K-State completes another top-15 upset by beating Iowa State

MANHATTAN – Many will struggle to find the proper words to describe Kansas State’s basketball team after its 70-69 victory over No. 12 Iowa State on Saturday at Bramlage Coliseum.

The unpredictable Wildcats have beaten back-to-back top-15 teams. They have won five games against teams ranked in the RPI top 25, which puts them third nationally behind Kansas and Villanova. And they have entered the postseason conversation.

Yet they also have a handful of unspeakable losses. They need more victories to feel good about making the NIT. And the last time their record (15-15, 8-9 Big 12) was this bad at the end of February was 2006.

It’s impossible to say which numbers best explain this team.

Still, Wesley Iwundu doesn’t hesitate to try.

“This is the most interesting team I have ever played on,” he said, “with the games we have won and the games we have lost. It has been a very up and down year – a big roller coaster that I have enjoyed up ’til now. I wouldn’t trade my teammates for nobody. We just have to finish out strong.”

K-State is in position to do exactly that after its best week of the season. It came from 14 down to beat Iowa State (20-8, 10-6) five days after knocking off No. 8 Kansas.

“It is just about staying positive throughout the rest of the season,” said Iwundu, a sophomore who scored 11 points. “For the rest of the games, we do not know what is going to happen. We just have to keep playing. Maybe we can win the conference tournament.”

K-State coach Bruce Weber likes that kind of talk.

“We have said this all year: We can beat anyone in the country,” Weber said. “The problem is, we just haven’t been consistent in the other games. That focus and maturity consistently hasn’t been there. Maybe we are making the right moves and the right progress at the right time.”

The biggest positive to come out of this one might have been the way Weber settled on a primary rotation of six players in the second half.

Iowa State skated to a 14-point lead in the first half and kept the pressure on by making 11 three-pointers with Georges Niang scoring 21 points, but it struggled down the stretch. That’s because Weber turned to Jevon Thomas, Nigel Johnson, Wesley Iwundu, Justin Edwards, Nino Williams and Thomas Gipson to make big plays.

Those six players found a groove, and with one continually subbing out for another, K-State improved its defense. That led to fastbreaks and a boost of offense.

“They pressure you really well in this building, there is no doubt about that,” Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg said. “This is a team that has won eight league games, and they have been very good at home. We expected them to come out and pressure us and play us very tough, and they did.”

Behind 17 points and nine rebounds from Johnson, 16 points from Edwards and 11 points from Iwundu, the Wildcats rallied to tie the game at 66-66 with 58.3 seconds remaining on a running layup from Edwards.

The final minute was filled with lead changes.

Iwundu made the biggest plays. First, he blocked Niang on a potential go-ahead jumper and ended up scoring a layup on the other end to put K-State up 68-66. Then he stole an inbounds pass and threw down a dunk to put the Wildcats ahead for good with 16.4 seconds remaining.

“He was great on the defensive end,” Weber said. “Wes has length and can move a little better than some of our other guys, which was a big part in our game. We (have) got more fast-break points than some of the top teams in the country. There were just a lot of good things he did.”

For Iwundu, it was his best performance in weeks. Same for Edwards, who shot with confidence and attacked the basket like the player many expected him to be when he transferred from Maine.

For Johnson, it was the start of a trend. After playing sparingly most of the season, he scored 20 points against Kansas. He proved that was no fluke by coming off the bench and leading K-State in scoring Saturday.

“I am really confident right now,” Johnson said, “probably the most confident I have been in my college career. Hopefully I can keep it up.”

K-State may need him to as long as Marcus Foster, the team’s leading scorer, remains in his slump. He managed six points in 12 minutes.

Johnson was part of the defensive stand on the final play. Iowa State began the possession throwing the ball in from underneath its own basket, but K-State forced it to throw the ball across half court and settle for a deep three-point shot that was short.

One big victory turned into two, and K-State had its most successful week.

“We just proved to everyone that we can beat the top teams,” Edwards said. “I think we proved to ourselves that we can keep up with these teams, too. We are more motivated to make a push at the end of the season.”

This story was originally published February 28, 2015 at 5:22 PM with the headline "K-State completes another top-15 upset by beating Iowa State."