Why a Paradise Jam championship is so meaningful for K-State’s three seniors

The Kansas State Wildcats defeated the Missouri Tigers 82-67 on Monday in the championship game of the Paradise Jam.

Here are some thoughts from the basketball game:

Winning a trophy is a big step for this K-State team

A Paradise Jam championship probably won’t help the Wildcats in the national polls or impress many at the national level, as K-State was heavily favored to win three games and bring home a trophy while in the Virgin Islands. But this was still a meaningful achievement for K-State.

There’s no understating it, really.

K-State seniors Barry Brown, Kamau Stokes and Dean Wade have won big since joining forces as freshmen in Manhattan. They have claimed more than 60 victories and played in the Elite Eight. And yet, they didn’t have any hardware to show for their hard work. Until now.

“We have been close the previous three times, we just couldn’t seal the deal,” Wade told FloHoops. “Luckily, we played good and we got it this year.”

They wanted to win a trophy badly and circled the Paradise Jam on the schedule for that reason. K-State coach Bruce Weber said the Wildcats would treat this event like the NCAA Tournament, and there wasn’t much hyperbole in that statement.

This was K-State’s first tournament championship since 2011 at the Diamond Head Classic, before Weber was hired as coach. Brown, Stokes and Wade nearly won a trophy as freshmen at the CBE Hall of Fame Classic. But they let a late lead slip away against North Carolina. Then they almost won a tournament title the following year at the Barclays Center Classic, but couldn’t slam the door on Maryland.

They left no doubt in this one.

“We are making progress,” K-State coach Bruce Weber said. “I told them today, ‘I have probably been a little impatient. It is a new season, a new team. We are still trying to figure some things out.’”

He was most impressed by Wade, who drained four three-pointers on his way to a game-high 21 points and tournament MVP honors. Before the game began, Weber told him he was the best player in the gym. So he pushed him to play that way.

“He did that today,” Weber said. “He is a special player. I don’t think people nationwide understand how good he is. He needs to play like that consistently.”

K-State jumped out to a 7-0 and finished the half on a 13-0 run. It led by more than 20 points in the second half and showed no mercy, just like last March in the NCAA Tournament.

“This time we finished the job,” Weber said, “and made progress.”

Three amigos

What made this game so special for the Wildcats was the way its three seniors, who banded together and vowed to win this tournament, played.

Brown, Stokes and Wade stole the show.

Wade had 21 points, five rebounds and four assists. Brown added 19 points, six rebounds and six assists. Stokes had 10 points and three assists. There was no stopping them with a trophy at stake.

Together, they crossed an accomplishment off their college basketball bucket list. That’s a good sign for the remainder of the season. This was a big goal for them, but they have much bigger ones left to pursue. They want to contend for a Big 12 championship and make another March run. They deserved to celebrate on Monday. But they want to celebrate again.

Their focus seemed in the right place. Brown and Wade looked happy, but not ecstatic, after the win. Weber was already looking ahead to Saturday’s game against Lehigh.

“Now we have to go home and play a tough stretch coming up,” Weber said. “We have got Lehigh, at Marquette, at Tulsa, Georgia State and I think Vanderbilt. The next five will be another step to see how good we are.”

This is what it looks like when the Wildcats make shots

Outside shooting appeared to be K-State’s Achilles heel in its first four games, but they heated up against Missouri and looked like a team of sharpshooters.

The Wildcats made 12 of 24 shots from beyond the arc and shot 54.5 percent from the field. Their defense wasn’t as strong as it has been in previous games, but it didn’t need to be.

K-State players found an early rhythm behind Wade and the basket looked bigger to them as the game progressed. Wade made four three-pointers, Sneed hit three, Stokes and Cartier Diarra drained two and Brown made one.

That led to some efficient stat lines. Wade scored his 21 points on 10 shots, while Brown had 19 points on 13 shots.

Weber has talked about this team’s versatility since preseason practices began. They are already showing that they can win games in different ways.

This story was originally published November 19, 2018 at 9:40 PM.