K-State can show basketball maturity by protecting home court after big road wins
The Kansas State basketball team is coming off a pair of “bucket list” victories.
That’s the term K-State guard Kamau Stokes used to describe the Wildcats’ recent win at Oklahoma, which followed an equally impressive win at Iowa State. It was the first time K-State had posted consecutive road victories over ranked teams in seven years.
“We have got some things on our bucket list that we talked about accomplishing at the beginning of the year, and winning here was one of them,” Stokes said. “These road wins are big, real big.”
But they will lose some luster if K-State can’t back them up by also winning at Bramlage Coliseum.
“It’s not going to get any easier,” Weber said. “Every game is hard. Do we have the maturity to come back at home now and play at a high level.”
The Wildcats (13-4, 3-2 Big 12) return home on Saturday against TCU. It will then turn around and play Texas Tech on Tuesday in Manhattan. A successful home stand would lift them to 5-2 in the Big 12 and keep them near the top of the conference standings. A pair of losses would drop them back below .500.
They won’t face the challenge of quieting a road crowd in those games, but they will be tested against two of the best teams in the Big 12.
Winning on the road is impressive, but all good teams protect home court.
That hasn’t been the simplest of tasks for K-State lately. Though it is 7-1 at Bramlage Coliseum this season, K-State opened conference play with a 67-47 home loss to Texas and then needed a 21-point comeback to beat West Virginia in front of a home crowd.
The Wildcats were hampered by injuries in those games, and they seem to have evolved since then with Dean Wade back in the lineup.
They can prove themselves again Saturday, this time at home.
“Coach has talked to us about being mature,” K-State guard Barry Brown said, “being experienced and understanding that you can win five games in a row and no one really cares the next game. I think we are handling it well. We just have to keep pushing forward.”