MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Just about everything that could go wrong in the span of a week did for Kansas State, from travel problems that stranded players in airports to injuries that put them on the bench.

Little surprise that the Wildcats struggled to put away Missouri-Kansas City.

Rodney McGruder scored 17 points Saturday night, Thomas Gipson added 13 points and six rebounds and No. 25 Kansas State hung on down the stretch for a 52-44 victory over Missouri-Kansas City that was every bit as ugly as the final score would indicate.

”It wasn’t the prettiest game you’ll ever see,” Kansas State coach Bruce Weber said.

Certainly not as pretty as a week ago.

The Wildcats were coming off an emphatic victory over then-No. 8 Florida, but in between was the Christmas holiday – and all kinds of trouble. Point guard Angel Rodriguez was stranded in his native Puerto Rico due to bad weather, and other players also had trouble getting back from the holiday in time for practice, leaving the Wildcats scrambling to prepare for the ‘Roos.

On top of that, Rodriguez wasn’t able to play because of tendinitis, and backup point guard Martavious Irving had his knee lock up in practice Friday and also was unavailable.

”It’s not an excuse,” McGruder said. ”Coach always talks about situations like this, if guys can’t play. We’re prepared for situations like this. We just have to play better.”

Still, it helps account for a ghastly performance by the Wildcats (10-2).

They shot just 32 percent from the field, went 2 for 10 from beyond the arc and were just 16 of 31 from the foul line. Jordan Henriquez was scoreless in 12 minutes after his breakout game against the Gators, while Will Spradling managed eight points on 2-for-8 shooting.

”Sometimes you have to win different ways,” Weber said, and we won with defense tonight.”

Fred Chatmon had nine points and 16 rebounds for the ‘Roos (4-9), who were within 40-36 with 3:11 remaining before Nino Williams’ three-point play gave the Wildcats some breathing room.

McGruder’s soft floater in the lane moments later helped put the game away.

Thomas Staton finished with 13 points for the ‘Roos, who have lost five straight, including games against Iowa State and then-No. 5 Louisville. Kansas City remained winless in 17 games against teams ranked in the Top 25, including three defeats this season.

”We were in a position to beat a Top 25 team at their place,” Kansas City coach Matt Brown said. ”I don’t think they respected our team. I don’t think they respected our program.”

The Wildcats looked as though they’d have no trouble early on.

Kansas State showed the same kind of tenacious defense that it displayed against the Gators, forcing the ‘Roos into turnovers on four of their first five possessions. Missouri-Kansas City didn’t hit a field goal inside the arc until the 13:12 mark as the Wildcats built a 20-9 lead.

”We talked about how complacency is the biggest enemy of making progress,” Weber said. ”Early on it came easy. Then we missed some layups, missed some putbacks and were not in synch.”

Chatmon had 10 first-half rebounds for the ‘Roos, and his two putbacks late in the half allowed Kansas City to cut into the lead. Staton’s 3-pointer with just over a minute left helped to trim the Wildcats’ advantage to just 25-21 at the break.

Kansas City kept hanging around early in the second half, too.

After a basket by McGruder with 12:59 left gave the Wildcats a 36-29 lead, they failed to score on their next six possessions, turning it over three times. That allowed the ‘Roos to score five quick points and trim the lead to 36-34, the closest they’d been since the opening minute.

”We weren’t intimidated by this atmosphere,” Brown said.

Spradling finally managed to get something going for Kansas State, driving down the right side of the lane and taking advantage of a nice pick by Gipson for an easy layup.

Williams’ three-point play and McGruder’s floater in the lane allowed Kansas State to start getting comfortable, and Williams’ driving basket with 1:38 to go ended the ‘Roos’ upset bid.

”They didn’t back down. We started, I think, 7 of 12 from the floor, and after that it was atrocious,” Weber said. ”A lot of things went wrong and sometimes that happens.”

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Bill Self has a word for how blistering hot his shooters were.

”Unbelievable,” the Kansas coach said.

Hitting 15 of 24 from behind the arc, one short of the school record, No. 6 Kansas romped past American University 89-57 Saturday night before an earsplitting and customary sellout of 16,300 in Allen Fieldhouse.

Travis Releford had 19 points and was 5 for 6 from 3-point range. Elijah Johnson put up five 3-point attempts and missed only one. Naadir Tharpe came off the bench and launched four 3-pointers, hitting three. The Jayhawks (11-1) shot a scorching 63 percent from the floor.

”Travis was on fire,” Self said. ”They played kind of a contain defense. We made them pay by doing that, made a lot of shots.”

Kansas took command with a 21-4 spree in the opening minutes and wound up with six players scoring at least nine points against the outmanned Eagles (4-9). Releford was 7 for 8 from the floor, Johnson finished with 12 points and freshman Perry Ellis had 11 points and 10 rebounds for his first double-double.

”We’ve shot it better here about the last three or four weeks,” Self said. ”Our top-six minute guys had 23 assists and two turnovers. I don’t know if I’ve ever had a team get that many assists with that few turnovers before. It’s the best game Perry’s played. I thought he looked more comfortable than he had been.”

American had one little spurt, opening the second half with a modest 8-2 run, trimming a 53-26 halftime deficit to 55-34. But then Jeff Withey, with an assist from Releford, moved in for a dunk, Releford followed with his fourth 3-pointer and Ellis connected from behind the arc and the runaway was back on.

Stephen Lumpkins had 16 points and six rebounds for the Eagles, who were coming off a 65-48 beating at the hands of then-No. 15 Georgetown. John Schoof had 14 points for American and joined the Jayhawks in the 3-point fest by going 4 for 4 from behind the arc.

”It was tough to defend them,” Lumpkins said. ”We really tried to focus on protecting the rim and not letting them get a bunch of easy dunks. However, it’s tough when a team gets going like Kansas did when they were shooting 3s.”

Kansas held the Eagles to 35 percent shooting and outrebounded them 37-28.

”They were pretty good tonight,” American coach Jeff Jones said. ”We came in really feeling we had to guard them inside and out because Withey is such a factor. The way they were shooting the ball, we were obviously not able to get out to their shooters.”

The Jayhawks drilled five straight 3-pointers during their take-command run in the first half while stretching their home winning streak to 29, second nationally behind only No. 9 Syracuse. From there, it was just a matter of how lopsided the final score would be for the visitors from Washington, D.C.

With leading scorer Ben McLemore on the bench because of two quick fouls, the Jayhawks got the run started when his replacement, Naadir Tharpe, connected on a 3-pointer from the left wing.

Johnson hit 3-pointers on successive trips down the court, then Kevin Young – one of four senior starters on Self’s 10th Kansas team – stole the ball at midcourt and drove in for a thunder dunk.

Daniel Munoz dropped in a 10-footer for the Eagles, and then Releford and Tharpe hit 3-pointers. Withey’s dunk made it 23-9 before Andrew White rimmed out a 3-pointer, ending the long-range streak. For the half, the Jayhawks were 8 for 12 from behind the arc.

”I think we just fed off each other’s energy,” Releford said. ”One guy made a shot, got the crowd into it. Another guy made a shot. I felt like whoever shot next, it just seemed like it was going to go in.”

Tharpe had nine points while Withey had 11.

When Ben McLemore canned a 3-pointer about midway through the first half for a 76-39 lead, the Jayhawks had missed only five of 18 from behind the arc. The percentage dipped a bit in the final minutes as Kansas put its reserves in the game. Freshman Tyler Self capped the near-record night with a sickly 3-point attempt that caught nothing but air and brought a wry smile to his coach and dad.

”We were going to call an attorney and see about a name change, maybe,” he joked. ”But his mother said she still loves him, so I guess that will probably pass.”