Big 12 winning streak comes with new challenges for first-place Wildcats
The Kansas State Wildcats are starting to find out what it’s like to play basketball games with a metaphorical bounty on their heads.
Now that they have won nine consecutive Big 12 games, sit atop the conference standings and are ranked in the top 20, opponents are starting to give them their best shots.
“Being in first place creates a big target,” K-State forward Levi Stockard said. “Everyone wants to play their best against the first-place team, and I think that is why everyone is coming out and playing hard against us.”
Kansas, Baylor and Texas cranked up the intensity levels in each of the past three games. The Wildcats trailed at halftime in all three outings.
The Jayhawks surged ahead by as many six, forcing K-State to control the second half. Baylor took things a step further and led 48-41 midway through the second half before K-State rallied for a win. Then Texas pulled ahead 39-31 late in the first half, forcing Bruce Weber to make major adjustments before K-State mounted a comeback.
Teams didn’t push the Wildcats that hard after they lost their first two league games. Iowa State, Oklahoma, TCU and Texas Tech put up season-low scoring totals in consecutive games.
K-State deserves credit for handling its business against those teams, but the challenges are getting harder with a Big 12 championship at stake.
Dean Wade has tried to warn K-State’s young players about this. In previous years, he told them, he always played his best against the top teams in the conference.
“For some reason you come out and play really good and give it your all,” Wade said. “Being in first right now, we know every team is gunning for us and wants a piece of us. That just makes us more motivated, knowing that we have to step up.”
The 18th-ranked Wildcats figure to get their biggest challenge yet against No. 23 Iowa State on Saturday. The Cyclones are two games behind them in the standings and need to win this game in order to stay in the Big 12 race.
It goes without saying that Iowa State will be motivated in this one. But there’s a lot on the line for K-State, too. A victory over the Cyclones would give it extra breathing room and make it even more difficult for any other team to catch up.
With three seniors and two juniors in the starting lineup, Bruce Weber isn’t worried about his team’s mindset. But life is certainly different when you’re in first place.
“It seems like they are on the same page and focused,” Weber said. “We have to keep them on that same page and focused and not let them get distracted ... We will see how they are Saturday. I hope that they know the importance of the game and that anybody can beat anybody in this league on any given night.”
This story was originally published February 15, 2019 at 3:33 PM with the headline "Big 12 winning streak comes with new challenges for first-place Wildcats."