K-State actually had prepared a little for UMBC

Believe it or not, the Kansas State basketball team had everything in place to hit the ground running when No. 16 seed UMBC defeated No. 1 seed Virginia late Friday.

The Wildcats packed their white uniforms, which they will wear Sunday against the Retrievers, as the favored No. 9 seed. They also had notebooks on UMBC players and video from past games.

"I wouldn't tell you we put a lot of time into them, but we did," K-State coach Bruce Weber said. "You have to. Obviously it's 1 vs. 16, so we didn't have journals and journals on them, but, as a staff you are always preparing for the unexpected."

K-State coaches stayed up late studying the Retrievers and showed up for practice on Saturday with loads of information on them.

UMBC is a guard-oriented team that likes to space shooters across the perimeter and beat opponents from the outside.

K-State guard Barry Brown compared the Retrievers to Oklahoma.

"They go run and gun, fast paced, lot of transition threes, all sorts of different stuff to get their guys open," Brown said.

Weber seemed most impressed by UMBC guards Jairus Lyles and K.J. Maura.

"Those two guards are very good," Weber said. "They always say guards win in the Tournament, and Lyles is very similar to Marcus Foster. A guy that can create. He scores on all three levels, jump up and make the three, get to the point, shoot a pull up. He can get to the hoop and make plays ... And Maura, he is one of those guys you hate to play against. He pestered the heck out of Virginia."

K-State appeared to have a considerable lead on UMBC in the scouting department.

UMBC players said they didn't know anything about K-State Friday night and hadn't watched them on video as of Saturday afternoon.

"All I know is from what I saw in their last game," UMBC center Nolan Gerrity said. "They look good. We are going to have to be locked in."

Research was difficult for both teams, given the small time frame between NCAA Tournament games.

Some assumed K-State would have prepared only for Virginia in advance. But the Wildcats were also ready for an upset.

Baltimore connections

Kamau Stokes is from Baltimore, so that makes Sunday's game against UMBC an interesting game for the junior guard.

UMBC recruited Stokes when he was younger, and he played several high school games on the Retrievers' campus. He used to play against several of their in-state products.

That doesn't change the way he looks at the game.

"It’s not weird at all," Stokes said. "They took care of what they had to take care of in their conference tournament to get here and then they beat Virginia. It's just another team we have to face."

Wade Watch

K-State forward Dean Wade practiced again on Saturday and said he is getting closer to returning to action, but it sounds like he will once again only be available in an emergency situation against UMBC on Sunday.

"If he plays, it would be a limited basis probably," Weber said. "But you never know. Miracles happen, and it would be nice to have him. Obviously, we would have a nice matchup advantage if we had him inside, but we don't and it's next man up."

Wade warmed up but did not play during a first-round victory over Creighton.

"I am doing a little bit more," Wade said. "They don’t want to push me too much. They are being careful. It is getting better. I wish it would get better a little faster, but it’s getting there."

This story was originally published March 17, 2018 at 7:19 PM with the headline "K-State actually had prepared a little for UMBC."