One statistic tells the story of K-State’s win over Baylor, surge up Big 12 standings

Kansas State hasn’t trailed in a basketball game since last Tuesday.

Let that sink in.

Of all the stats that could be used to explain K-State’s three-game winning streak — punctuated by a 90-83 victory over Baylor on Monday at Ferrell Center — and its surge up the Big 12 standings, that’s the one that resonates.

Nearly a week has passed since the Wildcats briefly fell behind Oklahoma late in the first half of a Tuesday night game at Bramlage Coliseum. At the time, you had to wonder if they were losing control. Instead, they immediately grabbed the lead back and won easily. Then they handled TCU and dominated Baylor.

Add it all up, and K-State has been on the court for 101 minutes, 32 seconds over the span of seven days without trailing for a single moment.

“It just shows how motivated we are,” K-State junior forward Dean Wade said. “It shows that we can get stops on defense and push it in transition. We are at our best in transition, and you can only get out in transition when you get stops and rebounds. I think it shows a lot about our defense.”

It shows more than that.

All things considered, this was arguably K-State’s most meaningful win. Beating Oklahoma was impressive, and following it up with another triumph over TCU was big. But both of those games were at home and few expected much from the Wildcats.

This was a different animal. Pressure was on to continue the winning streak, especially when junior guard Barry Brown said the team was good enough to win the Big 12 over the weekend. This was also a road game against a desperate team that uses a zone defense.

None of it mattered. The Wildcats, behind 34 points from Brown, manhandled the Bears and moved into a tie for second place in the Big 12. K-State (15-5, 5-3 Big 12) is genuinely playing good basketball.

It led Baylor (12-8, 2-6) by as many as 19, much like it build big leads over Oklahoma and TCU.

“I just think they are ready to play. They are focused,” K-State coach Bruce Weber said. “The leadership is so huge. Barry, he was in the office Sunday right away. He is talking about what they do and what we need to do. Dean has really grown up and wants to be prepared.”

“A year or two ago, when Dean got tired, he gave in. Now, he pushes through that. Our big thing today was toughness, especially mental toughness, because they are tough and they make you guard. I think our guys were great with mental toughness. They survived every time Baylor made a run.”

That was most evident when Baylor pulled within 55-49 midway through the second half when Nuni Omot hit a corner three. The Bears had momentum and the home crowd, but the Wildcats responded.

Cartier Diarra got things going with a driving layup in traffic, then Amaad Wainright threw down an and-one dunk and Wade followed with a transition slam of his own. A pair of free throws from Barry Brown then put K-State ahead 64-49.

Game over.

With thoughts of a Big 12 title push on his mind, Brown wasn’t going to let K-State fall behind. Not even for one second.

“It’s not just my goal,” Brown said. “It’s everyone on the team’s goal, the coaching staff and the whole K-State nation. We are playing for everyone right now. The hard work we have been putting in has paid off in these games. We have just got to keep the streak rolling.”

Zone busters

Remember when Tulsa threw a zone defense at K-State and the Wildcats went cold, making 31.6 percent of their shots and 12.5 percent of their three-pointers, in a 61-54 loss last month?

That painful defeat eventually became a positive for this team.

K-State has learned how to score against a zone defense, and proved it against Baylor on Monday by making 28 of 49 shots and 8 of 17 three-pointers. Brown had a game-high 34 points, Wade had 24 and Makol Mawien added 11.

The Wildcats forced the Bears to go man, at times.

“Every time they went zone, man, we went boom, boom, boom and carved it up,” Weber said.

K-State even used a zone defense itself to slow down Baylor. Going against its own zone in practice after that Tulsa loss has made a huge difference.

“That experience with Tulsa, I guess, made coach want to practice our zone offense a lot,” Brown said. “We are executing, finding open guys, swing, swing, swing and getting open shots.”

Welcome back, Wainright

It was a bit of a surprise to see Amaad Wainright come off the bench to score seven points.

The junior K-State guard entered the game on a slump, and that is probably putting it nicely. He hadn’t scored since the Wildcats’ final game of 2017 at Iowa State.

Yet he gave K-State’s small lineup a big boost after Mawien and Levi Stockard exited the game with foul trouble by making a three-pointer and throwing down an important transition dunk.

“I was just thinking about a highlight play,” Wainright said. “My dad told me to make a highlight play whenever I got back in, and that’s what I did.”

Weber said Wainright’s seven points were “the difference in the game.”

That he scored them on the same floor where his older brother, Ishmail, used to play made it all the more meaningful.

“Baylor is like a second home and family for me, based on Ishmail,” Wainright said. “Today was a very good sign. It was only the beginning. I’m going to keep working and keep playing like this more often.”

This story was originally published January 23, 2018 at 12:05 AM with the headline "One statistic tells the story of K-State’s win over Baylor, surge up Big 12 standings."