Kansas State overcame a sluggish shooting night to defeat North Dakota 63-49 Tuesday night in Manhattan, Kan., in the Wildcats' last game before a break for Christmas.

The Wildcats (9-2) shot just 37.9 percent from the field and 46.2 percent (12 of 26) from the free-throw line.

North Dakota (5-6) made 44.2 percent of its field-goal attempts and nine of 15 foul shots.

Reserve guard Barry Brown paced the Wildcats with 15 points. Forward Wesley Iwundu was the only other Kansas State player in double figures, finishing with 11 points.

The Fighting Hawks, playing without their two top scorers, guards Quinton Hooker (17.6 points per game) and Geno Crandall (9.3), got a team-high 13 points from forward Drick Bernstein.

Kansas State used an 11-0 spurt early in the second half to pull away from a tie. Unlike in the first half, the Wildcats were able to maintain the lead. North Dakota got as close as five points on a few occasions but could get no closer.

Both teams had balanced scoring. With less than eight minutes to play, Kansas State had six players with between six and eight points, while North Dakota had five. No player had more than eight points at that stage.

Kansas State used an 11-0 run to reverse 8-4 deficit early in the first half, but North Dakota quickly answered with its own 11-0 run. The Wildcats went 6:41 without scoring a point before forward D.J. Johnson followed a miss to cut the Fighting Hawks' lead to 19-17.

Both teams struggled in the first half, and the Wildcats held a 24-21 lead at intermission. Kansas State shot just 32.1 percent from the field before the break, including 2-for-12 from 3-point range. North Dakota shot just over 40 percent, and both teams had at least twice as many turnovers as assists.