Cartier Diarra regains form in K-State’s 95-68 victory over Eastern Kentucky

The Kansas State Wildcats defeated the Eastern Kentucky Colonels 95-68 on Friday in the opening round of the Paradise Jam in the Virgin Islands.

Xavier Sneed led K-State with 16 points, while Cartier Diarra and Dean Wade each added 14. The Wildcats improved to 3-0. They will next play Penn in the tournament semifinals on Sunday.

Here are some thoughts on the basketball game:

This was K-State’s finest effort of the season

The Wildcats began the season with a pair of lackluster victories over Kennesaw State and Denver that left some wondering if they were worthy of their preseason No. 12 ranking. But there were no negative takeaways from this one.

K-State dominated Eastern Kentucky. So much so, that Wildcats coach Bruce Weber was able to empty his bench near the end of the blowout victory.

It was an ideal start to the tournament.

Weber’s team arrived in the Virgin Islands as the Paradise Jam favorite and played like it on Friday. The Wildcats led for all but a few early minutes and pulled away in the second half.

“We kind of broke their spirit,” Weber told FloHoops after the game. “We talked about that at the start of the second half.”

The Wildcats were once again strong on defense, holding fast-paced Eastern Kentucky to 68 points and rarely conceding easy looks. K-State defenders were at their best against Colonels big man Nick Mayo. He scored just 11 points against the Wildcats after averaging 28 in his first three. Wade, Austin Trice and Makol Mawien made things difficult for him every time he touched the basketball.

“We did a great job on Mayo,” said Weber. “We rotated people ... Austin Trice gave a great effort. I don’t know how many rebounds he had (10), but he got a bunch.”

That’s not surprising given how much K-State emphasizes quality defense. What was most encouraging about this game from K-State’s perspective came on the other end of the floor.

The Wildcats made 55.2 percent of their shots and flirted with the century mark after failing to eclipse 70 points in their other games.

K-State will try to keep things rolling with the game against Penn.

“We have got a huge game with Penn,” Weber said. “They were a NCAA team last year. They have got really good players. It’s not going to be easy. We have got to prepare. We are taking this like the NCAA Tournament. We have got one day off. We have got to prepare and defend and see if we can play with one of the best.”

Welcome back Cartier Diarra

The sophomore guard was a no-show in K-State’s first two games, scoring a total of four points on 2 of 11 of shooting.

He finally got going against Eastern Kentucky.

Diarra had a nice all-around game that featured 14 points, four assists and three rebounds. He shot the ball well, draining 6 of 11 shots, and made some acrobatic layups. His biggest highlight came on a left-handed layup he made in traffic while falling away from the basket in the second half.

K-State fans saw what Diarra was capable of last season when he briefly took over for an injured Kamau Stokes in the starting lineup. But Diarra has mostly been quiet since.

That changed with an explosive game in the Virgin Islands.

“Cartier Diarra has been a little tentative,” Weber said. “I didn’t start him. Maybe I messed with his mind a little bit. He got going in the second half.”

K-State’s outside shooting was better, but still not great

After making 17.5 percent of their three-pointers in their first two games, just about anything would feel like an improvement.

In that sense, the Wildcats took a nice step forward against the Colonels. K-State made 4 of 17 shots (23.5 percent) from three-point range, including back-to-back triples from Sneed early in the second half.

Sneed played his best game of the season so far and was 3 of 4 on three pointers overall. Diarra made K-State’s only other three of the night.

That will obviously need to improve as the season continues, but K-State made up for it on this night by scoring 50 points in the paint.