MANHATTAN — Cole Aldrich rarely shows emotion on the court.

But Aldrich, a sophomore center, couldn’t help it after he made a made a shot under the basket while being fouled near the end of Saturday’s 85-74 victory against Kansas State.

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Kansas Basketball vs. Kansas State

A photo gallery of the men's basketball game against Kansas State.

He flexed, yelled and turned around to greet junior guard Sherron Collins with a chest bump.

“It was a big play,” Aldrich said. “It got me excited.”

The only thing more surprising than Aldrich’s outburst was the fact that Kansas coach Bill Self didn’t have a similar reaction. Self has complained all season that the Jayhawks got away from passing the ball in to Aldrich when the game is on the line.

He couldn’t complain Saturday at Bramlage Coliseum. The Jayhawks relied on their big man to will them to victory.

Aldrich’s three-point play that inspired his uncharacteristic celebration came in the middle of a two-minute stretch in which he scored seven points. Before Aldrich’s takeover, K-State trailed only 67-65 with 5 minutes and 30 seconds remaining. After it, the Wildcats were never able to cut it to a one-possession game again.

Aldrich led the Jayhawks with 21 points, seven rebounds and a block. For once, Self could praise Kansas for sticking to the plan of getting Aldrich the ball.

“We couldn’t get the ball into our offense for a while so we just said, ‘Hey, we’re going to bring everyone high and throw it over the top,’” Self said. “And he delivered.”

Early in the game, it looked as if Aldrich would never get the chance to make a difference for the Jayhawks. K-State dominated.

Wildcat guard Denis Clemente scored 16 points in the opening 15 minutes. At its peak, K-State led 30-14 after Clemente blew past freshman guard Travis Releford for a layup.

For Self, this was hard to watch. He didn’t like the looks on his players’ faces. Their defensive inability frustrated him. Self called a timeout.

“We were letting them totally dictate what was going on out there,” Self said. “It’s one thing to not play well, but another thing to let it happen. We were letting it happen.”

Self told the Jayhawks that if they calmed down and played defense, they could cut their deficit to seven or eight points at halftime. Collins was optimistic. He thought they could get it to six.

They both underestimated. Sophomore guard Brady Morningstar swished a three-pointer — Morningstar went a perfect 4-for-4 from three-point range for 12 points — two seconds before halftime to cut the score to 43-42.

“Amazing that we could come from 16 down to one at halftime,” Self said.

But the heroics weren’t over. K-State jumped back on top after halftime at 49-44.

Then, Kansas went on a 17-2 run. The height of the stretch came when Collins floated a pass from half court down to Aldrich at the other end.

Aldrich felt a slight push on his back from freshman guard Tyshawn Taylor and knew he had to go get the ball. He leapt up and threw down a crowd-silencing alley-oop.

“I knew it was the right pass,” Collins said. “I even jumped after I threw it. I was just waiting for Cole to go get it.” Collins finished with 19 points and six assists.

Moments after Collins’ lob, Clemente — who finished with a game-high 26 points, five rebounds and three assists — received a technical foul for intentionally elbowing Morningstar in the back.

Collins made both free throws and sophomore guard Tyrel Reed made a three-pointer on the possession awarded for the penalty. Clemente’s gaffe was a five-point swing for the Jayhawks.

“It turned out to be a pretty big play for us,” Self said.

Kansas did everything right in the second half. At one point, it made 15 consecutive free throws.

Freshman forward Marcus Morris played a key role and finished with a career-high 15 points with seven rebounds. Most importantly, the Jayhawks went to Aldrich when it mattered.

Self said it was probably the best road victory in his tenure at Kansas. Aldrich put it another way.

“The best way to say it is, we’re maturing as a team,” Aldrich said. “We’re growing together.”

— — Edited by Sonya English