The Wildcats’ rock solid duo, Dean Wade and Barry Brown, delivered it.

The pair of All-Big 12 hopefuls combined for 43 points as K-State beat Baylor, 77-67, to bolster its NCAA Tournament bid.

“We thought it was going to be a fist fight,” K-State coach Bruce Weber said. “We kept making plays. The run at the end of the half was really important and we maintained it.”

The Wildcats (21-10, 10-8) uses a run late in the first half to grab a double-digit lead, then kept Baylor at arm’s length the rest of the way to earn a sweep of the Bears.

Wade scored 17 of his 25 points in the first half, including a buzzer-beating jumper at the end of the first half. K-State outscored Baylor 13-2 in the final minutes before halftime.

“He’s more and more confident,” Weber said. “Even in walkthroughs, he’s talking more. He used to think it wasn’t his place to talk.”

The Bears (18-13, 8-10) took a big hit to their own March Madness chances, but Nuni Omot certainly wasn’t to blame. He scored 30 points on just 11 shots, and led BU’s only major run in the second half.

The lead was trimmed to five points with 6:27 to play, but the Bears could get no closer as K-State made 19 of its 24 free throws.

Makol Mawien turned in one of his best performances of the season, scoring 14 points in 17 minutes of action before fouling out.

Meanwhile, the point guard position took a step forward as Kamau Stokes and Cartier Diarra combined for 15 points.

“It was good to see them make a couple plays today,” Weber said.

At 10-8 in the league, K-State will finish tied for either third or fourth in the final standings, while Baylor tied for sixth. Big 12 Tournament seeding will be determined later Saturday evening.

But there’s that whole ‘It’s not how you start’ thing.

Brown scored 14 points in the final five minutes as K-State defeated Texas, 58-48, to sweep the season series.

“Down the stretch, he didn’t back down,” Bruce Weber said. “He went to the hoop.

“You win games when you have older players who make plays.”

A game plagued by 35 minutes of lackluster offense — on both sides — did not finish that way. K-State played its best basketball when it mattered most in what ESPN’s Joe Lunardi labeled the most important bubble game in America this week.

Texas (16-12, 6-9) made just six field goals after halftime, shooting a frigid 18.8 percent.

“We talked about building a wall with our bigs, and we made things hard for their guards.”

In addition to Brown’s 16 points, Dean Wade scored 13 and Cartier Diarra added 12. But the Wildcats (20-8, 9-6) had just 7 assists on the night and struggled against the Longhorns’ lengthy defense.

Style points don’t matter in a game like this, though.

“We’ve got a great group that plays together,” Weber said. “They’ve matured and they’re winning close games. Everyone is worrying about the team and doing what the team needs to be successful.”

Xavier Sneed struggled to score, going just 3-of-10 from the field, but his 13 rebounds keyed a strong performance on the glass.

The Longhorns were led by Matt Coleman’s 14 points. Future NBA draftee Mo Bamba was held to just nine points and six rebounds.

The game was tied at halftime, 27-27, and neither team led by more than 5 points until K-State’s late run. The previous three meetings between these teams had ended the exact same way — all K-State wins; all by 3 points.

The win pushed the Wildcats back into a tie for third place in the Big 12 with three games left in the regular season. K-State returns to action Saturday at reeling Oklahoma.

Texas Tech plays some serious defense.

The 7th-ranked Red Raiders smothered Kansas State’s offense for much of the night Saturday in a 66-47 victory that gave TTU a one-game lead in the league standings.

“They’re one of the top defensive teams in the country,” Bruce Weber said. “They guard differently than a lot of teams. We tried some different schemes, but we just missed shots.”

K-State shot 28.9 percent, including just 26.3 in the second half. The Wildcats’ first basket after halftime came at the 14:30 mark.

A blizzard would have felt warmer.

Dean Wade turned in K-State’s best offensive performance, scoring 13 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. Xavier Sneed added nine points. No one else had anything resembling a good outing.

“I thought in the first half, we had some things going,” Weber said. “We had a lot of looks that we didn’t make. Then we started pressing a little bit and turning the ball over.”

The Wildcats opened the game on a 7-0 run and led 11-5 at the first media timeout. Every basket was a struggle after that.

K-State was able to break its slump, at least a little, mid way through the second half. For the first time all night, three straight shots found the net. But TTU answered with a basket of its own after each one of them.

By the 8:00 mark, Tech led by 14.

Keenan Evans led TTU in scoring with 19 points. The rest of Saturday’s results in the Big 12, including a Kansas loss at Baylor, means the Red Raiders have a one-game lead on the rest of the conference with six games remaining.

The Wildcats, meanwhile, fell into a tie for fourth with a road trip to Oklahoma State next on the schedule.

When K-State is cold from long range and the opponent is Kansas, winning is extremely hard.

That was evident in the No. 7 Jayhawks’ 70-56 victory Monday night at Bramlage Coliseum as KU maintained its lead in the Big 12 standings.

The Wildcats were 6-of-27 on three-pointers and not much better elsewhere. KU built a 15 point lead in the first half and never let their rivals get closer than five after that.

“We probably took too many threes, especially in the first half,” K-State coach Bruce Weber said. “We weren’t patient enough against the zone.”

KU (18-4, 7-2) wasn’t at its best by any means. The Jayhawks turned the ball over 16 times. After halftime, KU did not make a field goal until the 12:53 mark.

K-State (16-6, 5-4) just didn’t make enough shots for it to matter.

Dean Wade led the Wildcats with 20 points. It was his sixth straight game with 20 or more, but a win over KU continues to elude the junior forward.

“(Wade) gave us a chance,” Weber said. “We needed him to step up and make the big plays, and he’s done that for us.

“But after him, no one else really gave us much.”

Barry Brown scored just nine points on 4-of-16 shooting. Xavier Sneed, who scored ten, was the only Wildcat to join Wade in double figures.

Svi Mykhailiuk led four Jayhawks in double figures with 22 points.

Things don’t get any easier for the Wildcats in the short term. K-State travels to No. 15 West Virginia this weekend and will be on the road three times in its next four games.

From the first day Dean Wade stepped on Kansas State’s campus, Bruce Weber insisted that Wade was one of the Big 12’s best players “when he wants to be good.”

In Friday night’s conference opener against Texas, Wade wanted to be good.

The sophomore forward scored 18 points, helping K-State to a 65-62 victory over the Longhorns.

“He’s not going to be perfect, but tonight he was pretty good,” K-State coach Bruce Weber said. “We need him. When he’s open, we want him to shoot it. He’s done a lot of the little things for us over the last seven or eight games.”

Neither team will look upon this game as a highlight of the season, at least offensively. Both squads suffered droughts of at least seven minutes without a field goal.

But K-State (12-1, 1-0 Big 12) was able to heat up in certain stretches. Texas (6-7, 0-1) was not, until late in the game, when the Longhorns rallied to make things interesting in the final minute.

“I didn’t think we were great tonight, but we made enough plays to win,” Weber said. “That’s the most important thing.”

Texas jumped out to an early seven-point lead in the first three minutes of the contest, thanks to its physical defense and rebounding. When K-State started to match the Longhorns in those areas, the game changed permanently.

Wesley Iwundu added 16 points for the Wildcats, while Kamau Stokes logged 15 points and six assists.

The lead grew as large as 13 with 7:23 to play. A pair of Wade threes fueled the run that gave his team a cushion.

K-State didn’t get any contribution from its bench — zero points — but countered it with a solid effort at the free throw line, making 26 of 33. The Wildcats also made nine of their final ten to close the game.

“Making our free throws was a huge part of the game,” Weber said. “I thought we showed a lot of poise down the stretch. It was a really physical game.”

A much tougher test awaits K-State as Weber’s team will head to Lawrence to play No. 3 Kansas next Tuesday.

The trio of Justin Edwards, Stephen Hurt and Brian Rohleder bid farewell to their home arena by knocking off TCU in dominant fashion, 79-54.

“We said it was a big game and we prepared like it was a big game,” K-State coach Bruce Weber said. “It was a nice night. We played with energy and made plays.”

Fittingly, it was Edwards that got things rolling. After trailing 4-0 out of the gate, K-State went on a 14-0 run that featured a pair of three-pointers by the Toronto, Canada native.

It was just the beginning of one of the best shooting performance this season. The Wildcats seemingly could not miss, whether from the paint or outside, and finished the first half a white-hot 76.2 percent from the field.

Barry Brown drained three threes in the opening period, during which K-State’s lead ballooned to 20 points.

Even Rohleder got in on the barrage. His buzzer-beating jumper before halftime gave the Wildcats a 47-28 lead and doubled his point total for the season.

“It was a fun moment, and definitely one that I’ll never forget,” Rohleder said.

Brown led K-State (16-14, 5-12 Big 12) with 15 points all on three-pointers, while Edwards, Wesley Iwundu and Dean Wade joined him in double figures.

Rohleder and Hurt scored four points apiece.

The Wildcats weren’t as sharp in the second half, shooting 40 percent and committing eight turnovers, but TCU was unable to make any legitimate run. The outcome was never in question.

As a result of the lopsided score, all three seniors came out of the game early to standing ovations. Weber said it was a priority to make the night about them.

“Down the stretch, I wanted everyone to get a chance to play,” he said. “I’m happy for the seniors. This was their night.”

The Horned Frogs (11-19, 2-15) were led by Chaunsey Collins, who scored 11 points. TCU is now 1-35 in Big 12 road games since joining the conference.

K-State will conclude its regular season with a road trip to Texas Tech on Saturday, before heading to Kansas City for next week’s Big 12 Championship.

The surprise is gone, but the frustration remains. Kansas State found itself on the verge of a big win Monday night, but fell short. Again.

This time, No. 25 Texas was the survivor at Bramlage Coliseum, 71-70.

“I don’t have much to say,” K-State coach Bruce Weber said. “We had our chances and our guys battled. I feel for our players.”

As has been the case regularly this season, poor shooting from outside was K-State’s biggest weakness, including at the final buzzer. The Wildcats made just seven shots outside the paint for the night, and Dean Wade’s potential game-winner fell short in the final seconds.

Justin Edwards scored 20 points for the first time in his Wildcat career and D.J. Johnson added 16 to lead K-State (15-13, 4-11 Big 12). Most of the game was in the shadow of the rim, and Texas constantly juggled its lineup with foul trouble.

“They got their guards and their bench to lift them up tonight,” Weber said. “We did a nice job at getting D.J. the ball, but we didn’t hit enough shots.”

The Longhorns (18-10, 9-6) led by as many as eight in the second half, before Wade led a comeback that resulted in his team getting within a point with four minutes left.

But similar to last Saturday’s loss to Kansas, and many of the team’s 11 losses to ranked teams this season, getting stops down the stretch proved to be difficult.

“We got some key (stops) to get us back in the game, but we didn’t get the key ones to finish it,” Weber said.

Isaiah Taylor led Texas with 19 points and the Longhorns made 16 of 19 free throws, despite entering the game ranked 290th nationally in that category.

K-State hits the road for its next game, a road trip to No. 17 Iowa State on Saturday.

No one will ever know how a court-storming would have turned out this time around. The Kansas Jayhawks decided to make that discussion irrelevant.

Paced by Frank Mason’s 16 points, No. 2 KU built a 17-point lead over its in-state rival, then held on to win 72-63 after K-State cut the deficit to three.

“I was proud of the way our guys battled, but we came here to win and we didn’t,” K-State coach Bruce Weber said. “The difference was their bench and the way they took advantage of turnovers.”

Similar to the first meeting, a 77-59 KU win in Lawrence, K-State let a solid start become meaningless. Despite early foul trouble, the Wildcats led 25-21 with six minutes to play in the first half.

From there, the Jayhawks took control.

KU (23-4, 11-3 Big 12) rattled off an 18-4 run to end the period, during which K-State made just one shot from the field. The Jayhawks, meanwhile, made eight of their final ten attempts.

“That stretch at the end of the first half was the difference in the game,” Weber said. “It was pretty similar to what happened at their place. We just had a bad few minutes.”

The run continued to begin the second half, before D.J. Johnson and Stephen Hurt brought the Wildcats back. They combined for 20 second-half points, and Hurt’s three-pointer with four minutes left made it a 62-58 game.

The hole was simply too deep. KU let its lead get as small as three, but K-State never had possession of the ball with a chance to tie. For the game, the Jayhawks shot 50 percent from the field.

“We got it to three, and that’s the chance we wanted,” Hurt said. “We just have to be able to finish, and it’s frustrating that we didn’t do that.”

In addition to Hurt’s 13 points, Barry Brown scored 13 as well, while Johnson and Justin Edwards each added 11.

The loss snapped K-State’s two-game win streak against KU in Manhattan. The Wildcats have a quick turnaround and host No. 24 Texas on Monday.

If Wednesday night’s performance against No. 21 Baylor was any indication, it was more of a flash in the pan.

The Wildcats were outmatched by the Bears’ zone defense from the opening tip in a 82-72 loss at Bramlage Coliseum.

“It was a disappointing performance for our guys,” K-State coach Bruce Weber said. “We were on top of the world Saturday night, and I guess we didn’t handle it very well.”

For the second straight game, a bad start set a tone. This time, K-State could never fully climb out of its hole.

Free throws were the only saving grace for K-State in the first half. Despite shooting 39 percent and 0-of-6 from three-point range, a 14-of-15 performance at the charity stripe kept the game within reach.

The Wildcats (14-10, 3-8 Big 12) got within 29-26 with 4:49 to play before halftime. Baylor outscored K-State 14-6 to close the period, however, and led 43-32 at the break.

“I thought we had an opportunity to make a push right there,” Weber said. “But we couldn’t ever get the stops we needed. We got in foul trouble and we lost our focus.”

The second half saw K-State make a couple more runs, getting within five multiple times, but never closer thanks to finishing 2-of-14 from long range.

Baylor finishing the game 29-of-30 on free throws didn’t hurt its cause, either.

D.J. Johnson scored a career-high 19 points and Justin Edwards added 19 as well, but K-State didn’t get the complimentary scoring efforts it needed. Freshmen Barry Brown and Dean Wade were held to 13 points combined.

Weber said it was just one of those nights for his team, which has struggled outside the paint for much of the season.

“The other night, everything was going in. Tonight it wasn’t,” Weber said. “That’s why you play the game. You never know what’s going to happen. Tonight, we didn’t get it done with our shooting.”

The Wildcats dominated the glass, out-rebounding Baylor 35-25. The Bears’ leading rebounder, Rico Gathers, missed the game with an illness.

But BU’s outside shooting advantage more than made up for it. The Bears (18-6, 7-4) hit seven threes in the game, compared to the two from K-State, both of which came with less than a minute left.

Baylor was paced by Al Freeman’s 21 points.

The Wildcats will begin a two-game road trip Saturday against Oklahoma State in Stillwater.

After three minutes, it looked like No. 1 Oklahoma might run Kansas State out of Bramlage Coliseum. The Sooners led, 9-0, and the Wildcats hadn’t even attempted a shot.

Not so fast. This is college basketball, after all.

Wesley Iwundu scored 22 points, Dean Wade added 17 in his first game coming off the bench and K-State knocked off the top-ranked Sooners, 80-69 Saturday evening.

“We’ve had a lot of adversity from our injuries and losing close games, so I’m really proud of our guys,” K-State coach Bruce Weber said. “It was a great team win. I told our guys they couldn’t just want to win, they had to go out and show it.”

After coming up just short in nearly all of their chances against ranked teams this season, the Wildcats (14-9, 3-7 Big 12) chose the best possible time to reverse the trend. Entering the game, K-State was 0-7 against ranked teams this season.

Down its starting point guard and facing the potential national player of the year in Buddy Hield, K-State was thoroughly outmatched on paper.

No one told the Wildcats that.

“I don’t think it’s a mental block (against ranked teams), we just haven’t made the plays to beat those teams,” D.J. Johnson said. “But it’s a weight off our shoulders to win this one.”

Wade hit four of his first five shots, getting K-State back in the game after its poor start. OU struggled to defend the Wildcats the rest of the way.

On the other end, the Sooners (19-3, 7-3) suffered an uncharacteristic shooting performance, making just 6 of 24 three-point attempts. OU entered the game averaging 11.5 made threes per game.

Hield in particular was held to a 3-of-8 effort from long range.

“We really shut them down,” Weber said. “We’ve had some good stretches on defense this season, but we played an entire game of good defense tonight.”

K-State held a six-point advantage at halftime, but OU rallied to take a 45-41 lead with 16 minutes to go.

Iwundu, in particular, would not let another potential marquee win slip away. He engineered much of the Wildcats’ offense in the second half and hit a go-ahead jumper with 13 minutes left. K-State never trailed again.

“We needed someone to be special,” Weber said. “It was a team win, but Wes spearheaded it.”

Johnson recorded a pair of tip-in baskets to help maintain the lead down the stretch. He finished with 12 points and eight rebounds.

After the game, K-State fans refrained from storming the court. Instead, Iwundu led his team to the student section.

“We have every reason to hold our heads high,” Iwundu said. “We beat the No. 1 team in the country.”

Fortunately for Kansas State, its bench players were prepared to pick up the slack.

Big contributions from Carlbe Ervin, D.J. Johnson and Barry Brown lifted the Wildcats over Ole Miss, 69-64, in the Big 12-SEC Challenge.

Stokes limped off the court with 12:36 left in the first half and had to be taken to the locker room in a wheelchair. In the minutes that followed, the Rebels turned an early eight-point deficit into a lead.

But Ervin, who took Stokes’ place at the point guard position, refused to get rattled after a shaky start. He scored seven points and dished out four assists in his career-high 24 minutes of action.

K-State (13-8) led 38-36 at halftime and grabbed control of the game with a strong frontcourt presence in the second half, spearheaded by Johnson. He scored eight of his game-high 14 points after halftime while also recording seven rebounds.

The Wildcats struggled once again from long range, making only three of 19 attempts, but the final make was massive. It came off the hand of Brown, who had just missed a free throw and hustled to get the rebound.

He drained the jumper from the corner, giving K-State a 60-45 lead and capping a 17-2 run with 8:45 to go. Ole Miss would not climb within single digits again until the final two minutes.

Brown finished with seven points, all in the second half. Wesley Iwundu and Justin Edwards added 11 and 10, respectively.

Ole Miss guard Stefon Moody, who entered the game averaging an SEC-best 24.5 points per game, was held to just 10 on 3-of-6 shooting. He had scored at least 20 points in 14 straight contests.

For the game, the Rebels (13-8) shot 39 percent and committed 17 turnovers.

K-State coach Bruce Weber said Stokes’ knee does not appear to have structural damage, but the freshman will undergo an MRI.

K-State finished the nonconference portion of its schedule with an 11-2 record. The Wildcats return to Big 12 play Wednesday, when they take on No. 4 Kansas in Lawrence.

Kansas State hoped its shooting struggles were at an end when the Wildcats shot a season-high 56 percent against Texas Tech earlier this week.

It may have been a flash in the pan, however. Poor shooting buried K-State in an early 17-point hole that proved to be insurmountable in a 76-63 loss to No. 17 Iowa State Saturday afternoon.

After jumping to an early 6-2 advantage, the Wildcats made just one of their next 15 shots from the field, allowing the short-handed Cyclones to slowly build their big lead.

“I didn’t think we were very tough, and we weren’t tough finishing around the hoop,” K-State coach Bruce Weber said. “Give (ISU coach) Steve (Prohm) credit. He had those guys ready to play, even though they’ve been short-handed all year.”

K-State (11-6, 1-4 Big 12) would heat up late in the first half, closing the period on a 14-7 run. ISU led 32-23 at the break.

Better production around the rim allowed the Wildcats to trim the deficit to five points with 9:45 to play. ISU answered with a 7-0 run of its own, however, and K-State never got within striking distance again.

“We needed to get another stop there, and we didn’t,” Weber said. “Iowa State made some big shots. We didn’t do a very good job with our one-on-one defense.”

Justin Edwards led the Wildcats with 19 points, while Barry Brown, who had scored at least 15 in every Big 12 game, was held to just 4 points on 1-of-10 shooting.

Lack of depth didn’t appear to be an issue for Iowa State (13-4, 2-3), who used only seven players but still managed to shoot above 50 percent and stay out of foul trouble. The Cyclones were led by Monte Morris’ 19 points.

The loss was K-State’s first by double digits at Bramlage Coliseum since 2009. The Wildcats return to action next Wednesday at No. 22 Baylor. – See more at: http://1350kman.com/slow-start-dooms-k-state-in-loss-to-no-17-cyclones/#sthash.igQOA8xI.dpuf

The Wildcats struggled to maintain a consistent attack, but when they were hot, they were on fire. And that was more than enough to move to 7-1 on the season.

“We did a nice job of sharing the ball when we needed to,” K-State coach Bruce Weber said. “It was a grind for us at the beginning, but we figured it out.”

K-State made seven of its first nine shots and built an early 14-5 advantage. But the Wildcats couldn’t keep their foot on the gas, thanks to some miscommunication on offense and a few missed assignments on the other end.

The Eagles closed the game to within 33-27 before K-State pulled away. The Wildcats finished the first half on a 9-2 run, then slowly extended the lead throughout the second half.

Justin Edwards and Wesley Iwundu each scored 14 points, leading five Wildcats in double figures. For the game, K-State shot 44 percent.

“Wes and Justin have been very good for us,” Weber said. “They’ve been the consistent players we need them to be. You can see it in the stats.”

After committing 12 turnovers in the first half, K-State didn’t commit any in the second, making the task of stretching the lead much easier.

“We were a little out of sync in the first half and didn’t attack their zone in a positive fashion,” Weber said. “Give our guys credit. We got after them at halftime and we played a much cleaner game in the second half.”

K-State will now head to SEC country for a second straight weekend. The Wildcats face Texas A&M (7-2) on Saturday.

Weber said avoiding turnovers will be the key to defeating one of the best teams K-State will face this season.

“We have to take care of the ball,” he said. “They’re as good as any team we play, including in our league. They have a really deep team.”

Five days after the Wildcats’ late collapse against No. 9 North Carolina in the CBE Classic, K-State looked like a team that left its spark in Kansas City, but it made just enough plays down the stretch to hold off a gritty Bulldog squad.

“I was worried we would have a little bit of a hangover,” K-State coach Bruce Weber said. “We didn’t have the energy we needed to have. But we did make some plays when we needed to.”

SC State refused to let K-State find any separation early on, and the Wildcats’ nine first-half turnovers proved to be costly. The Bulldogs led by as many as five and K-State didn’t take the lead for good until the 7:35 mark of the first half.

Even then, SCSU refused to go away. The Wildcats led 36-30 at halftime.

“We’ve been a good defensive team this year, and today we obviously weren’t,” Weber said. “You have to give them some credit. They exploited some of our weaknesses.”

After a 5-0 run by the Bulldogs to open the second half, K-State appeared to find its stride. Wesley Iwundu keyed a 10-0 run that saw the Wildcats’ lead grow to 11 points with 15 minutes to play.

But even then, success wasn’t sustainable. K-State suffered multiple scoring droughts of at least three minutes in the second half. SC State climbed back within a point with 8:13 to play.

The Wildcats’ 17 turnovers did a lot to negatively counter K-State clear rebounding advantage, 39-28.

Thanks to four clutch free throws by Justin Edwards in the final seconds, the Wildcats avoided a massive letdown after a very positive first two weeks of the 2015-16 campaign.

“You win games like this with character,” Weber said. “We had a similar situation last year against Texas Southern and didn’t win it. This time, we found a way to win.”

Edwards led the Wildcats with 18 points and seven rebounds, while Dean Wade added 12 points. Stephen Hurt also recorded a double-double, the first of his career.

K-State is now 5-1 on the season and returns to action Friday at Georgia. – See more at: http://1350kman.com/sloppy-k-state-hangs-on-to-beat-south-carolina-state/#sthash.V79xYfEO.dpuf

It came Friday night against South Dakota, when K-State found itself ice cold from the field and trailing by as many as eight points in the first half.

The Wildcats passed the test with flying colors, defeating the Coyotes 93-72, thanks to Justin Edwards’ aggressiveness and solid play from freshmen Barry Brown and Dean Wade.

“We were worried about this game as a staff,” Weber said. “We put a lot of energy into that Columbia game, and we have Kansas City on the other side of this. We talked about being focused and ready for tonight, and I don’t think we were at the start.”

K-State (3-0) looked crisp on both ends of the floor in Monday’s victory, but took a step backwards against the Coyotes early on. The Wildcats missed 11 of their first 12 shots and trailed 42-39 at the break.

South Dakota, led by Shy McClelland’s 14 points, shot 53 percent from the floor in the first 20 minutes, which Weber said was a result of USD playing a vastly different style than his team’s first two opponents. “Every game is different,” he said.

“Every game has a different style and different mentality.”

Wade was the only Wildcat who established a rhythm in the first half. In the second, Edwards’ drives to the basket and Brown’s timely shooting were the difference-makers.

K-State took the lead for good on a pair of Edwards free throws with 15:36 to go. Brown scored 13 points in the second half and finished with a team-high 18.

“Obviously, Barry had a phenomenal game,” Weber said. “He got us going with some energy.”

The Wildcats held USD under 40 percent from the field in the second half, while asserting their will on the offensive end against the much smaller Coyotes.

K-State outscored South Dakota 51-25 over the final 18:56. USD never took momentum back after falling behind.

Aside from Brown’s 18 points, Wade, Edwards and Stephen Hurt each scored 15. It was the Wildcats’ second straight game with at least four players in double figures.

“We had a lot of guys ready to step up,” Weber said. “Slowly but surely, we’re making progress.”

K-State will see its level of competition increase significantly as it heads to the CBE Classic in Kansas City next week. The Wildcats will open the tournament against Missouri at Sprint Center at 6 p.m. Monday. – See more at: http://1350kman.com/k-state-recovers-from-slow-start-routs-south-dakota/#sthash.j62MTonP.dpuf

Entering the season, Kansas State wasn’t sure who it would be able to turn to when the Wildcats really needed a basket. The season is very young, but that issue may have found some clarity in K-State’s 81-71 victory over Columbia on Monday night.

True freshman Dean Wade and veterans Wesley Iwundu and Justin Edwards all came up big for the Wildcats at various points as the Wildcats moved to 2-0 on the season.

“This was a good win,” K-State coach Bruce Weber said. “If you know anything about basketball, you know Columbia is a good team. I thought we were ready to play and just took it to them from the beginning.”

K-State (2-0) led the game from wire to wire, but had to endure several runs from an experienced Lion team, who are picked to finish second in the Ivy League.

The Wildcats always had someone ready to flip momentum back in their favor.

“That’s how you win at home,” Weber said. “You have to have a number of guys step up. I’ve told them not to watch the play, but to go make a play. They did a good job.”

Edwards led the way with 19 points, while Wade had 17 and Iwundu added 16.

K-State led by as many as 13 in the first half before Columbia climbed within five. Then, to open the second half, Edwards scored six straight points.

With momentum back, it appeared K-State would win comfortably, and the Wildcats led by double digits for most of the second half.

The Lions refused to give in, however. After a series of K-State turnovers, Grant Mullins connected on a three-pointer to bring Columbia within 64-61 at the 5:45 mark.

Then it was Wade’s turn to take over. He hit a long ball of his own and followed it with a steal, which led to an Iwundu layup. K-State would not give up the momentum again.

“It was muscle memory more than anything,” Wade said of his big shot. “I couldn’t see the rim at all.”

For the game, the Wildcats shot 50 percent from the floor, higher than all but eight games last season. Kamau Stokes scored 11 points and Stephen Hurt added 10, giving K-State five double-figure scorers.

“I’ve told you guys all along that we have a better team than last year,” Weber said. “We may not have the talent or experience that we had a year ago, but we have a better team.

“They get along, they like each other and they play hard.”

The Wildcats return to action Friday night when they host South Dakota at 7 p.m. – See more at: http://1350kman.com/wade-veterans-lift-k-state-over-columbia/#sthash.T3Djfu1w.dpuf

Wesley Iwundu scored 23 points to lead three Kansas State players in double figures as the Wildcats opened the 2015-16 season with an 80-53 victory over Maryland Eastern Shore Friday night at Bramlage Coliseum.

With both teams struggling from the floor, the game was fairly close early on as K-State led just 13-12 with 12:54 left in the first half but an 11-3 run widened the margin to 25-14 just six and half minutes later. Justin Edwards who had 17 points on the night put an exclamation point on the first half by knocking down a three-pointer with under 10 seconds left sending the Wildcats into the locker room with a 35-21 advantage.

UMES was never closer than 11 points in the second half as Kansas State turned on the steam. The third Wildcat in double figures was newcomer Barry Brown, a Freshman from St. Petersburg, Fla. who also had 17 points. Dean Wade, the Freshman from St. John, Kan. chipped in with eight points. However, the most exciting entry into the game happened in the first half with D.J. Johnson seeing his first action in 602 days, since K-State’s loss to Kentucky in the second round of the 2014 NCAA Tournament. Johnson made an immediate impact by completing a three-point play just seconds after coming off the bench much to the delight of the fans who turned out for the opener.

K-State was able to win handily despite sluggish shooting. The Cats shot 38 percent for the game and made just 24 of 62 shots attempted from the floor while also missing 14 free throws. However, the Hawks weren’t much better going 14-47 for a paltry 29 percent.

Kansas State (1-0) will return to the Bramlage hardwood on Monday to face Columbia out of the Ivy League. The Lions last season took a Kentucky team that was undefeated into the Final Four to the wire at Rupp Arena. The game will be the back end of a doubleheader with the K-State Women who were 73-67 winners in their opener Friday night at Tulsa. The Women’s game with Abilene Christian will tip off at 5:30 p.m. while the Men’s game is expected to start around 8 p.m.
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Wesley Iwundu scored a game-high 17 points and Justin Edwards added 13 as Kansas State began the 2015-16 Men’s Basketball season with an 80-42 exhibition victory over Division II Emporia State Friday night at Bramlage Coliseum.

The Wildcats were never really challenged in this game as they raced out to a 20-8 lead in the first 12 minutes and took control of things on the way to a 43-17 advantage at halftime.

K-State continued the onslaught of points to start the second half by outscoring the Hornets 7-2 in just under 90 seconds as they never looked back.

For the game, four Wildcats were in double figures. Joining Iwundu and Edwards were veteran Stephen Hurt with 11 points and newcomer Austin Budke with 10. Other newcomers with notable point totals included Dean Wade and Barry Brown with six points apiece, Kamau Stokes with five points and Carlbe Ervin II with four.

Kansas State will play its second and final exhibition game against Fort Hays State on November 6 at Bramlage Coliseum. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.

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Nigel Johnson scored 17 points to lead three players in double figures and Wesley Iwundu stole an in-bounds pass and drove for what proved to be the game-winning dunk with 16 seconds left as Kansas State overcame a 12-point second half deficit to defeat 12th-ranked Iowa State 70-69 on Senior Day Saturday at Bramlage Coliseum for the Wildcats second win over a Top-15 team in the last six days.

Early on it appeared K-State was experiencing a hangover from its 70-63 win over eighth-ranked Kansas on Monday night as the Cyclones came out on fire knocking down eight three-pointers in the first half on their way to a 40-33 halftime lead led by Georges Niang’s 12 points. Before settling for the seven-point advantage, Iowa State led 35-21 before Johnson got the Wildcats back on track with five points in 22 seconds on a three-pointer and then a layup off a steal.

Twice in the second half it appeared the Cyclones, coming off a disappointing home loss to Baylor on Wednesday were ready to move on as they built up two 12-point leads. After leading 49-37 with 17:31 left, they watched K-State cut the lead to 49-45 with 14:46 remaining before Dustin Hogue momentarily quieted the Bramlage Coliseum crowd with a three-pointer.

Another trey by Hogue put the Cyclones up 60-48 with 10:38 left before the Wildcats began their furious comeback. Trailing 64-55, K-State chopped the deficit down two points at 64-62 with just under four minutes remaining on a Johnson layup. Then with the Wildcats facing a four-point deficit Justin Edwards tied the score with a pair of layups, the second one coming with 59 seconds left.

Then after K-State got a stop, Iwundu scored a layup and was fouled with 43 seconds left to give the Wildcats a 68-66 lead. However, Iwundu missed the free throw for a three-point play allowing the Cyclones to grab a one-point lead with a three-point play on the other end by Monte Morris with 27 seconds to play.

Then a controversial call appeared to give Iowa State a chance to add to their lead when they were awarded a timeout as Naz Long looked like he was travelling while on the ground with the ball. However, on the in-bounds pass Iwundu stepped in front of the ball, drove the lane and dunked it to give K-State a 70-69 advantage with 16 seconds left on the clock.

After calling its last timeout Iowa State worked for a potential winning shot but K-State having a foul left to give stopped play with one with 4.8 seconds left and the the Cyclones last attempt was well off the mark giving K-State its first back to back wins since a four-game winning streak in mid-January.

Also scoring in double figures for K-State were Edwards with 16 points and Iwundu with 11. Niang led Iowa State with 21 points, Morris added 15 and Jameel McKay poured in 11.

The comeback by the Wildcats was their largest since 2011 and the 46 points in the paint were a season high. Iowa State which had an excellent chance to tie Kansas for first place in the Big 12 earlier in the week now trails the Jayhawks by two games after KU rallied to beat Texas 69-64 Saturday in Lawrence.

Before the game, K-State honored its three seniors Johnson, Thomas Gipson and Shawn Meyer with an emotional ceremony.

Kansas State (15-15, 8-9) will close out the regular season on March 7 with a road game at Texas. Tip-off in Austin is set for 3 p.m.

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Nigel Johnson scored a career-high 20 points and Nino Williams added 15 including seven critical free throws as a much-maligned Kansas State squad rallied from an eight-point second half deficit to knock off eighth-ranked Kansas 70-63 Monday night at Bramlage Coliseum.

Perry Ellis was the key for the Jayhawks in the first half as he scored 15 of his game-high 24 points. After K-State held a brief 8-7 lead with 15:25 left in the first half, KU went on an 8-2 surge to lead 16-10 and appeared ready to take control of the contest. However, K-State ripped off six straight points in a 52-second span to tie the game and force KU coach Bill Self to call his first timeout.

Once again, the Jayhawks went on another run this time a 10-3 surge to lead 26-19 but the Wildcats refused to quit, outscoring their in-state rivals 12-4 over the final 5:21 to take a 31-30 lead into halftime.
Just like they did at West Virginia last Monday night, Kansas punched K-State in the mouth to start the second half going on an 11-2 binge in the first three and a half minutes to grab a 41-33 advantage before the Wildcats clawed their way back again.

For a while KU’s leads would alternate between four and six points until Johnson’s three-pointer with 11:24 left tied the score 47-47. KU grabbed the lead back at 50-47 and led 52-49 before another trey by Johnson tied the score and allowed K-State to go on what would prove to be their game-winning run. With K-State trailing by two points yet again it was Thomas Gipson who would put them in the lead with a key layup and two free throws. K-State would grow the lead to 60-54 with 6:13 remaining before KU used four consecutive free throws to close to within 60-58 with 4:52 left in regulation.

Another layup by Williams gave the Wildcats another four-point advantage but Kelly Oubre Jr. quickly scored on the other end to make the score 62-60. After a pair of Williams free throws gave K-State a 65-61 lead Brannen Greene went uncontested for a layup to make the score 65-63 and for a while it appeared that the Sunflower Showdown in Bramlage would become an overtime contest for the second straight year. That’s when Williams hit the Jayhawks with a knockout blow with a jumper with 29 seconds left to make the score 68-63. One free throw each by Williams and Justin Edwards closed out the scoring and when the buzzer sounded the K-State fans once again stormed the court to celebrate the Wildcats third win in the last five years over KU on its home court and second in a row.

Kansas (22-6, 11-4) made just two of its final 14 shots from the floor and missed on their last two trips allowing K-State to pull away. For the Wildcats, it marks the first winning streak in Manhattan against KU since reeling off four straight wins from 1981-83 with one of those victories coming in the first round of the 1982 Big Eight Tournament when the first round was still played on campus sites. Monday’s win give the Wildcats their first back-to-back wins over the Jayhawks in 27-year old Bramlage Coliseum.
Joining Ellis in double figures for KU was Oubre with 14 points while Gipson was the third double figure scorer for K-State with 12 points.

Kansas State (14-15, 7-9) will return to the Bramlage hardwood on Saturday for its final home game of the regular season when they host Iowa State on Senior Day. Gipson, Williams and Shawn Meyer will be the three seniors honored before the game which tips off at 3 p.m.

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Marcus Foster in his first game after a three-game suspension scored 14 points, none more important than the last three from his final shot as he nailed a three-point basket with 3.4 seconds left to lead Kansas State to a 59-56 victory over 17th-ranked Oklahoma and bring to an end the Wildcats longest losing streak in a decade Saturday night at Bramlage Coliseum.

The Sooners who came into the game riding a five-game winning streak, jumped out to an early 9-4 lead and maintained a small advantage on the scoreboard throughout the first half before K-State closed the gap and trailed just 28-27 at halftime. Foster, who returned to action along with Malek Harris whose suspension also ended Saturday made his first appearance off the bench with 14:06 left in the first half and drew an ovation from the large crowd. Just one minute and seven seconds later he brought them to their feet with a three-pointer and it was a sign of things to come.

After OU took a 35-29 lead two minutes into the second half, the Wildcats surged ahead by as much as 50-43 on the strength of a 21-8 run that spanned 10 minutes and it appeared for a time that K-State would win the game going away. However, the Wildcats then went cold from the floor and Oklahoma took advantage with a 13-6 run to tie the game at 56-56 with 1:29 left. Both teams missed shots on their next trips down the floor and that included a missed jumper by the Sooners’ Jordan Woodard with one minute remaining.

K-State having spent its last timeout at that 1:29 mark had no choice but to run time off the clock….a chance to win seemed to go by the boards when Jevon Thomas missed a layup with 22 seconds left but Wesley Iwundu pulled down a huge offensive rebound allowing K-State to run more time off. Then just as he did in the teams’ first meeting this season in Norman on January 10, Foster sank the Sooners again with another key trey. After a timeout, Thomas fouled Isaiah Cousins to prevent him from attempting a game-tying shot. After missing the first free throw, Cousins deliberately missed the second one but he missed badly as he fired the ball at the padding below the goal not even coming close to the net and K-State was able to run out the clock and secure its first win since January 24.

K-State managed to win this game despite shooting a paltry 26 percent from the floor, the 10th-lowest shooting percentage in school history largely because they balanced the bad statistic out by making 28 of 36 free throws including 13 of 15 in the first half. Nino Williams joined Foster as the only other Wildcat in double figures with 13 points while Buddy Hield led Oklahoma with 14 points, Woodard added 13 and TaShawn Thomas had 10 for Lon Kruger’s squad.

Kansas State (13-13, 6-7) will be on the road for the next two games, both in the state of Texas beginning on Wednesday with a tilt at TCU. The Horned Frogs earned their second conference win by knocking off 21st-ranked Oklahoma State 70-55 on Saturday. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.

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Isaiah Taylor scored 23 points, the last two on free throws with 1.4 seconds left as Texas hung on for a 61-57 victory over Kansas State in Big 12 action Saturday afternoon at Bramlage Coliseum. The two teams played even for the game’s first eight minutes and then the Longhorns bolted out to a 24-12 lead with 4:17 left in the first half and looked like they might run away with the game.

K-State playing for the second straight game without suspended players Marcus Foster and Malek Harris needed a spark and they got it from Tre Harris who knocked down three three-point baskets in a span of 1:56 to help the Wildcats pull into a 27-27 tie at halftime.

In the second half, K-State used a 7-0 surge to lead 32-29 before Texas recovered and played even with K-State for the next five minutes. The key stretch of the game was a 12-2 Longhorn run that put Texas ahead 53-44 with 5:06 left in the game. The Longhorn lead was 57-50 with 1:15 left when K-State went on a 7-2 run in 47 seconds to close the gap to 59-57 with 28 seconds left. After Taylor missed a pair of free throws, the Wildcats had a chance to tie or win the game but Thomas Gipson missed a jumper in the paint with eight seconds left and then the ball was tied up as players fought for the rebound. Texas had the possession arrow pointing in their direction and eventually Taylor hit the clinching free throws sending K-State to their fourth straight loss.
K-State was fortunate to even be in the game after going more than 10 minutes in the first half without making a single field goal and more than eight minutes without a single point.

After the game, K-State coach Bruce Weber would not comment on questions from several media members on when Foster and Harris would return but did say that their suspensions were his call and his call alone. K-State made just 15 of 47 shots for the game and made just seven of 31 shots from inside the three-point arc. The 10 points in the paint were the fewest the Wildcats have scored since records for that statistic began being kept during the 2000-01 season.

Kansas State (12-12, 5-6) will next be in action on Wednesday when they travel to West Virginia. Tipoff in Morgantown is set for 6 p.m. CT.

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Tarik Phillip scored 12 points and Juwan Staten added 11 and West Virginia took advantage of 25 Kansas State turnovers and 15 missed free throws as the 17th-ranked Mountaineers hung on for a 65-59 victory Tuesday night in Big 12 Basketball action at Bramlage Coliseum.

Just like Saturday’s game against Oklahoma State a technical foul was called in the first minute of this game with WVU’s Johnathon Holton being whistled just 19 seconds into the game. At first it appeared K-State would take control of the game early by jumping out to a 7-1 lead with 15:57 left in the first half, but West Virginia answered that with a 9-0 surge of its own in the next 4:40 to take a 10-7 lead. K-State would regain the lead a short time later but then suffered a big loss when Nino Williams, their best player since Big 12 play began left the game after logging only eight minutes with some sort of knee injury that Coach Bruce Weber later described as a “tweak” and would not return. Weber said in the post-game press conference that he would find out more about the injury on Wednesday.

For the rest of the half, the two teams went back and forth and both were in the double-bonus before the under four media timeout with fouls seemingly being called every few seconds. After the Mountaineers surged to a 26-19 lead with 3:35 left in the half, K-State closed with a 5-0 run and trailed by just two points at intermission.
The Wildcats extended the run to 11-0 early in the second half and took a 30-26 lead but then West Virginia quickly regained the lead on a three-point basket by Jevon Carter. The game was tied 40-40 with 11:29 left before West Virginia went on a 9-1 run to open up an eight-point advantage in just under two minutes. The closest K-State would get the rest of the way was 51-48 before the Mountaineers were able to create some breathing room despite committing fouls with the lead and giving the Wildcats numerous chances to close the gap. However, Kansas State was just 20 of 35 from the free throw line and that would prove costly as West Virginia closed out the six-point victory for their first win in Manhattan in three tries.

Marcus Foster led K-State and all scorers with 15 points while Wesley Iwundu added 12. While rebounds were fairly even for both sides, The Wildcats committed 25 turnovers to West Virginia’s 20 and shot a miserable 57 percent from the charity stripe in a contest where 54 fouls were called and only shot 37 percent from the floor for the game.

Things won’t get easier for Kansas State (12-9, 5-3) as the Wildcats will travel to Lawrence on Saturday to face in-state rival and ninth-ranked Kansas for the first meeting of the season with the Jayhawks. Tipoff at Allen Fieldhouse is set for 1 p.m.

Nino Williams scored 20 points and Marcus Foster and Justin Edwards added 14 apiece as Kansas State started fast in both halves and was never seriously threatened as the Wildcats defeated Oklahoma State 63-53 Saturday before a sellout crowd on Legends Weekend at Bramlage Coliseum.

Never trailing at any point, K-State blasted off to a 6-0 lead in just over a minute to start the game with Foster, Williams and Wesley Iwundu accounting for the points. After the Cowboys closed to within 14-11 with 13:04 left in the first half, Kansas State used a 9-2 run in the next five minutes to lead 23-13 following a Williams jumper.

K-State would lead by as much as 14 points before settling for a 31-21 halftime advantage.
The beginning of the second half was basically similar to the start of the game except this time, the Cowboys scored a bucket before another six-point Wildcat barrage. The closest Oklahoma State came to making any kind of run was a 5-0 burst in a 1:10 span capped off by a three-point basket by Phil Forte to cut the Kansas State advantage to 37-30 with 15:55 remaining.

After that the Wildcats steadily pulled away with clutch baskets by Williams and Foster and then Edwards becoming more aggressive in attacking the basket coming up with some big shots. The Cowboys still had some faint hopes after a steal and layup by Tavarius Shine making the score 58-47 with 3:47 reamining but 18 seconds later Thomas Gipson answered that basket with a thunderous dunk that sent the K-State crowd into a frenzy and forced an OSU timeout.

The Wildcat defense also shined Saturday allowing the Cowboys only 19 rebounds and four on the Offensive glass. Forte led Oklahoma State with 22 points while Le’Bryan Nash after a relatively quiet first half added 13.
Kansas State (12-8, 5-2) will be back on the Bramlage hardwood Tuesday when they host former Wildcat coach Bob Huggins and West Virginia. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m.

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Nino Williams scored 18 points and Marcus Foster added 11 despite being on the bench for a significant stretch of the second half after picking up his fourth foul as Kansas State after trailing by as many as 14 points in the first half staged one of the better comebacks in recent years as the Wildcats defeated 22nd-ranked Baylor 63-61 Saturday at Bramlage Coliseum.

Baylor led by 16 first half points from standout guard Kenny Chery seemingly could do no wrong at times jumping out to an early 13-2 lead in the game’s first seven minutes. Taurean Prince then slammed home a dunk with 8:50 left in the half and Baylor’s advantage grew to 24-10. The Bears then went into scoring hybernation in the form of a seven-minute plus drought without a point while K-State used a 12-0 run to cut the deficit to 24-22. However the Bears hit three three-point baskets as part of a 9-2 run to end the half with a 33-24 advantage.

In the second half, the Bears seemed to be in command stretching their lead out again this time to 12 points at 49-37 with 11:27 to play and felt even better about things when Foster went to the bench with his fourth foul. K-State yet again rallied and this time used a 12-0 run in a span of just over four minutes to grab a 54-51 lead with 5:36 left to play.

Baylor immediately ended that run by tying the game on a three-point play but a Williams layup and a three-pointer by Nigel Johnson gave K-State a 59-56 advantage with 3:55 remaining. After Baylor closed to within one point, Johnson’s jumper with 2:20 left gave the Wildcats a 61-58 lead. Then after a missed shot, Johnson went skyward to grab a huge offensive rebound and was fouled. He made one of two free throws to make the score 62-58 with just 11 seconds showing on the clock.

Still it was not a secure win after Chery completed a three-point play with just 5.4 seconds left. After K-State made one of two free throws on its next trip down the floor, the Bears had one last shot to win the game as they gave Chery the ball. Going to for a tying two-point shot rather than a game-winning three-pointer, Chery drove most of the length of the floor but his runner missed as time ran out and K-State had secured its fourth straight conference win.

Chery who has played well at Bramlage throughout his collegiate career, led all scorers with 21 points but scored just five in the second half. Prince added 20 for the Bears who tumbled to their third Big 12 loss in just five games.
The victory was K-State’s 12th largest comeback in their program history and the Wildcats defeated Baylor for the first time since Rodney McGruder hit a game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer on March 2, 2013 in Waco.
Kansas State (11-7, 4-1) moved into sole possession of second place in the Big 12 with Saturday’s win after West Virginia lost at Texas 77-50.
K-State is next on action Tuesday when they face Iowa State in Ames. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m.

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Marcus Foster scored 14 points and Wesley Iwundu added another 10 as the Kansas State Wildcats hung on against a Texas Tech team that refused to quit in a 58-51 victory Wednesday night in Big 12 action at Bramlage Coliseum.
After Texas Tech jumped out to an early 4-0 lead, the Wildcats then went on a 9-0 run in a 3:10 span capped by a thunderous dunk by Iwundu. K-State then used an 11-0 run later in the half to bolt to its largest lead of the game at 26-12. The last four points of that run came on four straight free throws….two each by Foster and Iwundu after Red Raider coach Tubby Smith received a technical foul.
However, that call proved to be a spark to Tech as they battled back to within six points just before halftime and only trailed 28-20 at intermission. The Red Raiders’ surge continued in the second half as they pulled to within 34-33 with 14:38 left in the game.
Despite sloppy play by both teams over the next five minutes, K-State managed to stretch its lead back out to 43-35 with 8:38 to play but as has been the case in recent home contests, Texas Tech like Texas Southern, Georgia and TCU before them would not give up and was as close as 49-46 with 3:05 left. From there the Wildcats got key layups by Thomas Gipson and Justin Edwards and a free throw by Jevon Thomas to lead 54-46 with 1:05 remaining.
From there, K-State capped off an 81 percent shooting night from the charity stripe with four more free throws to seal their 10th win of the season. K-State managed to win this game in a battle of two of the better defensive clubs in the Big 12 despite being out-rebounded by Tech 38-30 and 17-10 on the Offensive glass.
Robert Turner led the Red Raiders with 16 points while Devaugntah Williams added 13.
Kansas State (10-7, 3-1) welcomes Baylor to Bramlage Coliseum this Saturday in a very important conference tilt. The 22nd-ranked Bears blew a huge second half lead Wednesday night and even briefly fell behind Iowa State before rallying to beat the 11th-ranked Cyclones 74-73 in Waco. Baylor won both meetings last season with K-State.
Tipoff on Saturday is set for 2 p.m.

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After a frustrating week which saw him score a combined two points in losses to Georgia and Oklahoma State, Kansas State Sophomore guard Marcus Foster saw Wednesday night’s game against TCU as an opportunity for redemption.
Unaccustomed to coming off the bench, Foster did just that and while he wasn’t scoring consistently he led the Wildcats with 23 points and made several critical free throws down the stretch as K-State hung on for a 58-53 victory in the Big 12 home opener at Bramlage Coliseum.
As has been the case in recent losses, the Wildcats started fast bolting out to an early 7-0 lead before watching TCU storm back with eight unanswered points for what turned out to be their only lead of the night at 8-7. Foster then came in and knocked down his first two field goals including one three-point basket to key a 5-0 run and allow K-State to regain the lead at 12-8.
For the rest of the half, Kansas State coming into the game on a rare three-game losing streak would widen their lead to as many as six points twice only to see the Horned Frogs draw closer and trail just 22-19 at halftime.
Early in the second half with K-State leading by just three points once again, Foster stepped up and drained back-to-back three-pointers to stretch the lead to 32-24 with 16:29 left in the game. The Cats lead grew to 36-26 before TCU made another run to slice their deficit to 36-33 with 11:24 left thanks to a 7-0 surge of their own. Over the next seven minutes the Wildcats outscored the Horned Frogs 10-4 and appeared to have the game under control with a 46-37 advantage with just over four minutes left.
However, TCU would simply not go away, cutting the lead to 48-43 with 1:47 left. It was at this point in the game when Foster would prove valuable in a different way as he knocked down five of six free throw attempts and Wesley Iwiundu added a pair from the charity stripe and K-State led 54-47 with 32 seconds on the clock. However a couple of defensive lapses and a turnover led to easy buckets for TCU and they were within 58-53 with under 10 seconds left which just for a fleeting moment had Wildcat fans flashing back to the December 28 meltdown against Texas Southern.
However, the Horned Frogs would miss their final shot and K-State held on for the five-point victory. While admitting later that his attitude and self-confidence had taken a hit in the last week, Foster was the lone Wildcat in double figures with his 23 points. Iwundu added nine points and Nino Williams had eight in a gutsy effort despite twice falling to the floor in pain during the second half.
Trey Zeigler led TCU with 19 points while Kyan Anderson who had a huge game against K-State last season in Bramlage was held to eight points.
Kansas State (8-7, 1-1) will be back on the road this Saturday when they travel to Norman to take on a vastly improving Oklahoma team. The Sooners are coming off a resounding 70-47 win at Texas in their most recent outing on Monday night. Tipoff at Lloyd Noble Center is set for 6 p.m.

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Charles Mann scored 17 points and Georgia outscored Kansas State 9-2 in the final 3:35, a stretch that included the game’s last seven points as the Bulldogs despite blowing a 15-point second half lead defeated the Wildcats 50-46 in a New Year’s Eve matinee Wednesday at Bramlage Coliseum.

Both teams started out sluggish combining for eight turnovers in the early going but it was Georgia who was able to grab an early 8-2 advantage before K-State knotted the score with a 6-0 run at 8-8 with 10:30 to go in the first half. Little did anyone in the building know that the Wildcats would end up scoring just four more points before halftime setting a new Bramlage Coliseum record for fewest first half points with 12 and drawing some boos from the usually enthusiastic and supportive crowd.

In the second half it looked like the Bulldogs, coached by Garden City native and one-time K-State assistant Mark Fox were going to blow the Wildcats out of the building as they built a 35-20 lead with 12:10 to play after Mann sank a pair of free throws.

That’s when Thomas Gipson coming off the bench after not starting the game as he nursed a sprained ankle suffered in Sunday’s loss to Texas Southern put the team on his back as he scored 17 of his game-high 19 points in the second half.

It was an encouraging performance by the Wildcat bench players after the starting five was benched for much of the game after producing no scoring punch. With 4:31 left in the second half, K-State took its first lead of the game since 2-0 on their only three-pointer of the game by Nigel Johnson. K-State would twice expand its lead to three points and led 46-43 with 2:49 left.

However as was the case against Texas Southern, the Wildcats allowed a game-ending run by their opponent except not quite as quick and dramatic as Sunday’s collapse. Nemanja Djurisic’s three-pointer with 1:07 remaining gave the Bulldogs the lead for good and from there Georgia knocked down three free throws while K-State failed to score on its final two trips down the floor on their way to their second straight loss.

In addition to Gipson’s performance, the Wildcats also got scoring from Johnson with nine points while Wesley Iwundu added seven and Malek Harris had four. Marcus Foster had just two points in 24 minutes while Justin Edwards was held scoreless in 13 minutes of playing time.

Wednesday’s defeat marked the first time that Kansas State had lost back-to-back games overall since falling to Kansas and Iowa State respectively on February 13 and 25, 2012 and the first time since the 1987-88 season, the Cats last in Ahearn Field House that they had lost consecutive non-conference games on their home floor.

Kansas State (7-6) won’t have much time to think about the Georgia game as the Wildcats will open Big 12 play on Saturday with a trip to Stillwater to face Oklahoma State. K-State has just one victory at Gallagher-Iba Arena since 1993. Tipoff on Saturday is set for 11 a.m.

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Jason Carter’s basket as time expired completed an improbable comeback as Texas Southern which entered Sunday’s game against Kansas State with just two wins on the season won its second road contest in nine days against a Power Five Conference opponent with a 58-56 victory before a shocked crowd at Bramlage Coliseum.

The Wildcats jumped out to a 9-0 lead to start the game with Marcus Foster leading the way with five points which included a slam dunk. Kansas State extended the lead to 15-5 before the Tigers led by former Indiana coach Mike Davis started to chip away cutting the advantage to 17-13 with 5:36 left in the first half. A Foster three-pointer upped the lead to seven points once again but the Tigers closed the first half on an 8-3 run and K-State’s halftime lead was 23-21.

Texas Southern which defeated Michigan State in overtime last weekend in East Lansing grabbed its first lead of the game at 28-27 when Chris Thomas completed a three-point play early in the second half. Then for a few minutes the teams traded baskets before the Tigers used a 10-3 run to lead 43-36 with 10:32 remaining. Then K-State stormed back into the lead with a 9-0 surge of its own starting with a three-pointer by Jevon Thomas followed by a Justin Edwards layup, a Stephen Hurt layup and then a thunderous dunk by Foster that may have triggered the loudest reaction from Wildcat fans all season as K-State led 45-43 with 6:22 left.

K-State would extend the lead to 48-43 on an alley-oop dunk by Edwards but the Tigers would not go away as they closed to within 49-48 with 2:24 left. K-State despite missing several free throws down the stretch managed to hold a 56-52 lead with 15 seconds left in the game after Nino Williams sank his second free throw attempt after missing his first. That would prove to be a big difference as things got crazy in the final seconds.

Texas Southern’s Tonnie Collier attempted a three-point basket with two seconds left but missed it as he was fouled by Jevon Thomas, giving him three free throw attempts. Collier made the first two shots to cut the lead to 56-54 before K-State Coach Bruce Weber called the Wildcats’ final timeout to discuss blocking out of the lane in the event of a missed free throw. Collier did miss that third attempt but his teammate Chris Thomas alertly rebounded the ball and tied the score on a layup as time appeared to run out. After a replay, the officials put nine-tenths of a second back on the clock and K-State would have the chance to inbound the ball for a final shot.

However, the Wildcats threw the inbounds pass away without any time running off the clock allowing the Tigers one final chance. That’s when Carter took the pass from Madarious Gibbs in the lane and hit the jumper at the buzzer. Although video replay clearly showed Carter released the ball before time ran out, the officiating crew took a few minutes to review the play before confirming the Texas Southern win.

Foster led K-State with 17 points while Williams added 11. Gibbs and Thomas were the scoring leaders for Texas Southern with 15 points apiece. Two statistics stand out as K-State’s downfall on Sunday: One was that they were out-rebounded by Texas Southern 32-23 and 11-4 on the offensive glass and the other is the fact they missed 12 of 20 free throw attempts. The Wildcats also suffered their fifth loss before New Year’s Day for the first time since the 2001-02 season.

Kansas State (7-5) will wrap up non-conference play on Wednesday with a New Year’s Eve matinee against Southeastern Conference opponent Georgia at Bramlage Coliseum. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m.
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KANSAS CITY, MO.-Reigning Big 12 Player of the Week Nino Williams scored 17 points to lead four players in double figures and Kansas State overcame late game troubles at the free throw line as the Wildcats hung on for a 68-64 victory over former Big 12 opponent Texas A&M Saturday night before 14,884 at Sprint Center. The game marked the first meeting between the two schools since the Aggies left the Big 12 for the Southeastern Conference in 2012.
The game began with the teams trading baskets and a 5-5 tie in the first two minutes. A 9-2 K-State run made the score 14-7 in favor of the Wildcats with 15:25 left in the first after Thomas Gipson capped it off with a layup. A few minutes later, the lead was 21-11 after a pair of Williams free throws and it looked like K-State might have a chance at running the Aggies out of the building.
However Texas A&M which came into the game with a 7-2 record would not allow the Wildcats to run away and kept their deficit manageable and even closed to within 31-26 with 3:51 left before the half. Within two minutes the lead was back to double digits at 38-28 on a jumper by Wesley Iwundu who celebrated his 20th birthday on Saturday. K-State eventually would settle for a 39-32 halftime advantage.
After A&M’s Jordan Green opened the second half scoring with a layup to cut the Wildcat lead to 39-34, Kansas State went on another 11-2 tear for its largest lead of the evening at 50-36 on a Jevon Thomas layup. The scoring play of the night was a monster dunk by Iwundu as he came flying towards the basket which triggered a roar from the pro-Wildcat crowd at Sprint Center and triggered the playing of the crowd-pumping tune “Sandstorm” for the first time this season. Iwundu’s heroics made the score 59-46 with 6:55 left to play.
K-State seemingly had the game in control but they left the door open late for Texas A&M when an old nuisance resurfaced as the Wildcats suddenly were having problems making free throws. Thomas had the most difficulty missing six of his 10 attempts from the charity stripe. However, Gipson made a pair of free throws to widen the lead to 68-61 but A&M would not go away as they hit another three-pointer to cut the margin to just four points. However, Marcus Foster made two free throws and Thomas managed to sink one to provide the final score of 71-64.
Gipson who had been struggling in recent games had a nice rebound night with 14 points while Foster and Iwundu each had 10 apiece. Kourtney Roberson and Danuel House each paced the Aggies with 13 points.
Kansas State (7-4) returns to Bramlage Coliseum for its final two non-conference games starting with a contest against Texas Southern on December 28. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m.

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Nino Williams scored a game-high 20 points and Marcus Foster added 13 as Kansas State overcame inconsistent first half shooting to defeat Savannah State 73-53 Sunday night at Bramlage Coliseum.

The Wildcats opened the game in style with Justin Edwards taking a Foster pass in mid-air and throwing down a dunk giving the impression that K-State would win this game going away. However, many of the same problems that plagued K-State in last Tuesday’s win over Bradley resurfaced again on Sunday with the Wildcats going more than six minutes at one point without a field goal. Fortunately the Tigers weren’t much better as they shot 42 percent for the half and were only able to draw as close as five points before K-State went into halftime with a 30-23 advantage.

The Wildcats opened the second half on a 10-4 run with another Edwards alley-oop dunk making the score 40-27 with 15:46 left in the game. The lead grew to as much as 45-31 before Savannah State used a 10-2 surge to close to within 47-41 with 10:20 remaining. The Wildcats then went on a 10-0 run and never looked back with a 57-41 lead. The Wildcats would lead by as much as 23 points before settling for the 20-point margin of victory.

Thomas Gipson whose recent struggles continued was the third K-State player in double figures with 10 points. While he only scored two points in the game off the bench seldom-used Brian Rohleder played a significant role and drew three straight charging fouls in the first half which met with the approval of the fans in attendance. Terel Hall led Savannah State with 17 points while Alante Fenner added 10.

Kansas State (6-4) will next be in action on Saturday when they face former Big 12 foe and now SEC member Texas A&M at Sprint Center in Kansas City for the Wildcat Classic. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m.
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Nino Williams scored 14 points and Marcus Foster added 13 as the Kansas State Wildcats edged Bradley 50-47 Tuesday night in Men’s Basketball action at Bramlage Coliseum.
The first half was marked by long scoring droughts by both teams especially K-State which went nearly 17 minutes without a Field Goal and a stretch of 8:57 without a single point. The Wildcats shot a dismal three of 13 in the first half for 23.1 percent, but the Braves were not much better going seven for 28 for an even 25 percent.
Bradley led 19-18 at halftime and the 37 points by both teams was the lowest combined point total by two teams in a half in the 27-season history of Bramlage Coliseum.
The Wildcats who were coming off a one-point loss at Tennessee on Saturday in the Big 12-SEC Challenge got untracked with a 16-6 run over the first six and a half minutes of the second half to lead 34-24 thanks to Foster who scored eight points in that stretch including two three-pointers. After K-State led 38-29 with 11:51 to go in the game, the Braves went on a furious 11-1 run in 3:54 to tie the score 39-39 with 7:57 left in the contest, but K-State would regain the lead for good on a Justin Edwards three-point shot on their next trip down the floor.
Even though the Cats would stretch the lead to eight points in the final few minutes, Bradley still had a chance to force overtime at the very end of the game but Ka’Darryl Bell missed a three-pointer in the final five seconds allowing K-State to survive.
Williams with his effort Tuesday night picked up his second career double-double. Auston Barnes led all scorers with 21 points as the only Brave in double figures. K-State made just 12 Field goals on the night, the third fewest in school history and the lowest since making 11 against Nebraska on January 11, 2006. The 34 Field Goals attempted were the sixth fewest in school history and the lowest since attempting 33 against Nebraska on February 16, 1985.
Kansas State (5-4) will be back in action on the Bramlage hardwood on Sunday when they host Savannah State. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m.

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Williams scored a season-high 19 points including his first three-point basket in two seasons to lead three players in double figures as Kansas State snapped a two-game losing streak with an 84-66 victory over Omaha Tuesday night at Bramlage Coliseum.
After dropping their final two games at the EA Sports Maui Invitational, the Wildcats started sluggish for a good portion of the first half trailing the upstart Mavericks 16-10 with 11:29 remaining on the clock. K-State then went on a 15-7 run to take a 25-23 lead on a pair of Jevon Thomas free throws with 5:16 left before halftime. Still Omaha, which held a 24-7 first half lead over Nebraska earlier this season would not go away scoring the next five points and regaining the lead at 28-25 with C.J. Carter scoring three of his 14 first half points. An 8-0 Wildcat run would send K-State back into the lead at 33-28 with 1:37 left in the half on the way to a 37-31 advantage at intermission.
The Cats would widen the margin to 42-31 within the first 90 seconds of the second half on a Thomas three-pointer. After Omaha closed the gap to five points, it was time for Marcus Foster to get hot with two three-pointers, a dunk and another field goal in the span of 3:24. From there K-State gradually pulled away leading by as many as 21 points before settling for the 18-point win and remaining undefeated at Bramlage Coliseum on the young season.
In addition to Williams’ big night, Foster finished with 16 points while Thomas added 12. Carter led all scorers with 22 points while Rylan Murry added 11 for the Mavericks who were outsized and over-matched when it came to depth while they deal with injury issues.
Kansas State (4-3) shot 53 percent from the floor but made just 11 of 24 free throws for 45 percent. Next up for the Wildcats is a trip to Knoxville, Tenn. for the Big 12-SEC Challenge on Saturday. Last season K-State defeated Ole Miss in Bramlage Coliseum. Tipoff on Saturday at Thompson-Bowling Arena is set for 2:15 p.m. CT.

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The Kangaroos came into the game a confident squad after their 69-61 upset of Missouri on Friday night in their season opener in Columbia and throughout the first half they staged a strong bid to make the Wildcats their next victim as K-State got off to a sluggish start especially on Defense.

The two teams traded baskets for the game’s first three and a half minutes,but then the Kangaroos ripped off six straight points to lead 12-6. After K-State cut UMKC’s lead to two points, the Kangaroos used another surge to lead by as much as 26-15 with 9:49 left in the first half culminating a 16-5 run with a three-pointer by Broderick Newbill.

The Wildcats then began to get untracked with a 9-4 run to cut the deficit to 28-24 on a three-pointer by Tre Harris. A Foster trey brought the Cats to within one point just before halftime at 37-36 but UMKC pushed the lead back to four with one of their own by Martez Harrison and took a 40-36 advantage into intermission.

In the second half, K-State found their game and some momentum despite falling behind 45-39 in the first two minutes. The Wildcats would take the lead for good thanks to a 13-2 run in a span of three minutes capped by a pair of Gipson free throws to go ahead 52-47. For the rest of the game, K-State would widen its lead and begin to wear down the Kangaroos who had several players in foul trouble. Despite being in control much of the second half, the Wildcats never held a lead larger than 10 points and settled for the 83-73 win.

In all, four K-State players scored in double figures with Justin Edwards contributing 15 points and Nigel Johnson scoring 12. Monday night also marked the season debut of Wesley Iwundu who scored three points. Three UMKC players recorded double-figures led by Harrison’s 21 points, Broderick’s 11 points and 10 points from Canadian native Shayok Shayok.

Kansas State (2-0) will now spend the next two weeks away from Bramlage Coliseum as they take to the road for the first time this season on Friday when they visit Long Beach State, a team they defeated twice in an eight-day span last season. Following that will be the first game in Maui next Monday afternoon against Purdue.
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The game was back and forth in the first five minutes with Southern Utah using the three-point basket to take leads of 7-4 and 10-9. However, K-State would keep pace with some three-point firepower of its own mainly from Sophomore Marcus Foster and while the score was tied at several different points during the first half, K-State would never trail again after the 15:26 mark.

After Utah’s A.J. Hess nailed his fourth three-pointer of the half and third in a row to tie the score at 24-24, K-State would take the lead for good on a free throw by Thomas Gipson who scored 14 of his 17 points in the first half. In the final 9:32 of the half, K-State would outscore the Thunderbirds 20-12 and take a 44-36 lead into intermission.

In the second half, the Cats kicked things into overdrive going on a 24-9 run to start the half and never looking back. With last year’s season-opening home loss to Northern Colorado on the minds of Coach Bruce Weber and returning players, K-State made sure there was no such drama this time around. The Wildcats’ largest lead of the night was 35 points at 94-59 before settling for the 30-point win.

The 98 points scored by Kansas State were by far the most in the Bruce Weber era and the highest point total since a 100-76 thrashing of North Florida at Bramlage on December 31, 2010. Other Wildcats in double figures with Johnson and Gipson included Foster and newcomer Tre Harris with 13 points apiece while fellow newcomers Justin Edwards and Stephen Hurt added 11 each. Leading the way for the Thunderbirds was Hess with 16 points but he scored just four of those in the second half.

Kansas State (1-0) will be back on the Bramlage hardwood Monday night when they host UMKC in a 7 p.m. tipoff. The Kangaroos opened their season with a 69-61 upset of Missouri in Columbia Friday night spoiling Kim Anderson’s debut as the Tigers head coach.
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