K-State defeats Missouri State 78-62 in exhibition game

After watching Kansas State defeat Missouri State 78-62 in a charity exhibition basketball game Saturday at Bramlage Coliseum, coach Bruce Weber had two main takeaways.

One was good. The other was bad.

Let’s start with the negative:

K-State needs work in the rebounding department.

Missouri State outrebounded K-State 44-37 without the help of star forward Alize Johnson, who missed the game with a knee injury. Dean Wade led the Wildcats with seven rebounds, but no one else on the roster had more than five.

"One of my concerns all year has been rebounding," Weber said. "I want to play our best players and have them on the court, but it means sometimes we are small. If they want to play, they are going to have to rebound. We are going to have to have a better mentality rebounding."

And now the positive: the Wildcats should have improved depth this season, as redshirt freshman Cartier Diarra came off the bench to score a team-high 14 points, while Brian Patrick and Makol Mawien combined for 15 points.

K-State’s experienced players provided an early 9-0 lead. Kamau Stokes finished with 13 points and Barry Brown had 12. But a lineup compiled entirely of reserves held off the Bears in the final minutes.

It will be interesting to see how Diarra matures. This was his first public appearance in a K-State uniform after missing all of last season with a knee injury. He entered the game with some nerves, but they didn’t show.

Diarra made 4 of 6 shots on his way to 14 points, 2 rebounds and an assist.

"I did pretty solid," Diarra said. "A little too casual with the basketball. I have to be careful with it. I just took my open reads, was aggressive at those times and got to the free throw line and made shots whenever I was open."

That should give the Wildcats plenty to chew on as they prepare for their next exhibition game on Oct. 29 against Fort Hays State.

This story was originally published October 21, 2017 at 3:41 PM with the headline "K-State defeats Missouri State 78-62 in exhibition game."