Wildcats Lead Wire-to-Wire to Down TCU, 65-55

MANHATTAN, Kan.– Kansas State extended its win streak to four games by holding TCU to a season-low 55 points, as the Wildcats led wire-to-wire in downing the Horned Frogs, 65-55, in front of 9,809 fans at Bramlage Coliseum on Saturday.

K-State (14-4, 4-2 Big 12) held the Big 12's top scoring offense (80.4 ppg.) to 55 points on 42.6 percent (20-of-47) shooting, as the Wildcats have now held 11 of their 18 opponents to 60 points or less this season. The school has now held 80 opponents to 60 points or less under head coach Bruce Weber, where the team boasts a 72-8 mark.

Junior Xavier Sneed paced three Wildcats in double figures with a season-high 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field and 5-of-6 from the free throw line. Senior Dean Wade scored 16 points on 4-of-9 field goals and 8-of-9 free throws go with a game-high 6 assists, while fellow senior Barry Brown, Jr.,added 10 points and a game-high 5 rebounds. Senior Kamau Stokes and junior Makol Mawien each chipped in 8 points.

TCU (13-4, 2-3 Big 12) was held to more than 25 points under its scoring average and eclipsed its previous season- low for points of 64 against Lipscomb on November 20, 2018. The Wildcats forced the Horned Frogs into 18 turnovers, their second-most turnovers this season, which resulted in 21 points. K-State has now scored 20 or more points on opponent miscues in 7 games this season.

Senior Alex Robinson led three Horned Frogs in double figures with 17 points on 6-of-11 field goals with 4 assists and 2 steals, while junior Desmond Bane and senior J.D. Miller added 16 and 11 points, respectively.

The win extends K-State's lead in the all-time series to 14-6, as the Wildcats have now won four of their last five against the Horned Frogs. K-State also extends its record against TCU at home to 8-2.

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Wildcats wasted no time in jumping out to the early lead, as K-State forced turnovers on TCU's first 3 possessions, putting the offense in a position to gain the early lead. Senior Kamau Stokes took advantage of the situation, knocking down two early 3-pointers to give K-State an 11-3 lead at the first media timeout.

After the timeout, TCU found a spark of offense, including a 7-0 run that brought the score to 19-17 with 10:54 left in the first half. Over the next few minutes, the Horned Frogs kept the score close by out-rebounding the Wildcats, including a 18-15 margin in the first half. Despite the slight rebound advantage, K-State held the lead throughout the entirety of the half.

The Wildcats sustained the lead throughout the first half, due in part to their strong defense. Throughout the first half, K-State forced 8 turnovers, resulting in 13 K-State points, as the Wildcats led 37-30 at the break.

The second half started with an alley-oop from senior Barry Brown to junior Xavier Sneed, which gave K-State a 39-32 advantage just 1:03 into the half. Minutes later, the Wildcats connected on another alley-oop, this time from Stokes to Sneed, as K-State led at 43-32 with 17:24 left in the half.

After TCU brought the score to within four with just under 12 minutes left, K-State scored four-straight points of their own to force a TCU timeout, including a second-chance dunk from Makol Mawien, to give K-State a 51-43 lead with 10:37 remaining.

A pair of free throws from Sneed at the 6:16 mark of the second half gave the Wildcats their largest lead of the night at 12, as they led 56-44. The Wildcats shot 75 percent (18-of-24) from the line in the game.

With the game winding down, TCU drew to within single-digits at 9 points behind a 3-pointer from J.D. Miller, as K-State led 62-53 with 2:15 remaining.

K-State closed out the game by shooting 45.8 percent (22-of-48) from the floor, while holding TCU to shoot 42.6 percent (20-of-47). The K-State defense caused havoc for TCU, forcing 18 turnovers, opposed to the Wildcats' 7.

PLAYER OF THE GAME
Xavier Sneed – Junior Xavier Sneed scored a season-high 18 points on Saturday, marking his 10^thgame this year and 45^thcareer game in double figures. Sneed also led the team in scoring for the fourth time this season, as he paced three Wildcats in double figures.

STAT OF THE GAME
25.4 – The Wildcats held the Horned Frogs to 25 points under their season scoring average, as K-State held TCU to 55 points on 42.6 percent shooting, compared to its 80.4 points per game average entering Saturday's contest. Defense has been a theme for the Wildcats, as they rank sixth in scoring defense in the NCAA, averaging 59.5 points per game entering Saturday's game.

SEASON RECORD UPDATE
K-State 14-4 (4-2 Big 12)
TCU 13-4 (2-3 Big 12)

IN THEIR WORDS

BRUCE WEBER, K-STATE HEAD COACH

On the game…

"It was a good balanced game for us on both ends. Obviously, it starts with defense. We held them close to 30 points below their average. We made it hard on (Alex) Robinson. He is magical with the ball. We turned them over 18 times, eight of them were by Robinson. Our guys did a great job of that. Offensively against a man (defense) early we knew (Kouat) Noi was not going to play so we thought we could score against them. We did score against their man and were efficient. When they went zone we got a little stagnant. We haven't gone against zone in a couple weeks but we got enough baskets. Right before the half it was really important to get that 10-point lead. Obviously, I wish we got that rebound to finish the half. They are not going to go away. They are a good team with veteran guys. (J.D.) Miller is good, Robinson is good and (Desmond) Bane is a really good player. We have to fight in this league as you have seen with the scores you just never know. We had good balance we were sharing the ball better with the 15 assists and had great defense. Barry did a good job on Robinson then he got in foul trouble then Cartier (Diarra), Mike (McGuirl) and Kam (Stokes) that were able to go save Barry then let him go at the end. Coach (Brad) Korn told them to make sure at the end of the game that they were exhausted. We made it really hard on them to get everything. It was good. Now we got a chance on Tuesday to play for first place.""

On Xavier Sneed's two alley-oop dunks…

"Those are excitement plays and momentum plays. They went man so we were able to run some of our stuff and we got it right away. Then we got the second one off of a steal on a fast break. Those are important times the finish of the half and the start of the second half which a lot of times determines games. You get that momentum swing that wears teams down and then you get that four to six point run which is the difference in the game.

On post play and free throw shooting…

Dean (Wade) is still trying to find himself, he still had 16 and six. We made pretty well on the free throw line which was good. I thought Mak (Mawien) did well in the second half with that big offensive rebound like he did against Oklahoma. Those little extra plays can be big momentum makers and turn the game a different way to stop their runs. You have to feel good about that."

On not trailing in the past two games and competing in the Big 12…

"My big thing after that Oklahoma game was talking about leadership and maturity to get emotionally and physically ready for the next game. We have not played real well here outside of that 50 point second half against West Virginia but had a very flat start to say the least. Against George Mason we had a good half but even the early games you can't anticipate based on the opponents record. Especially in this league the last 10 games in this league the record has been three wins for the home team and seven for the road team. People are gonna come play. We had two of those wins and it makes a difference. You have to get emotionally ready, you cannot just anticipate that your going to make shots because you play at home. You have to go out their and have that edge to execute. We did a great job of executing in the first half especially early. "

DEAN WADE, K-STATE SENIOR FORWARD

On the depth and experience on the team...

"It's big time for us. Everyone sharing the ball, flashing, moving and having great energy. When you play with great energy, it feels like shots tend to fall better. Credit the guards for slowing us down, and getting us into things and finding the open person, it really benefited everyone tonight."

On being potential conference contenders…

"We knew we were a good team, we just had to come out and show it. These past four games we have came out and played like we know we can play. Our leadership has been great for us, and has pushed us to be as good as we can. We knew we could be really good, it just took time until we came out and showed it."

On Xavier Sneed's alley-oops..…

"Watching (Xavier Sneed) run the floor and for TCU it's demoralizing. You have everyone pushing the ball and then (Sneed) coming off the backside and throw it up because he's athletic and it gets the crowd going. It's really hard to come back from that. For us, it brings great energy, and gets us hyped and ready to go, and once a couple of those go down, our defense starts flowing hard and we get some transition out of those."

On the team's confidence…

"We are very confident. We knew we were a good team, we had showed it a few times this season. Right now we are hitting our stride and everyone is playing great basketball. We are defensive focused, and not worried about themselves, but worried about the team playing for K-State on the front. It has really benefited everyone, our confidence is at an all time high and we are just playing really good basketball right now, and hopefully we can keep that going."

XAVIER SNEED, K-STATE JUNIOR FORWARD

On scoring his most points since the Sweet Sixteen…

"It was good to see a couple go down. I was picking and choosing my spots on defense and just getting what they were giving me and knocking down shots for my team.."

On his fast break steal and score…

"I just took it to the lane. Coach (Weber) is always preaching to us to take it to the lane and it was open so I took the layup."

JAMIE DIXON, TCU HEAD COACH

Opening statement...

"Good work by Kansas State. Congratulations to them. They are obviously playing well so give them credit. I thought we were ready. I thought we had a couple good practices to get ready and prepare for it. Obviously, we are coming off a big win but simply put, they did what they wanted to do and we did not. We out-rebounded them, as far as positives. We had to do that, we talked about doing that and we got that done to a degree. It needed to be more but simply, the turnovers are the obvious thing. When we have lost it has it been turnovers. Against physical teams. That is an extremely physical team and they got it done. So give them credit and we will hopefully, as I told our guys afterwards, it is going to make us better going forward here...as far as understanding, finishing, doing and completing what we are trying to do."

On Xavier Sneed…

"They have such experienced guys. They can rely on different guys. Obviously, he got a couple layups in transition, he got to the foul line. We got clearly beat if you look at the numbers...points at the free throw line. He was part of that so give him credit for that. If you look at it, the difference is free throws. Give them credit for getting fouled."

On turning the ball over…

"They do what they do. That is their thing - turnover percentage. We know that so we prepared for it, talked about and we did not get it done. That is on me. I have to get that message across. It was drilled, it was talked about, it was emphasized...but we obviously did not put the right game plan in place. I do not know that we followed our game plan but we certainly got what we deserved. That is what they do. We are a low turnover team, they did what they wanted to do and we did not do what we normally do. And we have to get to the foul line more than they do. They clearly killed us at the line."

On not having Kouat Noi…

"It is what it is. I am not going to sit here and make excuses but we got Russell [Barlow] in there and that was an opportunity for him. He plays 20 minutes so he certainly is getting minutes and an opportunity at the same time. We are not going to sit here and make excuses. I thought we might do it [play Russell Barlow] in the West Virginia game, given that we were up big and the situation we were at. We had talked about it. A combination of RJ [Nembhard] being not ready to go and Kouat not ready to go, it kind of limited us in numbers. Again, we are there and we have our opportunities. There were a couple points - down two late in the half. We just did not get it done. We had the guys even though we were without guys. We obviously go by our numbers, see our minutes played and evaluate that. And the fouls, obviously, as we were battling through that the entire game. Those things are things you have to overcome and we did not tonight."

ALEX ROBINSON, TCU SENIOR GUARD

On how he will tell his guys to respond to this loss…

"Just to keep our heads up and it is a long season. It is only five games in so we have to move on to the next one and focus on Texas."

On Xavier Sneed's dunks…

"Those were good plays. To be honest with you, I do not know how much momentum change it was. They already had momentum at that point. He played well."

DESMOND BANE, TCU JUNIOR GUARD

On K-State's defense…

"We knew going into it that they were a good defensive team, like Coach [Dixon] said. We just did not execute our game plan. Give them credit, they are a good defensive team. They really sit in the gaps and get after it. We just have to play better."

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE

K-State is now 9-1 at home this season, including 8-1 at Bramlage Coliseum.
K-State is now 374-117 all-time at Bramlage Coliseum since its opening in 1988-89… The 374 wins are the second-most at a home venue, trailing the 378 at Ahearn Field House (1950-88).
K-State still leads the all-time series, 14-6, including 8-2 in games played in Manhattan… The Wildcats have now won 4 of the last 5 games against TCU, including back-to-back games at Bramlage Coliseum.

K-State has now held 80 opponents to 60 points or less in the Weber era with the Wildcats boasting a 72-8 mark in those contests, including 11 of 18 opponents this year.
TCU scored a season-low 55 points on 42.6 percent shooting (20-of-47), including 25 percent (6-of-24) from 3-point range… The previous low for the Big 12's top scoring offense (80.4 ppg.) was 64 points against Lipscomb (11/20/18).
K-State connected on 45.8 percent (22-of-48) from the field, which marked the seventh time shooting 45 percent or better from field… The Wildcats recorded assists on 15 of its 22 made field goals.
K-State turned the ball over just 7 times, which marked the seventh time this season with 10 or less turnovers… The Wildcats have single-digit turnovers in 5 games.
K-State scored 21 points off 18 TCU turnovers… It marked the seventh time this season that the Wildcats have scored 20 or more points off opponent miscues.

Junior Xavier Sneed scored 18 points on 6-of-9 field goals, including 1-of-2 from 3-point range, and 5-of-6 from the free throw line… He has also led the team in scoring for the fourth time this season and 11^thin his career... He has now scored in double figures in 45 career games, including 10 this season.
Senior Dean Wade scored 16 points on 4-of-9 field goals, including 8-of-9 from the free throw line in 30 minutes… He has now scored in double figures in 72 career games, including 10 this season…
Wade led the team with 6 assists, marking a season-high and the fourth time this season and 16^thin his career that he has led the team.
Senior Barry Brown, Jr., scored 10 points on 5-of-12 field goals in 36 minutes of play… It marks the 14^thtime this season scoring in double-figures and 77^thof his career, which puts him 7^thin K-State history… Brown has now scored in double-figures in 5 consecutive games… He led the team with 5 rebounds, marking the 4^thtime this season and 11^thin his career doing so.

WHAT'S NEXT
K-State concludes its brief two-game homestand on Tuesday night, as the Wildcats host No. 8/9 Texas Tech (15-3, 4-2 Big 12) at 6 p.m., CT at Bramlage Coliseum. The game will air nationally on ESPN2. The Red Raiders won the first meeting, 63-57, on Jan. 5 and has won five of the last six games in the series.

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Team Stats

Xavier Sneed

Dean Wade

Barry Brown, Jr.

Kamau Stokes

Players Mentioned

Barry Brown, Jr.

Makol Mawien

Xavier Sneed

Players Mentioned

Barry Brown, Jr.

Makol Mawien

Xavier Sneed

Kansas State University Athletics