http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/sports/colleges/16990114.htmLOUISVILLE, Ky. | Kansas State fans couldn’t help but enjoy watching the McDonald’s All-American Game.
There was Michael Beasley, who will play for coach Bob Huggins and the Wildcats next season, scoring 23 points for the West team and taking home the Most Valuable Player honors after his team escaped with a 114-112 win over the East squad Wednesday night at Freedom Hall.
The West escaped after O.J. Mayo — who Huggins tried to get to K-State but signed with Southern California instead — had a game-winning three-pointer hit the back of the rim in the final seconds.
“Winning the MVP is great, but I’m happier that we got the win,” Beasley said. “O.J., you know he’s going to make that shot most of the time.”
While Beasley had a big night, much of the attention, as it has been all season, centered on Mayo, the highly recruited guard.
Mayo took awhile to get started, missing six of his seven first-half shots and
had to endure chants of “overrated” at times. He collected himself in the second half, finishing with 12 points on four-for-17 shooting.
“He was taking good shots,” teammate Patrick Patterson said. “You could tell they were trying to stop him, but he’s been dealing with that his whole career.”
The West led the entire second half, but had to survive a handful of surges by the East. The East drew within one possession several times in the final minutes, but couldn’t quite catch up.
The East trailed by two when it got a steal with 10 seconds left. Mayo came down and pulled up for a three-pointer from the top of the key but missed. Florida-bound Nick Calathes got the rebound, but his floater was long at the buzzer.
J.J. Hickson, who will play at North Carolina State next year, led the East with 14 points.
UCLA-bound Kevin Love had 13 points and six rebounds for the West and Eric Gordon, who is going to Indiana, added 13 points. Jerryd Bayless, who will play at Arizona, had 11 points and Duke signee Kyle Singler scored 10.
Kansas recruit Cole Aldrich, a 6-11 center, had six points for the West.
