KANSAS STATE 78, NO. 3 MISSOURI 68: Rodney McGruder had 14 of his game-high 24 points in the first half to help Kansas State deal Missouri its first home loss.

Thomas Gipson finished with 13 points and Jamar Samuels added 11 points and 10 rebounds for the Wildcats (19-8, 8-7 Big 12), who earned their first season sweep over the Tigers (25-3, 12-3 Big 12) since 2006-07.

The win, Kansas State’s second in four days against a top-10 opponent, should erase any doubt that the Wildcats are headed for a third straight NCAA Tournament appearance. At 8-7 in Big 12 play, K-State is fifth in the standings — a full game ahead of Texas.

Missouri, meanwhile, jeopardized its chances of winning its first-ever Big 12 title. The Tigers are now a half-game behind first-place Kansas, whom they’ll play on Saturday at Allen Fieldhouse.

Kansas State took a 40-30 lead at the half and quickly extended the advantage to 61-45 on McGruder’s layup with 12:31 left. The Wildcats, who shot 51.9 percent, made nine of their first 11 shots of the second half.

But the Tigers, as they usually do, stormed back late. They used a 15-2 run to pull within 63-60 with 6:43 left. K-State, however, hit big shots down the stretch — extending the lead to as many as 10 and hanging on to win by that margin.

Michael Dixon had a team-high 21 points for Missouri, which fell to 15-1 at home. Marcus Denmon had 19 and Ricardo Ratliffe added nine points and a game-high 14 rebounds.

The Tigers shot just 38 percent from the field and were outrebounded 34-27.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Jordan Henriquez finished with four blocks and is now K-State’s all-time leader in blocked shots … The Wildcats improved to 98-15 under Frank Martin when leading at the half … Samuels became the 12th player in K-State history to score more than 1,200 points ... Kansas State won back-to-back games versus top-10 opponents for the first time.