Nijel Pack hit 5-of-6 of his three-point attempts to lead Kansas State to a 71-50 victory over TCU in the first round of the Big 12 Championship on Wednesday evening at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo. Pack finished with a game-high 23 points.

Ninth-seeded Kansas State (9-19) survived to play top-seeded and No. 2-ranked Baylor in the quarterfinals Thursday. The Wildcats lost two games to the Bears by a combined 79 points during the regular season, including the worst loss in school history (107-59 on Jan. 27).

Eighth-seeded TCU (12-14) finished the season with a four-game losing streak. The Horned Frogs lost seven of their final eight. Head coach Jamie Dixon suffered the first losing season of his career.

Besides Pack, Kansas State got 17 points from Mike McGuirl. Pack and McGuirl hit all seven of K-State's made three-pointers. The rest of the team was 0-for-8.

TCU was led by R.J. Nembhard with 11 points. No one else scored in double figures for the Horned Frogs, who shot just 37 percent from the field.

The Wildcats opened the second half with six quick points, extending their run to 16 straight points and grabbing a 12-point lead.

After TCU cut the deficit to just 37-32, K-State went on a 24-2 run (including 16-0) to open a 61-34 lead with 6:05 remaining.

Both teams struggled early. TCU hit just one of its first eight shots from the field. K-State was 6-of-15 in the first eight minutes. K-State managed to build a 15-5 lead and held a 17-10 advantage before TCU went on a 9-0 run.

K-State finished the half on a 10-0 run to take a 29-23 lead into the locker room. Pack hit back-to-back three-pointers for the final six points. Pack led K-State with 11 points in the first half, including hitting three of four three-pointers. The rest of the roster was 0-for-6. Four other players each had four points.

Nembhard led the Horned Frogs with six points on 38.5 percent shooting from the field, 2-of-9 from long range.

--Field Level Media