SE: How K-State MBB Plans to Stay on Top of Big 12 Standings

By Corbin McGuire

Seven-straight conference wins placed K-State men's basketball atop the Big 12 standings and made its 0-2 start to league play seem like a distant past.

The questions after K-State's most recent victory, a rivalry win against Kansas on Tuesday, shifted, however, from how it felt to get to the top to this: How do the Wildcats stay there?

"It's the team with the most discipline and maturity to get ready for every game," K-State head coach Bruce Weber said in Tuesday's press conference. "(The Big 12 has) just such great balance. Every game is hard. Can you get ready for the next one? We have a gauntlet still coming up, so it's not going to be any easier. Do we have the maturity? That was my message after the game."

The players who spoke to the media after Tuesday's game — Dean Wade, Barry Brown, Jr., Kamau Stokes and Cartier Diarra — seemed to take Weber's message to heart. After the Wildcats spoke about importance of the win over Kansas — it was the seniors' first against the Jayhawks and the program's first since 2015 — they turned their focus to the team's next challenge in Baylor.

"It's cool, but there's a lot of basketball to play. We just got through the first half (of conference play), and now we're taking as we're 0-0," Diarra said, as K-State (17-5, 7-2) plays at Baylor (15-7, 6-3) on Saturday at 5 p.m., on ESPN2. "We have Baylor. They're up there with us, and, in order for us to really secure first place, we have to take care of these next games. The next game is the most important game."

With that mind, Weber said it's also important to stick to what got his team here.

Defense has been a major part of it.

The Wildcats rank fourth in the country in scoring defense (59.1) and second in the Big 12 in turnovers forced per game (15.5). K-State forced Kansas into 23 turnovers, which turned into 22 points. This season, the Wildcats have scored 17.3 points — more than 25 percent of their scoring average — off their opponents' turnovers.

"It gives us a chance," Weber said of his team's defense. "If we want to compete for a championship and make a run, I think we have to be the best defensive team. I think we can be. We have stoppers. The coaches do an unbelievable job of preparing them, and the guys have bought into it."

K-State's offense has been sharper as of late, too.

The Wildcats have hit 26 treys between its last two wins, the most K-State's made in a two-game stretch since the 1993-94 season when an Askia Jones-led squad knocked down 32 in a two-game stretch of the NIT. Even more, this year's squad converted 49 percent from beyond the arc in its last two games. All but one of those 26 treys came from an assist. Overall, K-State racked up 36 assists on 51 made field goals in the last two games.

"That's when we're good," Weber said of his team's percentage of made field goals from assists. "Now, do we have the maturity to come back and play against a team that's playing as well as anybody in the league in Baylor?"

Baylor, after beating Oklahoma on the road by 30 and TCU at home by 26, saw its six-game winning streak come to an end on Wednesday at Texas. Still, the Bears pose a significant challenge for K-State in its mission to stay atop the league standings. Brown said his team should not lack any excitement for it.

"I don't think it's going to be hard to find motivation to play any game, try to win any game, especially being at the top of the Big 12," Brown said. "We want to do something special for ourselves, the university, our teammates, our coaches, so it's not going to be hard to find any motivation to play any game."

For K-State's seniors, winning the conference was one of the items on a to-do list they put together in the summer. This also included capturing a tournament title, winning at Oklahoma and beating Kansas anywhere, among a few others.

"That's the main goal but it's not on our minds. We just have to take it one game at a time," Wade said. "We can't look too far ahead and lose track of what we're doing. We have to stay focused and worry about the next game, have that next-game mentality."

Kansas State University Athletics

SE: How K-State MBB Plans to Stay on Top of Big 12 Standings

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