Kansas State will have much to prove at Las Vegas Invitational

Bruce Weber was joking when he said Kansas State basketball players could “go jump in the Bellagio fountains” if they win the Las Vegas Invitational this week, but it’s not hard to envision the Wildcats wildly celebrating if they claim a tournament trophy.

“One of the things I have talked about is winning a championship,” Weber said. “We have talked about it since the spring when we knew this tournament was coming. One of our first goals, one of the major things on the schedule, was getting ready for this tournament and seeing if we can win this thing.”

K-State hasn’t won a holiday tournament since the Diamond Head Classic in 2011, a year before Weber took over as coach.

Since then, the Wildcats have lost in the championship game of the NIT Season Tip-Off, the CBE Hall of Fame Classic and the Barclays Center Classic. The last two misses still sting, as K-State was unable to protect late leads in narrow losses to North Carolina (80-70) in 2015 and Maryland (69-68) last year.

“We have been in Thanksgiving Day tournaments and we are yet to come out with a championship,” junior guard Kamau Stokes said. “I feel like this will definitely be one where we try to go out there and bring one home. It would mean a lot to us. We have been trying to get one for a while now.”

It won’t be easy.

Kansas State has won its first four games by an average of 22 points, but each of those victories came against overmatched opponents. The competition is about to get much more difficult, starting Thursday with a game against undefeated Arizona State at Orleans Arena.

The Sun Devils (95 points per game) are one of the nation’s highest scoring teams, and every bit as eager as the Wildcats to prove themselves against stronger competition.

Beat Arizona State and K-State will advance to the tournament’s championship game Friday against the winner of No. 15 Xavier and George Washington.

A game against the Musketeers would really test the Wildcats.

With little time between games and few hours to prepare for a new opponent, K-State would be facing a shorter turnaround than it experiences before a Big Monday game.

But there might be more adrenaline involved.

“Our team is going to be a little bit more amped up than usual,” junior guard Barry Brown said. “It is our first road test. I am excited to see how our new guys react, and even how some of us (older players) handle the first road test. It’s Vegas, too. I feel like we are going to have that chip on our shoulder, trying to prove ourselves.”

Though the games will be played in a city that can feel like one big amusement park, Weber said the Wildcats will take a business approach to the trip. They left for Las Vegas on Tuesday, and the team took in a Michael Jackson themed show.

But that is where the non-basketball related fun ended.

“You win, go jump in the Bellagio fountains on Friday,” Weber said. “But along the way you have got to be ready to go.”

This story was originally published November 22, 2017 at 11:34 AM with the headline "Kansas State will have much to prove at Las Vegas Invitational."