77
Tournament MVP Rodney McGruder scored 28 points on 10-for-11 shooting to lead Kansas State to a 77-60 win over Long Beach State for the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic title.
K-State (10-1) shot 50 percent to LBSU’s 36.8 percent and was never seriously threatened in the ESPN2-televised DHC championship after pulling ahead from a 9-all tie.
About 1,500 people hung around for the Christmas Day title game, including about 200 Wildcats fans.
LBSU (7-6) was led by guards Larry Anderson and Casper Ware, who scored 17 points apiece.
McGruder’s 28 points was a high for a KSU player this season.
The rest of the all-tournament team was KSU’s Jamal Samuels, LBSU’s Anderson, Hawaii’s Zane Johnson and UTEP’s Michael Perez.
KSU joins past winners USC and Butler as champions of the third-year DHC.
