins against the Sooners in a season since 1990.

Freshman second baseman Ross Kivett singled on a full-count pitch with two outs in the bottom of the 10th to give Kansas State an 11-10 walkoff win over Kansas in the series opener Friday night at Tointon Family Stadium. K-State improved to 32-21 and 10-14 in Big 12 play in its quest to claim a spot in next week's Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship. The Wildcats need one victory in the final two games of the series to earn the tourney's final berth.

Jacob Pullen and Curtis Kelly combined for 30 points in their final home game as Kansas State clinched the No. 4 seed in next week’s Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship with a 67-55 win over Iowa State on Senior Day at Bramlage Coliseum. After starting the Big 12 season 1-4, the Wildcats (22-9, 10-6) have won eight of their last nine and will go into next week's Big 12 Tournament as the hottest team in the league. Pullen was given a standing ovation in Senior Day ceremonies before the game, and the sellout crowd again came to its feet with a few seconds to go when Frank Martin substituted for the guard, who is one of only two K-State players to score more than 2,000 career points.

Basketball has a long and rich tradition in the state of Kansas, and it again will be on the national radar in 2011, as ESPN announced Wednesday that the Kansas State-Kansas men’s basketball game will serve as the host for the popular College Gameday Driven by State Farm show on Saturday, Jan. 29, at Allen Fieldhouse. The Dillons Sunflower Showdown will mark a special anniversary for all Kansans, as it will serve to honor the 150th anniversary of statehood and the 271st meeting between the state’s two flagship universities. The teams met three times last season, including in the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship. It will mark the third time in four seasons that the College Gameday show has featured the rivalry, beginning first in Lawrence on March 1, 2008, and most recently from Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan on Jan. 30, 2010.