Kansas State edges TCU in game with NCAA tourney bubble implications

Kansas State’s 75-74 victory over TCU was perhaps the best example of how important Dean Wade can be to his basketball team.

When he makes his first shot, he tends to make several more. When he plays well, his teammates typically play well, too. When he does none of the above, it’s hard for K-State to win. But when he is at his best, so are the Wildcats.

Wade played the finest game of his college career on Wednesday at Schollmaier Arena, scoring 20 points and grabbing six rebounds, so the result was hardly surprising.

“When Dean is playing like that this is the result we get most of the time, a victory,” K-State senior wing Wesley Iwundu said. “We have been missing that the last few games from Dean. Today, he took it upon himself to come out and be that guy that we have been missing and it really helped us big time. If he keeps playing like that it gives us a chance to do some big things.”

Wade has been all over the map this season, scoring 20 points in two games against No. 1 Kansas and completely disappearing in recent losses, but he was on point from the start in this one. He scored K-State’s first points on a three in the opening minute, he had 11 points by halftime and he made two clutch shots in the final moments to help hold off a late TCU rally.

He knew he was in for a big day when he saw his first shot splash through the net.

“The coaches have been telling me to shoot with confidence,” Wade said. “I felt like I was open, so I shot it with confidence. When I make that first one, the rim starts to open up a little bit.”

It looked bigger with each basket. Wade grew so confident that he went on to make 8 of 15 shots. It’s normally hard for teammates to convince him to shoot it a fraction of that amount.

“Obviously, he had a huge game,” K-State coach Bruce Weber said. “Not only that he had 20 points, but 15 shots is the most shots he has taken in his career in one game. That just shows you how aggressively he played. He had four threes, but he also drove to the basket and took people.”

Wade chose an opportune time to up his game.

Just when it looked like the door had slammed shut on K-State’s NCAA Tournament hopes, the Wildcats found a way to crack it back open with a key road victory. K-State was the better team in what amounted to a bubble-elimination game.

Though it still has work to do this week and at the Big 12 Tournament to earn an at-large spot in the bracket, K-State (18-12, 7-10 Big 12) is in a better position than TCU (17-13, 6-11). They entered the day with identical records, but the Wildcats emerged in sole possession of sixth place in the conference standings and with plenty to play for in the regular-season finale against Texas Tech.

Wade led K-State with 20 points, while Iwundu had 16 points and 10 rebounds. Kamau Stokes added 16 points and D.J. Johnson had 12.

It was quite the reversal of fortune for the Wildcats, who got blasted 81-51 by last-place Oklahoma in their last game. K-State players looked hapless and played with little effort against the Sooners, but they seemed to regain their early-season form against the Horned Frogs.

Feel free to brag if you saw that coming.

“Getting a win like this is big time,” Iwundu said after setting the record for starts in a K-State career with 119, passing Steve Henson. “We couldn’t ask for nothing more. It is just a great start to potentially go on a run and do something going into March.”

That was a theme for Weber this week as he tried to motivate players. First, he asked them to forget about what transpired against Oklahoma, then he urged them to play hard against TCU.

Finally, he drew a mini bracket on the dry erase board of K-State’s locker room and said, “our March Madness starts today.”

The tactic worked. K-State was its best in the first half behind the hot shooting of Iwundu and Wade, building a 40-29 advantage. TCU has played 16 home games under new coach Jamie Dixon, and this was its largest halftime deficit of them all.

For a while, it seemed like the Wildcats might win big. But the Horned Frogs didn’t let that happen. They mounted a charge as if their postseason hopes depended on it and forced K-State to make plays down the stretch.

Vladimir Brodziansky led the way with 18 points, while Alex Robinson added 14.

TCU pulled to within one point several times in the second half, but K-State answered each of those runs with a key basket of its own, never surrendering the lead.

The biggest points of the night came from Wade, a sophomore forward. First, he tracked down a missed floater from Iwundu, worked his way under the basket and hit a leaning shot in traffic to put the Wildcats ahead by three with 2:23 remaining.

Then, after TCU pulled back within one a minute later, Wade caught the ball behind the arc in the corner and buried a three-pointer to put K-State up 69-65.

“I could see the rim and that’s all I thought,” Wade said. “I thought it was going in the whole time, even before I shot it. When I released it, it felt good and it went in.”

Kamau Stokes and Johnson closed out the game by combining to make six straight free throws.

The Wildcats showed unexpected poise when it mattered most.

“Every time they pushed us,” Weber said, “we had an answer.”

It all started with Wade.

KANSAS STATE 75, TCU 74

TableStyle: SP-bkwideplayersCCI Template: SP-bkwideplayers

Percentages: FG .455, FT .727. Three-Point Goals: 9-21, .429 (Wade 4-9, Iwundu 2-3, Stokes 2-5, Brown 1-2, Ervin 0-1, Sneed 0-1). Team Rebounds: 4. Team Turnovers: 9 (0 PTS). Blocked Shots: 3 (Johnson 2, Wade). Turnovers: 9 (Iwundu 2, Maurice 2, Stokes 2, Johnson, Sneed, Wade). Steals: 8 (Brown 3, Stokes 3, Ervin, Iwundu). Technical Fouls: Stokes, 14:25 second.

TableStyle: SP-bkwideplayersCCI Template: SP-bkwideplayers

Percentages: FG .500, FT .824. Three-Point Goals: 8-19, .421 (B.Parrish 3-5, Fisher 2-4, Robinson 2-4, K.Williams 1-4, Miller 0-2). Team Rebounds: 1. Team Turnovers: 12 (0 PTS). Blocked Shots: 5 (Brodziansky 3, Miller, Robinson). Turnovers: 12 (Brodziansky 2, Fisher 2, Robinson 2, B.Parrish, Bane, K.Williams, Miller, Shepherd, Washburn). Steals: 5 (Fisher 2, K.Williams, Miller, Robinson). Technical Fouls: Fisher, 14:25 second.

Half: Kansas State 40-29.

This story was originally published March 1, 2017 at 10:14 PM with the headline "Kansas State edges TCU in game with NCAA tourney bubble implications."