Freshman Thomas Gipson had a game-high 19 points and seven rebounds to lead Kansas State to a 74-61 victory over visiting Loyola on Monday in a game plagued by turnovers, missed shots and poor decisions.

Will Spradling added 15 points on 4-for-7 shooting for the Wildcats (2-0), who won their 35th consecutive non-conference home game.

Kansas State and Loyola combined for 21 first-half turnovers and were tied 8-8 with 8:12 left. There were only two made field goals - one for each team - in the first two media timeouts.

Kansas State took a 28-23 lead into halftime and struggled to break free from the Ramblers, who fell to 0-2 on the year after losing their opener to Illinois.

Loyola stayed within eight points throughout the second half and pulled within 54-52 on Ben Averkamp’s free throw with 6:41 left.

But the Wildcats responded with a 10-3 run to extend their lead to 64-55. Angel Rodriguez, who had seven points off the bench, hit a dagger 3 to extend the lead to double digits in the final minutes.

Averkamp’s 19 points led the way for Loyola, which was picked to finish ninth in the Horizon League’s preseason coaches poll. Denzel Brito added 12 points and Jonathon Gac had 10.

The Ramblers shot only 38.3 percent from the field but did most of their damage from the free-throw line, where they converted 23-of-29 attempts.

Jordan Henriquez had 10 points and a game-high nine rebounds, and Rodney McGruder had 14 for the Wildcats.