SE: K-State MBB Gets Senior Mason Schoen on the Floor, Clinches Fourth Seed in Big 12 Championship with 77-67 Win over Baylor
Mar 05, 2018 | Men's Basketball, Sports Extra
By Corbin McGuire
On senior day, K-State's "main focus" was not on boosting the team's NCAA Tournament resume, locking up a better seed in the Big 12 Championship or improving their individual cases for All-Big 12 voting — all of which the Wildcats did in a 77-67 win over Baylor on Saturday.
No, the Wildcats were locked in for another reason. They wanted to get their only senior, walk-on Mason Schoen, on the floor. With 28 seconds to play, Schoen checked in to add another memorable moment to his journey from the student recreation center to a Wildcat uniform.
"We wanted to get Mason out there on the floor," said junior guard Barry Brown, who finished 18 points. "That was kind of our main focus, trying to play hard to get him out there on the floor."
Between Dean Wade's first half and Brown's second, K-State's dynamic juniors made sure their older teammate got one last stretch of live action in Bramlage Coliseum.
Wade and Brown combined for 43 points on 15-of-23 from the field, 11 rebounds, 10 assists and five steals en route to pushing K-State's record to 21-10 overall and 10-8 in Big 12 play. In the resume-building win, both juniors surpassed 500 points for the season to become the seventh duo in school history to do so in the same season and the first since Jacob Pullen and Denis Clemente in 2009-10.
"For the record, it was senior night, and I'm personally hoping this is Dean Wade and Barry Brown's last game at Kansas State because both of them are pros. I have nothing but respect for them," Baylor head coach Scott Drew said. "I think they're great players and we've struggled guarding them. Those two guys are really, really good."
Brown, a Second Team All-Big 12 and All-Defensive team selection, scored 14 of his points in the final 20 minutes. He also tied his career high with nine assists, and once again provided a series of big plays in a crucial stretch for K-State.
When Baylor slashed K-State's lead to six, Brown found Makol Mawien for an alley-oop. A possession later, after a Baylor three cut its deficit to five, Brown knocked down a corner trey to answer.
"Barry had the little flash and that just kind of kept them at bay," said K-State head coach Bruce Weber, who used Schoen and Kade Kinnamon, a junior walk-on who will graduate next December, as motivation. "I said (on Friday), 'You owe it to those guys who play their butts off every day. Get them in the game.' Barry ran down the court with a minute-something left and said, 'Take me out of the game and put Mason in.' That's a credit to his leadership and how much they respect Mason."
Wade, a First Team All-Big 12 pick, scored 17 of his game-high 25 points in the first half, including a pair of thunderous dunks that came off a pair of Wildcats steals. He finished 9-of-14 from the field to go with a team-high seven rebounds and a pair of steals.
"I'm just trying to bring energy, make a few plays here or there and get the crowd involved, get everyone hyped up. I think it really helped to get Bramlage rocking," Wade said. "I was just trying to bring my own energy."
Paired with a loss from TCU later in the day, K-State's win against the Bears placed them alone at fourth in the Big 12 standings, four spots above where it was picked to finish in the preseason poll.
As the four seed in the Big 12 Championship at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, the Wildcats will face the fifth-seeded Horned Frogs on Thursday at 11:30 a.m., on ESPN2.
"We have a chance to do something special there," Weber said. "I'm very proud of them. I know we were picked way down at the bottom, but they felt like they were a better team, and the coaches did. It started with the leadership of Barry, Mason Schoen, Dean, from day one last spring. They just put the time and effort in and bought in."
Page Heats Up, K-State WBB Tops Rival Kansas for 10th-Consecutive Time
Behind a strong performance from senior Kaylee Page, K-State's women's basketball team outscored Kansas by 14 in the fourth quarter en route to a 72-63 win on Friday in the first round of the Big 12 Championship in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
In K-State's 10th-consecutive win over its rival, Page provided a team-high 20 points on 5-of-8 from beyond the arc. She hit three of her deep shots in the fourth, helping spark a 24-7 finishing run for the Wildcats.
"She was great offensively," K-State associate head coach Brian Ostermann said of Page in his postgame radio interview on Friday. "She got in a great rhythm. She wanted the basketball. She hit big shots."
Page, who also grabbed seven rebounds, credited K-State's strong finish to a refined defensive effort.
In the fourth quarter, K-State limited the Jayhawks to 5-of-17 from the field and 2-of-8 from beyond the arc. The Wildcats turned their defensive success into effective offense, making 8-of-13 from the field and 4-of-5 from 3-point range in the final quarter.
"When we play well on the defensive end and have lots of energy, it usually carries over to the offensive end and we're playing together and we're all connected," Page said. "So really it all started on the defensive end and getting stops."
The Wildcats (16-15) fell to top-seeded Baylor, 83-54, in the quarterfinals on Saturday and will await a potential WNIT bid on Monday, March 12.
On senior day, K-State's "main focus" was not on boosting the team's NCAA Tournament resume, locking up a better seed in the Big 12 Championship or improving their individual cases for All-Big 12 voting — all of which the Wildcats did in a 77-67 win over Baylor on Saturday.
No, the Wildcats were locked in for another reason. They wanted to get their only senior, walk-on Mason Schoen, on the floor. With 28 seconds to play, Schoen checked in to add another memorable moment to his journey from the student recreation center to a Wildcat uniform.
"We wanted to get Mason out there on the floor," said junior guard Barry Brown, who finished 18 points. "That was kind of our main focus, trying to play hard to get him out there on the floor."
Between Dean Wade's first half and Brown's second, K-State's dynamic juniors made sure their older teammate got one last stretch of live action in Bramlage Coliseum.
Wade and Brown combined for 43 points on 15-of-23 from the field, 11 rebounds, 10 assists and five steals en route to pushing K-State's record to 21-10 overall and 10-8 in Big 12 play. In the resume-building win, both juniors surpassed 500 points for the season to become the seventh duo in school history to do so in the same season and the first since Jacob Pullen and Denis Clemente in 2009-10.
"For the record, it was senior night, and I'm personally hoping this is Dean Wade and Barry Brown's last game at Kansas State because both of them are pros. I have nothing but respect for them," Baylor head coach Scott Drew said. "I think they're great players and we've struggled guarding them. Those two guys are really, really good."
Brown, a Second Team All-Big 12 and All-Defensive team selection, scored 14 of his points in the final 20 minutes. He also tied his career high with nine assists, and once again provided a series of big plays in a crucial stretch for K-State.
When Baylor slashed K-State's lead to six, Brown found Makol Mawien for an alley-oop. A possession later, after a Baylor three cut its deficit to five, Brown knocked down a corner trey to answer.
"Barry had the little flash and that just kind of kept them at bay," said K-State head coach Bruce Weber, who used Schoen and Kade Kinnamon, a junior walk-on who will graduate next December, as motivation. "I said (on Friday), 'You owe it to those guys who play their butts off every day. Get them in the game.' Barry ran down the court with a minute-something left and said, 'Take me out of the game and put Mason in.' That's a credit to his leadership and how much they respect Mason."
Wade, a First Team All-Big 12 pick, scored 17 of his game-high 25 points in the first half, including a pair of thunderous dunks that came off a pair of Wildcats steals. He finished 9-of-14 from the field to go with a team-high seven rebounds and a pair of steals.
"I'm just trying to bring energy, make a few plays here or there and get the crowd involved, get everyone hyped up. I think it really helped to get Bramlage rocking," Wade said. "I was just trying to bring my own energy."
Paired with a loss from TCU later in the day, K-State's win against the Bears placed them alone at fourth in the Big 12 standings, four spots above where it was picked to finish in the preseason poll.
As the four seed in the Big 12 Championship at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, the Wildcats will face the fifth-seeded Horned Frogs on Thursday at 11:30 a.m., on ESPN2.
"We have a chance to do something special there," Weber said. "I'm very proud of them. I know we were picked way down at the bottom, but they felt like they were a better team, and the coaches did. It started with the leadership of Barry, Mason Schoen, Dean, from day one last spring. They just put the time and effort in and bought in."
Page Heats Up, K-State WBB Tops Rival Kansas for 10th-Consecutive Time
Behind a strong performance from senior Kaylee Page, K-State's women's basketball team outscored Kansas by 14 in the fourth quarter en route to a 72-63 win on Friday in the first round of the Big 12 Championship in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
In K-State's 10th-consecutive win over its rival, Page provided a team-high 20 points on 5-of-8 from beyond the arc. She hit three of her deep shots in the fourth, helping spark a 24-7 finishing run for the Wildcats.
"She was great offensively," K-State associate head coach Brian Ostermann said of Page in his postgame radio interview on Friday. "She got in a great rhythm. She wanted the basketball. She hit big shots."
Page, who also grabbed seven rebounds, credited K-State's strong finish to a refined defensive effort.
In the fourth quarter, K-State limited the Jayhawks to 5-of-17 from the field and 2-of-8 from beyond the arc. The Wildcats turned their defensive success into effective offense, making 8-of-13 from the field and 4-of-5 from 3-point range in the final quarter.
"When we play well on the defensive end and have lots of energy, it usually carries over to the offensive end and we're playing together and we're all connected," Page said. "So really it all started on the defensive end and getting stops."
The Wildcats (16-15) fell to top-seeded Baylor, 83-54, in the quarterfinals on Saturday and will await a potential WNIT bid on Monday, March 12.
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
K-State Men's Basketball | Postgame Press Conference at Texas Tech
Sunday, February 22
K-State Men's Basketball | Haggerty and Johnson Historic Night vs Baylor
Thursday, February 19
K-State Men's Basketball | Interim Head Coach Driscoll Press Conference vs Baylor
Wednesday, February 18
K-State Men's Basketball | Press Conference vs Baylor
Wednesday, February 18
