Head Coach Bruce Weber Previews Saturday’s Game at 10/13 West Virginia
Feb 25, 2021 | Men's Basketball
The Wildcats play their last road game at West Virginia on Saturday
MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State head coach Bruce Weber met with members of the media via Zoom on Thursday morning, as the Wildcats continue preparations for Saturday's game with No. 10/13 Oklahoma (16-6, 9-4 Big 12) at 3 p.m., CT at WVU Coliseum. The game will air nationally on ESPN2.
The winners of back-to-back games for the first time in 2021, K-State (7-18, 3-13 Big 12) earned its 10th win over a Top 10 team under Weber on Tuesday night in the 62-57 victory over No. 7/8 Oklahoma. Of those 10 Top 10 wins, nine have come as an unranked team, which is nearly double the next head coach in school history.
K-State will meet West Virginia for the second time this season after the Mountaineers posted a 69-47 win in Manhattan on January 23. WVU is looking to sweep the regular-season series for the first time since 2018.
Saturday's game continues a challenging stretch for the Wildcats, as the Mountaineers will represent the 12th ranked opponent this season, including the 10th in the last 12 games.
West Virginia is one of the hottest teams in the nation with wins in 5 of the last 6 games and the only loss in that stretch coming in double-overtime at home to Oklahoma. The Mountaineers went 2-0 in their recent road trip to Texas, knocking off the Longhorns (84-82) and Horned Frogs (74-66).
HEAD COACH BRUCE WEBER
On the team's improvement and confidence level...
"Yeah, I don't think there's any doubt of that. You saw it even in the games where we didn't win. We've had a little bit of continuity even though the other night we were still missing players. Our core group is there. They've figured out some roles, what they can do and how they can help the team. Now the big step is figuring out how to win. Both games, very, very similar to the last two we've won. 29-29 at halftime. Five point lead for the opponent, we've been there a lot throughout the year. Usually we go the wrong way, but the last two games we've made the plays. We've had the tough stops at the end, got the rebounds and made the free throws. Now hopefully be happy and satisfied with that and continue moving forward. We still missed some open looks. I think once in a while we still miss some people on passes. We're still getting the feel of that, where to look and who is open. If we can do that, obviously we can continue to take some steps. Tough, tough challenge on Saturday at West Virginia. Oklahoma is playing really well and actually beat them recently, but West Virginia is playing at a high level. It's amazing what Bob Huggins has been able to do, especially the consecutive wins on the road."
On the Big 12 Tournament…
"Somebody asked about it after the game. We just gotta continue to make improvement. If we make improvements, you can see you have the chance to get wins. That's the most important thing. Stay focused on the task and keep improving. Hopefully stay healthy and get through the season. We just showed we can beat Oklahoma, who is one of the top teams in the league. I thought we competed with Kansas, if you make some shots. You get to March, anything can happen, especially in this crazy year. There's going to be somebody that comes out of nowhere that has success at the end. We gotta worry about today's practice and being ready and continue to make the progress that I hope they want to make. It's not what I want. It's more what they want and where their mindset is."
On the injury report…
"I went down to the training room yesterday afternoon. We were off. It's Tuesday and you gotta give the day off. I would say half our guys were in there. DaJuan said it didn't hurt as much as it did after the TCU and Kansas games, so that was positive. Antonio said he's able to walk without the pain. Now can he run and jump without the pain? We'll see today if we progress him a little bit. Rudi thought that he's going to give practice a go. What happened last week, he just got hit wrong on that hand. It's something that's bothered him from the beginning of the year. If he can make some progress and shoot the basketball and not get hit again, maybe we can get him back. Carlton, it would probably be Iowa State before we can see him again after some therapy and rest here."
On West Virginia's defense…
"Coach Henderson has the scout. We talked this morning again. For me, it's going to be the start of the game, dealing with their pressure and denial defense. Then the starts of possessions. If we can get into the start of possessions, now it's that team that's fighting you early, but if you can break that first line of defense you can get inside and cause some damage. It's easier said than done. We had 28 turnovers. We cut it to eight and had a wide open three. If we make that, it's five. Instead, they went down and made back-to-back threes. Our defense was pretty solid, and we gave ourselves a chance despite the turnovers. Cut those turnovers back, stay solid on defense, get into some offense early, who knows what can happen? We thought we might catch them in a sandwich between the two Baylor games. They changed that. Tonight's game, they canceled it. I'm not complaining. I understand. You want to protect the athletes. That's the most important thing with the number of games in this stretch and to have those teams have a chance to finish strong. They just came off a 2-game road trip. I'm sure they'll be ready to play with Baylor on the horizon."
On how the team has handled winning…
"I just think they felt good. This group has been really resilient. They want to do well. When we've lost, they've come in and watched film. When we've won, they've been in to watch film. I think I saw every guy yesterday. Obviously a lot of them were in the training room. I said it the other day. I told them three weeks ago that I don't want the season to end. One, they're a good group to coach. Two, they've made improvement. You wish it would've been a little sooner, but at least it's paying off for them. I'm happy for them, and hopefully we can continue this over the last stretch of the season. We'll be close to completing our entire schedule. Obviously a lot of people have not done that. We still have to get through tomorrow's test, then next week and the following week after that. They've been pretty disciplined and diligent about taking care of their business."
On the resilience of the team…
"It's tremendous. I don't know if it's confidence or what it is. That mental toughness of when that other team makes a run or things aren't going perfect that you keep grinding. We got up 38-31. They go on a run. A month ago, it probably would've gone the other way. Even a few weeks ago, it happened against Kansas. We weren't winning, but it was a close game. That execution, discipline and mental toughness and all those things, we've made some strides there. I hope it continues against a team that just spanked us, to be honest. That was about five or six weeks ago. Obviously we were a little short handed at that time. We'll have to see if we're up to the task on Saturday."
On the quality of shots…
"It's gotten way better in the past month. Running the offense, passing the ball and moving the ball. We still, every once in a while, every fifth or sixth possession, we'll get somebody to hold that ball, but I think we started to learn that when we move the basketball, we get better results and the other guys get opportunities and we get inside. That's the biggest thing. I really emphasized with Antonio when he got that double-double a few weeks ago, not one play was run for him. He played off of everyone else doing their jobs. We're trying to make Selton, DaJuan, some of these other guys understand. You still can score and get shots and good shots if you get to the right spots and everybody else does what they're supposed to do and moves the basketball."
On Luke Kasubke…
"He had a couple wide open ones, but you gotta give him credit. He missed a couple and still shot another one. We stuck him into the fire without much preparation. He's had to learn as it goes. He's shown a lot of toughness, spunk and fight that I didn't know was in there. We recruited him because we thought he was intelligent, a great kid that is very, very determined. He came in as a pretty good shooter. He hasn't been able to get those down. He came in yesterday, and we all teased him a little bit. It says something about him coming in the office and wanting to watch and see what he did. That's a positive step for him. When you don't make a shot, it's easy to say that you're not coming in, but he was there. Again, he's got some toughness and spunk that I didn't know he had."
On the level of play in college basketball this year…
"I would not say it's as exact because we've all had interruptions. We even saw it with Baylor the other night. There are a few teams, them and Gonzaga, that good, sharp, crisp basketball. Now, you get interruptions with COVID or injuries or whatever it might be. People just don't realize it. You don't make that up. Again, I talked to Tom Izzo. They finally got a couple of wins. They came off of COVID with some veteran guys, and they lost three in a row and four of five, something like that. I don't know what it was. It's hard, so you don't have that. The officiating, it's been hard on them. We need officials, and they're an important part of the game. They missed their summer work. They missed the exhibitions. Now their travel has been disrupted. I talked with one of the league guys the other day. He was stuck with the snow and had games cancelled, so he's sitting in a hotel by himself for two or three days. It's just not been normal. It's been hard on everybody. It hasn't been a perfect season. There's no doubt about that."
On the defense against Oklahoma…
"Reaves still scored points, but it took him 18 shots. Selton had seven on the play hard chart. We might've been through seven games and he might not have had seven early in the season. His progress with learning to play hard and take on this role as defensive stopper. We've always said he's been good on the ball, but now he's taking pride in it. He's done a great job. If you've got a stopper, which we've been very fortunate with Barry, Xavier and Dean, I don't think people realize how good Dean was on defense. When you have that, it helps your defense, especially one-on-one defense. Part of it is that we're getting back on defense. The first time, Oklahoma scored all those transition points. That's the start of your defense, getting back. Then we're doing a good job of staying compact. Our fight over ball screens has gotten way better. The big guys getting on their line. It's night and day. It's so far advanced from where we were, but it's definitely helped what Selton has done. When you can disrupt the main guy or get him out of rhythm, it always helps. The other thing, and I don't know if I've brought it up to you guys. I know I've brought it up to our staff. Early in the season, other guys on the team always hurt us. Now, other guys aren't having career days, and that's important."
On holding opponents under 60 points…
"I think I joked with you after the Kansas game. I called Coach Southwell and asked him what we had to do against TCU. He said, 'Coach, we gotta score'. I told him that I think it's the other way. We've gotta stop them. We haven't scored. That's not changing right now. That changes in the offseason with your habits and getting in the gym and all that stuff. There's no doubt that it gives you a chance. I hope they feel good about it and have some pride with it. If we can continue this through the last stretch of the season, it gives us a chance to be competitive and find ways to get wins, too. I will tell you guys that when we shoot in practice, we actually make shots. I don't know what it is in games, but we'll get a lot of shots up in practice and they'll make them. We get to games, and I don't know what happens, but we've made some progress."
On Davion Bradford's defense…
"The big guys, their mobility, getting up there and being in the ball screens, not only being there but knowing how to defend it. I've said it many times. Mak (Mawien) was one of the best ball screen defenders in the country, if not the best. He was so active. He'd be up the line. When we wanted to hedge, he could hedge. When we wanted to be a flat hedge, he could do that. He learned those concepts. Those guys are starting to understand where to be. We've played some pretty good guards, and we've been able to contain them and not let them get those clear paths to the basket. Along with that, our other help is better, so If you get another guy in there helping, it makes it easier for the big guy to be at his line and recover and get back to his man."
On the level of aggression…
"We had a 45 on the play hard chart, and that was a season-high. I told our guys that we would need a special effort and special production to be able to beat a top team. It's going to have to be the same thing on Saturday. It started with the play hard. DaJuan had 11. Mike had 10. Selton had 7. Nijel had 7. Davion had 6. Those are big time numbers. We're playing much harder. Our defense is better. Slowly but surely, our offense has made some strides."
On Dean Wade starting in the NBA…
"I texted him last night. Our former guys, when Dean first started coming to campus and playing that first summer, our former guys, guys who are professionals, said that Dean can be an NBA player. I had many individual meetings with Dean. I'd say, 'What's your goal'? He'd just say, 'I just want to help our team'. I said, 'I'm asking about your goal'. He would never say it. You are an NBA player. You belong there. You're good enough, and you've gotta believe it. That was my text message to him last night. You belong here, bud. Now take advantage of the opportunity. He had the big dunk the other night, got on a lot of social media and maybe even Sports Center, I don't know. I had a lot of people reach out about it. Obviously to start, he had 11 and 6, really happy and proud of him. Xavier Sneed had a big game, I think 16, 6 and 4 or something like that in the G League. He's had good production in back-to-back games. Always happy when those guys have success."
The winners of back-to-back games for the first time in 2021, K-State (7-18, 3-13 Big 12) earned its 10th win over a Top 10 team under Weber on Tuesday night in the 62-57 victory over No. 7/8 Oklahoma. Of those 10 Top 10 wins, nine have come as an unranked team, which is nearly double the next head coach in school history.
K-State will meet West Virginia for the second time this season after the Mountaineers posted a 69-47 win in Manhattan on January 23. WVU is looking to sweep the regular-season series for the first time since 2018.
Saturday's game continues a challenging stretch for the Wildcats, as the Mountaineers will represent the 12th ranked opponent this season, including the 10th in the last 12 games.
West Virginia is one of the hottest teams in the nation with wins in 5 of the last 6 games and the only loss in that stretch coming in double-overtime at home to Oklahoma. The Mountaineers went 2-0 in their recent road trip to Texas, knocking off the Longhorns (84-82) and Horned Frogs (74-66).
HEAD COACH BRUCE WEBER
On the team's improvement and confidence level...
"Yeah, I don't think there's any doubt of that. You saw it even in the games where we didn't win. We've had a little bit of continuity even though the other night we were still missing players. Our core group is there. They've figured out some roles, what they can do and how they can help the team. Now the big step is figuring out how to win. Both games, very, very similar to the last two we've won. 29-29 at halftime. Five point lead for the opponent, we've been there a lot throughout the year. Usually we go the wrong way, but the last two games we've made the plays. We've had the tough stops at the end, got the rebounds and made the free throws. Now hopefully be happy and satisfied with that and continue moving forward. We still missed some open looks. I think once in a while we still miss some people on passes. We're still getting the feel of that, where to look and who is open. If we can do that, obviously we can continue to take some steps. Tough, tough challenge on Saturday at West Virginia. Oklahoma is playing really well and actually beat them recently, but West Virginia is playing at a high level. It's amazing what Bob Huggins has been able to do, especially the consecutive wins on the road."
On the Big 12 Tournament…
"Somebody asked about it after the game. We just gotta continue to make improvement. If we make improvements, you can see you have the chance to get wins. That's the most important thing. Stay focused on the task and keep improving. Hopefully stay healthy and get through the season. We just showed we can beat Oklahoma, who is one of the top teams in the league. I thought we competed with Kansas, if you make some shots. You get to March, anything can happen, especially in this crazy year. There's going to be somebody that comes out of nowhere that has success at the end. We gotta worry about today's practice and being ready and continue to make the progress that I hope they want to make. It's not what I want. It's more what they want and where their mindset is."
On the injury report…
"I went down to the training room yesterday afternoon. We were off. It's Tuesday and you gotta give the day off. I would say half our guys were in there. DaJuan said it didn't hurt as much as it did after the TCU and Kansas games, so that was positive. Antonio said he's able to walk without the pain. Now can he run and jump without the pain? We'll see today if we progress him a little bit. Rudi thought that he's going to give practice a go. What happened last week, he just got hit wrong on that hand. It's something that's bothered him from the beginning of the year. If he can make some progress and shoot the basketball and not get hit again, maybe we can get him back. Carlton, it would probably be Iowa State before we can see him again after some therapy and rest here."
On West Virginia's defense…
"Coach Henderson has the scout. We talked this morning again. For me, it's going to be the start of the game, dealing with their pressure and denial defense. Then the starts of possessions. If we can get into the start of possessions, now it's that team that's fighting you early, but if you can break that first line of defense you can get inside and cause some damage. It's easier said than done. We had 28 turnovers. We cut it to eight and had a wide open three. If we make that, it's five. Instead, they went down and made back-to-back threes. Our defense was pretty solid, and we gave ourselves a chance despite the turnovers. Cut those turnovers back, stay solid on defense, get into some offense early, who knows what can happen? We thought we might catch them in a sandwich between the two Baylor games. They changed that. Tonight's game, they canceled it. I'm not complaining. I understand. You want to protect the athletes. That's the most important thing with the number of games in this stretch and to have those teams have a chance to finish strong. They just came off a 2-game road trip. I'm sure they'll be ready to play with Baylor on the horizon."
On how the team has handled winning…
"I just think they felt good. This group has been really resilient. They want to do well. When we've lost, they've come in and watched film. When we've won, they've been in to watch film. I think I saw every guy yesterday. Obviously a lot of them were in the training room. I said it the other day. I told them three weeks ago that I don't want the season to end. One, they're a good group to coach. Two, they've made improvement. You wish it would've been a little sooner, but at least it's paying off for them. I'm happy for them, and hopefully we can continue this over the last stretch of the season. We'll be close to completing our entire schedule. Obviously a lot of people have not done that. We still have to get through tomorrow's test, then next week and the following week after that. They've been pretty disciplined and diligent about taking care of their business."
On the resilience of the team…
"It's tremendous. I don't know if it's confidence or what it is. That mental toughness of when that other team makes a run or things aren't going perfect that you keep grinding. We got up 38-31. They go on a run. A month ago, it probably would've gone the other way. Even a few weeks ago, it happened against Kansas. We weren't winning, but it was a close game. That execution, discipline and mental toughness and all those things, we've made some strides there. I hope it continues against a team that just spanked us, to be honest. That was about five or six weeks ago. Obviously we were a little short handed at that time. We'll have to see if we're up to the task on Saturday."
On the quality of shots…
"It's gotten way better in the past month. Running the offense, passing the ball and moving the ball. We still, every once in a while, every fifth or sixth possession, we'll get somebody to hold that ball, but I think we started to learn that when we move the basketball, we get better results and the other guys get opportunities and we get inside. That's the biggest thing. I really emphasized with Antonio when he got that double-double a few weeks ago, not one play was run for him. He played off of everyone else doing their jobs. We're trying to make Selton, DaJuan, some of these other guys understand. You still can score and get shots and good shots if you get to the right spots and everybody else does what they're supposed to do and moves the basketball."
On Luke Kasubke…
"He had a couple wide open ones, but you gotta give him credit. He missed a couple and still shot another one. We stuck him into the fire without much preparation. He's had to learn as it goes. He's shown a lot of toughness, spunk and fight that I didn't know was in there. We recruited him because we thought he was intelligent, a great kid that is very, very determined. He came in as a pretty good shooter. He hasn't been able to get those down. He came in yesterday, and we all teased him a little bit. It says something about him coming in the office and wanting to watch and see what he did. That's a positive step for him. When you don't make a shot, it's easy to say that you're not coming in, but he was there. Again, he's got some toughness and spunk that I didn't know he had."
On the level of play in college basketball this year…
"I would not say it's as exact because we've all had interruptions. We even saw it with Baylor the other night. There are a few teams, them and Gonzaga, that good, sharp, crisp basketball. Now, you get interruptions with COVID or injuries or whatever it might be. People just don't realize it. You don't make that up. Again, I talked to Tom Izzo. They finally got a couple of wins. They came off of COVID with some veteran guys, and they lost three in a row and four of five, something like that. I don't know what it was. It's hard, so you don't have that. The officiating, it's been hard on them. We need officials, and they're an important part of the game. They missed their summer work. They missed the exhibitions. Now their travel has been disrupted. I talked with one of the league guys the other day. He was stuck with the snow and had games cancelled, so he's sitting in a hotel by himself for two or three days. It's just not been normal. It's been hard on everybody. It hasn't been a perfect season. There's no doubt about that."
On the defense against Oklahoma…
"Reaves still scored points, but it took him 18 shots. Selton had seven on the play hard chart. We might've been through seven games and he might not have had seven early in the season. His progress with learning to play hard and take on this role as defensive stopper. We've always said he's been good on the ball, but now he's taking pride in it. He's done a great job. If you've got a stopper, which we've been very fortunate with Barry, Xavier and Dean, I don't think people realize how good Dean was on defense. When you have that, it helps your defense, especially one-on-one defense. Part of it is that we're getting back on defense. The first time, Oklahoma scored all those transition points. That's the start of your defense, getting back. Then we're doing a good job of staying compact. Our fight over ball screens has gotten way better. The big guys getting on their line. It's night and day. It's so far advanced from where we were, but it's definitely helped what Selton has done. When you can disrupt the main guy or get him out of rhythm, it always helps. The other thing, and I don't know if I've brought it up to you guys. I know I've brought it up to our staff. Early in the season, other guys on the team always hurt us. Now, other guys aren't having career days, and that's important."
On holding opponents under 60 points…
"I think I joked with you after the Kansas game. I called Coach Southwell and asked him what we had to do against TCU. He said, 'Coach, we gotta score'. I told him that I think it's the other way. We've gotta stop them. We haven't scored. That's not changing right now. That changes in the offseason with your habits and getting in the gym and all that stuff. There's no doubt that it gives you a chance. I hope they feel good about it and have some pride with it. If we can continue this through the last stretch of the season, it gives us a chance to be competitive and find ways to get wins, too. I will tell you guys that when we shoot in practice, we actually make shots. I don't know what it is in games, but we'll get a lot of shots up in practice and they'll make them. We get to games, and I don't know what happens, but we've made some progress."
On Davion Bradford's defense…
"The big guys, their mobility, getting up there and being in the ball screens, not only being there but knowing how to defend it. I've said it many times. Mak (Mawien) was one of the best ball screen defenders in the country, if not the best. He was so active. He'd be up the line. When we wanted to hedge, he could hedge. When we wanted to be a flat hedge, he could do that. He learned those concepts. Those guys are starting to understand where to be. We've played some pretty good guards, and we've been able to contain them and not let them get those clear paths to the basket. Along with that, our other help is better, so If you get another guy in there helping, it makes it easier for the big guy to be at his line and recover and get back to his man."
On the level of aggression…
"We had a 45 on the play hard chart, and that was a season-high. I told our guys that we would need a special effort and special production to be able to beat a top team. It's going to have to be the same thing on Saturday. It started with the play hard. DaJuan had 11. Mike had 10. Selton had 7. Nijel had 7. Davion had 6. Those are big time numbers. We're playing much harder. Our defense is better. Slowly but surely, our offense has made some strides."
On Dean Wade starting in the NBA…
"I texted him last night. Our former guys, when Dean first started coming to campus and playing that first summer, our former guys, guys who are professionals, said that Dean can be an NBA player. I had many individual meetings with Dean. I'd say, 'What's your goal'? He'd just say, 'I just want to help our team'. I said, 'I'm asking about your goal'. He would never say it. You are an NBA player. You belong there. You're good enough, and you've gotta believe it. That was my text message to him last night. You belong here, bud. Now take advantage of the opportunity. He had the big dunk the other night, got on a lot of social media and maybe even Sports Center, I don't know. I had a lot of people reach out about it. Obviously to start, he had 11 and 6, really happy and proud of him. Xavier Sneed had a big game, I think 16, 6 and 4 or something like that in the G League. He's had good production in back-to-back games. Always happy when those guys have success."
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