Kansas State Basketball: 5 Best Single-Game Performances of Past Decade

In the past 10 years, the Kansas State basketball program has seen a surge back to national prominence behind the coaching staffs of Frank Martin and Bruce Weber. 

Since 2003-04, the Wildcats have made six NCAA tournaments, including five straight from 2010 to 2014. They made the Elite Eight in 2009-10, and they won their first ever Big 12 title in 2012-13. 

Behind the resurgence has been the stellar play of guys like Michael Beasley, Denis Clemente, Jacob Pullen and Marcus Foster, the latter being the latest freshman sensation to set foot in the Little Apple. 

With that, let's check out the five best single-game performances for K-State dating back to the 2003-04 season. 

In a 100-63 blowout win for K-State over the Missouri Tigers, Michael Beasley had a game to remember. 

Over the course of the night, Beasley poured in 40 points and grabbed 17 rebounds.

It was one of three times Beasley recorded at least 40 points and 10 rebounds in a game in his lone season in Manhattan. 

Bill Walker added 18 points of his own, but it was Beasley who tore up the box score that night. 

Just one week after putting up 40 and 17 against Missouri, Michael Beasley set the Big 12 single-game scoring record in a conference game on a road trip against Baylor by posting 44 points. 

Beasley also pulled down 13 rebounds.

Ultimately, his efforts were not enough for K-State that night. The Bears won the game 92-86 thanks in large part to Curtis Jerrells' 24 points. 

The next season, another K-State player tied Beasley's record. 

To find out who, read on to the next slide. 

Ask any K-State fan about the Longhorns and they'll remind you of a popular phrase in Manhattan: "We own Texas." 

On the last day in January in 2009, point guard Denis Clemente certainly owned the Longhorns after dropping 44 points in a K-State win in Austin. 

Clemente's 44 tied Beasley's record for most points scored in a Big 12 game set just one season prior. Since then, Melvin Ejim broke the record for points in a Big 12 game with 48 points against TCU in 2013-14. 

One year after dropping his 44, Clemente was the driving force on the Wildcats squad that made a run to the Elite Eight. 

On Valentine's Day in 2011, the Kansas Jayhawks had just received a No. 1 ranking.

Meanwhile, having entered the season ranked No. 3, K-State had fallen out of relevancy. 

Enter Jacob Pullen, who fed off the energy of Bramlage Coliseum and dropped 38 points en route to a blowout upset win for the Wildcats. 

Pullen's 38 is still a record for the most points scored on a team ranked No. 1 overall, and the Wildcats stormed through the rest of the season to earn a tourney bid. 

Later that year, in Pullen's last game with K-State, he scored 38 points again in an NCAA tournament loss to Wisconsin. That performance saw him become the program's all-time leading scorer.

This past season, K-State's best stretch came over a three-day period from February 8 to February 10.

On February 8, the Wildcats upset No. 15 Texas, 74-57, in Bramlage Coliseum. 

Two days later, they upset the Kansas Jayhawks, 85-82, at home in overtime. 

A Texas native, freshman Marcus Foster poured in 34 points for the Wildcats in the first game against the Longhorns, the most by a freshman in K-State history since Michael Beasley. 

His 34 helped K-State exact revenge on Texas, who earlier in the season had beaten the Wildcats in Austin on a buzzer-beater.