SE: Wade Leads Balanced Attack for K-State MBB

By Corbin McGuire

At its best, K-State brings offensive balance. At his best, Dean Wade is usually at the heart of his team's balance.

This was the case in K-State's 78-66 win against Iowa State in Bramlage Coliseum on Saturday.

Wade, a 6-foot-10 power forward, played more like a point forward against the Cyclones. While he led K-State's three double-digit scorers with 22 points on 9-of-13 from the field, including 7-of-8 from inside 3-point range, he also dished out a career-high nine assists to go with eight rebounds.

"He makes the right plays and we say you have to take what they give you," K-State head coach Bruce Weber said of Wade. "He made a lot of nice passes that created open looks that obviously made a difference for our team."

With four Big 12 games left, Wade leads K-State (19-8, 8-6) in scoring (16.3 PPG), rebounding (6.4) and 3-point percentage (43.6), while ranking third in assists per game (2.86).

"He's really improved. He's gotten to be a tremendous player and was very, very effective today," Iowa State head coach Steve Prohm said. "At times, I thought we defended him well and then he made shots. He made threes, made little 15-, 17-foot pull-ups. They're good. They're patient. They're not going to take bad shots. They're going to get ball reversal and they know who they're going through."

Wade collected 12 of his points and six of his assists in the second half to help push K-State to its second win in its three games. By either using his deep repertoire of scoring options or finding an open teammate for a bucket, Wade had his hand in 15 of the Wildcats' first 19 second-half points.

"I think my teammates played great and that allowed me to play great," Wade said. "I was feeding off their energy."

Barry Brown added 20 points for K-State, highlighted by a pair of rim-rocking dunks and a few of his other signature finishes around the rim. Xavier Sneed, who had a fast-break slam as well, contributed 17 points that included a trio of 3-pointers. The sophomore forward also grabbed seven rebounds and a pair of steals.

"We're trying to figure out how to guard Wade and then when you try to figure that out, now you're screwed up with Sneed," Prohm said. "He's a good player. He's active. He's good in transition. He's got great size at the three position and he can make shots."

Cartier Diarra, limited by foul trouble, provided eight points to nearly give K-State at least four double-digit scorers for the 13^th time this season. K-State is 10-2 when that happens this season, including 6-1 in Big 12 play.

"When we play well, it's when we have balance," Weber said. "That's our strength."

"It's tough, when we're all scoring, for teams to adjust because it's kind of like no-help responsibility," Brown added. "You can't just help off one man and leave someone else open."

K-State's balance is both created and amplified by good ball movement, with Saturday as one of the season's best examples.

The Wildcats tallied 20 assists, K-State's most in Big 12 play this season, to 31 made field goals. In the second half the Wildcats dished out 12 assists to 17 made field goals.

"When we're all able to attack, make the right read and find the right person or make a play for our self, it's tough to scout," Brown said, as K-State hosts Texas on Wednesday at 8 p.m., on ESPNU. "Moving forward, we just have to keep doing that, playing with each other and for each other and making the right plays."

Kansas State University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Cartier Diarra

Xavier Sneed

Dean Wade

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