K-State takeaways: Barry Brown bounces back, but bench disappoints against Northern Arizona

Kansas State defeated Northern Arizona 80-58 on Monday at Bramlage Coliseum.

Some takeaways from the game:

It was a bad night for K-State’s bench

The Wildcats have four proven starters and question marks everywhere else on the roster. That’s the way some viewed the makeup of this K-State basketball team when the season began.

It will be hard to refute that line of thinking after what happened Monday.

K-State’s best four players — Xavier Sneed (12), Dean Wade (15), Kamau Stokes (16) and Barry Brown (20) – all scored in double figures. The rest of the team combined for 17 points, with only Brian Patrick (5), Pierson McAtee (3) and Mawdo Sallah (2) putting the ball through the net.

That is a concerning sign, given that they were expected to shine in garbage time against winless Northern Arizona.

“I think we can be better than that,” K-State coach Bruce Weber said. “We were not as sharp as I would like us to be. I think more than anything, the older guys were consistent. The younger guys were not as good as we need them to be. That is going to be a key for our team.”

Cartier Diarra, Amaad Wainright and Mawdo Sallah all looked good in K-State’s first three games, so it’s possible this was an outlier. Still, they were no-shows against the Lumberjacks.

That will need to change at the Las Vegas Invitational. It will be hard for the Wildcats to beat Arizona State and George Washington/Xavier without all hands on deck.

This was a dream matchup for Barry Brown

K-State’s starting shooting guard likes dunks and steals, and he had a whole lot of both against Northern Arizona. Barry Brown finished with 20 points, six steals, four assists and two rebounds in 28 minutes.

He cut off passing lanes from the start and put himself in position for easy fast-break dunks.

Weber called them “energizer plays.”

Those kinds of points came easy all night, as the Wildcats forced 31 turnovers on a school record 19 steals.

“Our defensive pride is at an all-time high right now,” Brown said. “And that is why we get those steals.”

It’s not often you see a guard score 20 points without making a three-pointer, but that’s exactly what Brown did Monday. Only one of his 13 shots came from the outside.

This was a bounce-back effort for Brown, who went 2 for 11 against UC Irvine on Friday.

“My confidence never fades,” Brown said. “This was a good game for me.”

Will the real K-State please stand up?

No offense to K-State’s first four opponents, but it is time to see what the Wildcats can do against like competition.

It’s hard to tell what this team is capable of so far. They looked good in easy wins against American, UMKC, UC Irvine and Northern Arizona, but none of those teams rank in the top 180 of Ken Pomeroy’s rankings. Only UC Irvine ranks in the top 290. The Wildcats have played nothing but overmatched foes.

That will change against Arizona State on Thursday and potentially Xavier on Friday.

K-State has reached the championship game of November tournaments in each of the past two seasons, falling just shy of a trophy against North Carolina and Maryland. Two wins this week would be an extremely positive sign. A split would leave questions unanswered. Two losses would raise serious concerns.

This story was originally published November 20, 2017 at 10:23 PM with the headline "K-State takeaways: Barry Brown bounces back, but bench disappoints against Northern Arizona."