PITTSBURGH – Behind 30 points from Rodney McGruder, No. 8 seed Kansas State (22-10) survived a hard-fought battle with No. 9 seed Southern Mississippi (25-9) 70-64, to advance to the third round of the NCAA Tournament.

McGruder went 11-for-16 from the field, and Southern Miss couldn’t handle Wildcats big man Jordan Henriquez in the paint. Kansas State advances to the third round on Saturday, where it will play the winner of the Syracuse-UNC Asheville matchup.

McGruder poured in 18 of his 30 points in the first half as KSU took a 30-27 lead into the break. The Golden Eagles caught fire from deep early in the second half and built a five-point lead with 13 minutes left, but they never found an answer for the 6-foot-11 Henriquez on the interior.

The Wildcats big man finished with 15 points, nine rebounds and six blocks and did most of his scoring damage at the free throw line. He went 9-of-10 at the charity stripe to help Kansas State retake the lead.

Southern Miss pulled within 64-61 with one minute left but couldn’t hit on back-to-back triples as KSU held on for the win.

zjbrown13@syr.edu