‘We are a good team:’ Why K-State coach Bruce Weber spoke confidently after OU win
Bruce Weber hasn’t given up on this Kansas State basketball team.
Shortly after the Wildcats defeated Oklahoma 61-53 on Wednesday at Bramlage Coliseum for their second Big 12 victory of the season, Weber spoke as if he was hoping they could claim a spot in the NCAA Tournament rather than challenge for a .500 record.
“We are a good team,” Weber said. “We have just got to learn to finish games and to take care of the ball in the gut check parts. If we can do that down the stretch, who knows what can happen.”
By this point, K-State (9-11, 2-5 Big 12) has likely played its way out of postseason contention, but there’s nothing wrong with dreaming a little bit. The Wildcats are on an upswing, even if their most recent win was aided by an abysmal effort from the visiting Sooners (13-7, 3-4) who have lost eight straight games in this building.
K-State deserves credit for frustrating Oklahoma into just four three-pointers on 21 attempts and for taking advantage of 19 turnovers.
It was also less than two weeks ago that K-State blasted No. 12 West Virginia 84-68 for its first conference win of the year. Then came a lopsided defeated at Kansas, but the Wildcats bounced back by pushing Alabama to the final possession on the road over the weekend and then winning a home game against a NCAA Tournament contender.
None of that has been enough to flip the script on a disappointing season. Still, it shows the team is making progress.
“We know we’ve been right there,” K-State guard Mike McGuirl said after leading all scorers with 16 points. “We know we’ve been on the losing side of games, but we know that we can beat anybody. It feels good to get a win, get some momentum, just feel good. Now we’ve got a challenge ahead of us and we’re going to prepare the best we can.”
Weber seems to have stumbled upon an effective new starting lineup that features David Sloan at point guard, DaJuan Gordon at shooting guard and Cartier Diarra as the team’s sixth man.
By bringing Diarra off the bench, it cuts down the number of mistakes he can make in a game while also allowing him to watch things unfold in the opening minutes and then attack. That formula worked well against Oklahoma. Diarra scored 10 points on 16 shots and only lost three turnovers. He could be more efficient, but that’s an improvement on some of his other recent stat lines.
With McGuirl also now helping as a three-point shooter off the bench, it seems like the Wildcats have a starting lineup they can rely on the rest of the way.
Weber called his starting five “brilliant” late Wednesday night.
A daunting challenge awaits with upcoming games at No. 12 West Virginia and then back home against No. 1 Baylor. The Wildcats will not be favored in either matchup, but no one will faint of shock if they pull another upset after what they have accomplished over the past two weeks.
“We think we are a good team, we just haven’t done it consistently,” Weber said. “Now can we make a run in the second half and have some things go our way? I don’t know. All we can worry about is getting ready for West Virginia ... We’re going to fight our butts off and see what we can do.”
This story was originally published January 29, 2020 at 11:09 PM.