Kansas St. 71, Central Florida 59

MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP)—Marques Hayden had 16 points and 10 rebounds and Pervis Pasco added 11 points and 15 rebounds to lead Kansas State past Central Florida 71-59 Monday night.

Kansas State (9-4) survived a Central Florida (9-5) comeback to win its seventh straight, tying the team’s longest winning streak since 1998.

The Wildcats finished non-conference play with the best record in coach Jim Wooldridge’s three years, and are off to their best start since 1998, when they started 11-2.

After leading 43-33 at halftime, the Wildcats started the second half shooting 1-of-10, letting the Golden Knights cut their lead to only four points with 7:06 left. Central Florida stayed close before Gilson DeJesus and Tim Ellis made back-to-back layups to put Kansas State up by nine with 3:02 left.

Kansas State made 5-of-6 free throws in the final two minutes to seal the win.

Gilson DeJesus had 16, Tim Ellis scored 14 and Frank Richards had 11 for the Wildcats.

Ed Dotson led Central Florida with 18. Dexter Lyons and Troy Lindbeck added 10 each.

Kansas State made its first six shots of the game and took an early 17-9 lead. The Wildcats led by as many as 15 before Marcus Boyd scored five straight to end the half.

Kansas State opens Big 12 play against Texas Tech Saturday.