Kansas State seeks togetherness before Big 12 Tournament

Bruce Weber has stressed one thing above all else with the Kansas State basketball team as it prepares for the Big 12 Tournament.

Togetherness.

With it, he thinks the Wildcats can make a run at a trophy. Without it, he thinks they will struggle against TCU on Wednesday at Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo.

“We are capable of beating anybody on any night, but we have got to come together,” Weber said. “We need bodies. We need everybody focused with clear minds, and it would be nice to have a great crowd on Wednesday night. The last time we were there we played really well against Texas A&M. … I hope we can come with that same focus and energy.”

K-State players understand the importance this week holds. The Wildcats (15-16) need two victories to avoid their first losing season since 2003 and create hope for a possible NIT selection. No team has played in the tournament with a losing record.

Four wins, of course, would earn them a tournament championship and an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament. That’s the dream. A loss to TCU would end their season. That’s the nightmare.

For now, their focus is on the short term instead of the end result.

“We owe them one,” senior forward Thomas Gipson said of TCU. “They blew us out when we played in (Fort Worth). Now we are in Kansas City. That should help us, since we are home, basically. We just have to come out and play hard and try to go 1-0. We have to be 1-0 from now on.”

Nino Williams and Gipson, K-State’s two seniors, hammered that message by holding a players only meeting Sunday.

They have won 20 games and advanced to the NCAA Tournament since they arrived on campus. As long as there is hope of continuing those streaks, they will work their hardest to extend them.

“We beat all the top teams in the Big 12,” Gipson said. “It’s not like it can’t happen again. We just have to be ready and prepare for it.”

Helping K-State’s pursuit of togetherness is a full roster. On Monday, Weber announced that sophomore point guard Jevon Thomas and Williams, a forward, had re-joined the team after missing the Wildcats’ 62-49 loss at Texas.

Weber briefly dismissed Thomas from the team, but reinstated him. Williams skipped the Texas game for a personal reason. Neither player traveled. They are both expected to play at the Big 12 Tournament.

“At this point, we are going to be at full strength with our team, barring anything crazy happening over these next two days,” Weber said. “I hope we have a full strength team on our hands Wednesday night.”

That would help. K-State has played shorthanded in its share of games. Four players have missed four Wildcat games for reasons other than injury. All four were losses.

“We have had our share of distractions, but that happens to every team in the country,” sophomore guard Nigel Johnson said. “Every team is down sometimes. That’s just college basketball. We have to adjust on the fly.”

And come together.

“This is our last chance,” Weber said. “We have got to come together as a group with clear heads, focused on one task. Right now, that’s just beating TCU. You get that one, then you get another opportunity after that. This is it. We all need to come together.”

This story was originally published March 9, 2015 at 4:14 PM with the headline "Kansas State seeks togetherness before Big 12 Tournament."