Final Score: Kansas State 79, 7/8 West Virginia 75

Records: Kansas State 15-4, 4-3 Big 12 // West Virginia 15-4, 4-3 Big 12

Attendance: 12,528 (sellout)

Next Game: Tuesday, Jan. 24 // at Iowa State // 8 p.m. CT // ESPNU

 

Miscellaneous Notes

• K-State is now 1,597-1,129 all-time in program history.
• K-State earned its first Top 25 victory of the season and now has at least one win over a ranked team in 11 consecutive seasons… It is the longest such streak since doing it each season from 1971-82… The Wildcats are 34-55 against Top 25 foes at Bramlage Coliseum, including 19-15 at Bramlage Coliseum since 2008.
• K-State moved to 11-1 in home games this season, including 10-1 at Bramlage Coliseum… The team has double-digit victories at Bramlage Coliseum for a 16^th consecutive season.
• The victory snapped a 5-game skid to West Virginia… It was the first win over the Mountaineers since a 78-56 victory at home on Jan. 18, 2014… West Virginia still leads the all-time series, 6-5.
• Head coach Bruce Weber is now 95-60 at K-State and 409-215 overall as a head coach… He is 66-14in Bramlage Coliseum… Weber is 4-5 vs. West Virginia, including 3-2 at home.
• The lineup consisted of sophomore Kamau Stokes, sophomore Barry Brown, senior Wesley Iwundu,sophomore Dean Wade and senior D.J. Johnson… The team has used the same lineup in all 19 games… It was the 108^th start for Iwundu, 50^th for Wade, 39^th for Stokes, 35^th for Johnson and 30^th for Brown.
• Iwundu has played in 83 consecutive games, including a streak of 71 starts in a row.

Team Notes

• K-State scored 79 points on 50.0 percent shooting (28-of-56), including 35.3 percent (6-of-17) from 3-point range, and went 54.8 percent (17-of-31) from the free throw line… The Wildcats have now scored 70 or more points in 13 of their first 19 games.
• K-State connected on 50 percent or better from the field for the 10^th time this season, including the fifth time in Big 12 play… The Wildcats improved to 36-6 under head coach Bruce Weber when shooting 50 percent or better, including 8-2 this season.
• All 5 starters scored in double figures for the sixth time under Bruce Weber, including the fourth time this season… The Wildcats improved to 13-1 under Bruce Weber when at least 5 players register double digits.
• K-State rose to 59-20 under Bruce Weber and 12-3 this season when connecting on at least 6 3-point field goals… The Wildcats have made at least one 3-pointer in 291 consecutive games dating back to start of 2008-09 season.
• K-State scored 25 points off of 23 West Virginia turnovers… It marked the seventh time this season scoring 20 or more points off turnovers, including the second consecutive game.
• With 12 steals today, the Wildcats registered double-digit steals for the seventh time this season… The team has 63 combined steals in Big 12 play… The squad has forced double figure turnovers in 17 of 19 games, including 20 or more turnovers 3 times.

 

Player Notes

• With 7 rebounds today, senior Wesley Iwundu became the first Wildcat in school history to total 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 300 assists and 100 steals in a career… Only Rolando Blackman recorded more than 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 300 assists in a career as steals were not kept at that time.
• Iwundu finished in double figures with 13 points to go with a team-high 9 rebounds… He has scored in double figures in 51 career games, including the 12^th time this season… He led the team in rebounds for the 18^th time in his career, including sixth time this season.
• Sophomore Barry Brown scored 15 points on 5-of-10 field goals to go along with 2 assists… This is the 27^th time scoring in double figures, including the team-leading 15^th time this season… Brown also had 2 steals and now posted at least 2 steals in 14 games.
• Sophomore Kamau Stokes scored 15 points on 4-of-12 field goals, including 1-of-4 from 3-point range… This is the 23^rd time scoring in double figures, including the 14^th time this season… He has scored in double figures in a career-best 9 consecutive games.
• Senior D.J. Johnson scored 14 points on 5-of-7 field goals… This is the 28^th time scoring in double figures, including the 13^th time this season.
• Sophomore Dean Wade scored 13 points on 5-of-10 field goals, including 2-of-5 from 3-point range… This is the 27^th time scoring in double figures, including the 11^th time this season… He has double figures 9 times in the last 12 outings.

 

KANSAS STATE POSTGAME QUOTES

 

Head coach Bruce Weber
On second half performance…
“A lot of it is defensive stops. I kept telling them if you get stops they will not press us. Then they even went zone. I do not think they have played zone a single possession all year. When they went zone we were not efficient with it but we scored enough times. I think this is where we matured as a team. We feel more confident that we can deal with adversity and go make plays.”

 

On responding after a 11-0 West Virginia run…

“I just kept saying settle down. We got to make plays and we came back and made plays. The big thing was stops. We got back into the game at the end of the first half and had the great start to the first half all because of stops. That did not allow them to press. We got to push their defense down the court and we made good decisions getting the ball to the paint. We just played solid basketball.”

 

On keys to the game…

“It starts with the defense. I know press is important and that is part of their name, but the defense was the key and the rebounding. We limited their second chance points.”

 

On Kamau Stokes coming back from an ankle injury…

“We were just talking about that on radio. It shows a lot of toughness and courage on his part. Our trainer, Luke Sauber, probably deserves the game ball. He got back at 12:30. He was with Kam (Stokes) six hours on Thursday and got him to the point where he could play. I could not even tell that he got hurt.”

 

On playing in the Big 12…

“It is just so hard. You have different styles, good coaches and really good players. Last year we were an older league and this year we are a much younger league. We have a mixture of young and old. It is good, but it is very unforgiving we got to enjoy this but we have to be smart. We play Tuesday at Iowa State. I think they are tied with us, so now we have a chance to go there and get a win.”

 

Sophomore Guard Barry Brown

On getting over the hump of close game losses…

“It is great. Especially being on this team last year and not being able to get over that hump. Except for games like Oklahoma, but just not being able to get over that hump. That whole year of maturity like coach talked about. Just courage and being able to come out with the win at home against a good team like West Virginia.”

 

On Kamau playing tonight…

“I knew that he was going to be a big factor. I mean he is a big part of what we do and the team we are. Just to have him on the court with us, it was big.”

 

Sophomore Guard Kamau Stokes

On previous ankle injury…

“During the game I was not really thinking about it, but it is a thing that is going to bother you sometimes. You just have to play through it especially in a game like this.”

 

On beating a top ten team…

“Beating a top ten of course means a lot to a lot of people. For us, it means a lot but we have to keep pushing and you have to fight your way up. Every game is a big game, especially in this conference. You cannot take any game for granted.”

 

Senior Guard Wesley Iwundu

On his statistics…

“It is a good feeling to do something like that for my career. I am about as excited as I can be, especially since we got the win. I think reaching a goal like that and getting the win, there could not be anything better.

 

On the end of the first half…

“It gave us a lot of confidence, especially in a game like that. It was a game of runs and being down eleven in the first half we kind of knew there was a chance that we were going to be able to get back in the game. I think we did a great job of closing out that first half to give us momentum going into the second. That was pretty big for us and just to beat a good team like West Virginia. That was a big win.”

 

WEST VIRGINIA POSTGAME QUOTES

 

Head coach Bob Huggins

On only forcing five turnovers in the second half…

“It would not have mattered. We would have thrown it back to them. We just tried to play a little different. We had bad foul trouble and I was afraid everybody would foul out, honestly. We had three big men with four fouls”.

 

On large turnover amount…

“We threw it to the wrong people. We did it against Oklahoma and we did it today. It is careless and it is hard to win that way. I know that.”

 

On drought in the middle of the game…

“I thought we had decent looks, but you cannot turn it over. We just kept turning it over. Our radio guy said that we did not score as many points as we usually do, but how are we going to do that when we have 23 turnovers?”

 

On mindset after their wild last two weeks…

“There is a difference between being the hunter and the hunted. The old Proverb “the dog with the bone is always in danger” applies. We are not very good at being on top and we have to know that we have to scratch and claw which is kind of what we are. We got a little bit complacent. When you look at the amount of turnovers, and their half-court defense is not something to turn people over. We just threw it away. What kills you is unforced turnovers. It is one that you are forced to play at a pace that you cannot play, or you have guys with the ball that do not know what to do with the ball. The unforced ones absolutely kill you.”

 

On Barry Brown’s performance in the second half…

“We decided to stand on the side of him and let him drive it to the basket instead of staying in front of him. I do not know why we do what we do. It is not what we practice. I promise you that is not what we practice.”

————
TOM GILBERT
Associate Director for Athletics Communications | K-State Athletics

The Junction City Reds Baseball Club will host tryouts on Saturday, January 28th at 9:00am. Additional dates will be released at the tryouts.

Tryouts are for the 16 to 18 year old Division Babe Ruth League; interested participants cannot turn 19 before May 1, 2017.

Tryouts are located at the Indoor Baseball Academy above the Goodwill building at 1008 W. 6th Street in Junction City. Use the east door for entrance.

This year the State Tournament will be held in Wellington, KS, the Midwest Plains Regional in Junction City, and the World Series Championship in Ephrata, WA.

Players will be required to build a Field Level profile for college recruiters.

For more information contact Head Coach Denver Kell at 785-202-2022.

St. Xavier Middle School Basketball Scores:

Girls and boys middle school both win over Topeka Lutheran on Thursday, Jan. 19th.

• Girls win by forfeit
• Boys 27-21

Middle school boys lost to Heritage Christian 39-24 on Tuesday, January 17th.

Breanna Lewis scored 21 points and had four blocks, Kindred Wesemann hit five 3-pointers to become ranked fifth in school history with 232 career 3s, and No. 22 Kansas State used a big third quarter on Wednesday night win its fourth straight, beating TCU 74-63.

Tied at 27 at halftime after making only 1 of 6 from behind the arc, Wesemann made three 3s, Kaylee Page added another, and Kansas State opened the third quarter with a 14-3 run. Wesemann hit her fourth 3 — surpassing the 230 career 3s by Kimberly Dietz (2004-08) — and the Wildcats led 52-40 at the end of the third.

TCU closed to 62-56 on Jada Butts’ two free throws, but Shaelyn Martin made a 3-point play and the Wildcats led by 10 with 1:23 to go.

Wesemann finished with 18 points and three steals and the Wildcats (15-4, 5-2 Big 12) outscored the Horned Frogs 38-26 in the paint.

TCU led 12-6 on a 3 by Amber Ramirez, but Page hit a 3, Lewis made a jumper amid a 7-4 run and the Wildcats trailed 16-13 at the end of the first quarter. Kansas State was up 27-22 after Lewis’ layup, but TCU’s Ramirez hit her third 3 to tie it at 27 at halftime.

Amy Okonkwo scored 13 points for TCU (9-9, 1-6), which had 13 steals.