Malik Knowles injury sidelines Kansas State's leading receiver in Big 12 Championship Game

Kansas State leads TCU 14-7 in the second quarter of the Big 12 Championship Game, but an apparent Malik Knowles injury could deal a significant blow to the Wildcats’ offense. (Story contains updated information)

The team’s leading receiver, Knowles was spotted on camera on the sidelines distraught, and the ABC broadcast crew provided an update courtesy of sideline reporter Holly Rowe.

“Guys, this is a big development right now,” Rowe said on the air. “Malik Knowles, who on the last series we saw have that big, long catch down the sideline, he got up from that awkwardly and limped back onto the sideline. Right now he’s sitting there being consoled by people.

“I’ve not seen athletic trainers talking to him, but it does not look like he’ll be able to return. They don’t give injury updates so I’ll try to keep you posted with what I’m observing, but this does not look good.”

Knowles is the team’s leading receiver, having logged 46 catches for 679 yards and two touchdowns. He’s also versatile enough to have been used as a gadget player of sorts at times.

He had recorded three rushing touchdowns this season, running it five times for 114 yards going into today’s contest.

UPDATE – 2:15 p.m. ET: According to a report from The Athletic’s Max Olson on Twitter, Kansas State receiver Malik Knowles returned from the halftime break in sweatpants and is “done for the day” with a leg injury.

Malik Knowles injury knocks him out of Big 12 Championship Game

It’s unclear exactly which play Malik Knowles was injured on, but his last play appearing on the stat sheet was a 40-yard run on first-and-10 that put Kansas State into the red zone midway through the second quarter.

The Wildcats scored two plays later on a 1-yard touchdown run by quarterback Will Howard, taking a 14-7 lead in the contest.

Prior to his apparent exit from the Big 12 Championship Game, Knowles had accounted for one catch for 40 yards and two runs for 48 yards.

TCU won the regular-season meeting between the two programs 38-28 back on Oct. 22. That game was played at TCU.

On3 will update this story with any further relevant information on Malik Knowles’ injury status.