Kansas State bounces back for 97-80 exhibition victory in Europe

Kansas State landed its first victory on an exhibition tour of Europe on Thursday, beating BC Silute 97-80 in Rome.

The win was a nice bounce-back effort from the Wildcats after opening their trip with a loss on Wednesday.

A pair of sophomore guards led the way. Barry Brown led all scorers with 17 points, while Kamau Stokes added 16. Senior guard Carlbe Ervin finished with 12 points, while freshmen Isaiah Maurice and Xavier Sneed both had 10.

“The first game we had just stepped off the plane we were out of our routine and we weren’t use to the conditions,” Ervin said. “The second game we said that we weren’t going to lose and we went out and played as a team. We got to the rim and picked up our defense tonight.”

K-State showed significant improvement in several areas, particularly shooting. The Wildcats connected on 59.4 percent of their shots a day after shooting 37.2 percent.

Team chemistry also appears on the way up.

“It feels like I have been playing with these guys forever,” Sneed said. “We are starting to gel as a team and I’m starting to understand how we play and what my role can be.”

This was the second of five exhibition games for the Wildcats. They are next in action Saturday against Italian Select in Livorno, Italy.

This story was originally published August 11, 2016 at 5:02 PM with the headline "Kansas State bounces back for 97-80 exhibition victory in Europe."