Wildcat-Jayhawk report
Thursday’s box score
No. 1 KANSAS 85,
KANSAS ST. 63
K-STATE | Min | FG-A | FT-A | Reb | A | PF | PT |
Johnson | 15 | 4-8 | 2-7 | 0-0 | 0 | 4 | 10 |
Brown | 26 | 1-8 | 1-2 | 0-1 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
Edwards | 36 | 9-15 | 0-0 | 5-10 | 2 | 3 | 23 |
Iwundu | 29 | 3-6 | 4-6 | 2-4 | 4 | 1 | 10 |
Wade | 31 | 1-7 | 2-2 | 1-4 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
Ervin II | 24 | 2-4 | 0-0 | 1-3 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
Schoen | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Winter | 1 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Rohleder | 3 | 1-3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
Budke | 7 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Hurt | 27 | 3-10 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
Totals | 200 | 24-62 | 9-17 | 15-30 | 14 | 16 | 63 |
Percentages: FG .387, FT .529. 3-Point Goals: 6-18, .333 (Edwards 5-7, Wade 1-3, Rohleder 0-1, Winter 0-1, Ervin II 0-1, Hurt 0-2, Brown 0-3). Team Rebounds: 5. Blocked Shots: 2 (Johnson 2). Turnovers: 11 (Iwundu 3, Ervin II 3, Hurt 2, Wade, Brown, Edwards). Steals: 7 (Edwards 2, Wade 2, Brown, Rohleder, Johnson). Technical Fouls: None.
KANSAS | Min | FG-A | FT-A | Reb | A | PF | PT |
Mason III | 32 | 6-8 | 2-2 | 1-3 | 7 | 1 | 16 |
Selden Jr | 23 | 1-6 | 3-4 | 0-2 | 3 | 1 | 5 |
Graham | 34 | 5-10 | 0-0 | 0-3 | 8 | 1 | 11 |
Lucas | 17 | 1-3 | 2-2 | 0-4 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
Ellis | 30 | 8-11 | 5-6 | 2-6 | 2 | 1 | 21 |
Vick | 3 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Manning | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Mykhailiuk | 17 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 2-4 | 3 | 2 | 6 |
Self | 1 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Greene | 10 | 0-1 | 2-2 | 1-5 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Bragg Jr | 11 | 5-6 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 5 | 12 |
Young | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Traylor | 14 | 3-3 | 0-2 | 1-4 | 0 | 4 | 6 |
Mickelson | 6 | 1-3 | 0-0 | 1-3 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Totals | 200 | 32-56 | 14-18 | 10-37 | 24 | 17 | 85 |
Percentages: FG .571, FT .778. 3-Point Goals: 7-20, .350 (Bragg Jr. 2-2, Mykhailiuk 2-2, Mason III 2-4, Graham 1-5, Ellis 0-1, Self 0-1, Greene 0-1, Vick 0-1, Selden Jr. 0-3). Team Rebounds: 2. Blocked Shots: 5 (Traylor 2, Lucas, Ellis, Mickelson). Turnovers: 11 (Traylor 3, Mason III 2, Ellis, Mykhailiuk, Selden Jr., Graham, Lucas). Steals: 8 (Graham 3, Ellis 2, Selden Jr., Mickelson, Mason III). Technical Fouls: None.
Kansas St. | 30 | 33 | — | 63 |
Kansas | 45 | 40 | — | 85 |
A—NA. Officials—Mike Stuart, Gerry Pollard, Bert Smith.
NIT for me
Bruce Weber and Kansas State basketball players agree on two things about the NIT.
1.They hope they get an invitation to the postseason tournament.
2. They think they deserve one.
“We deserve to be in the NIT,” Weber said. “There’s probably a lot of other teams, but we played a very, very difficult schedule. We’ve competed with everybody outside of the league. We were very good, but we just have to wait and see what happens. I hope, for these guys’ sake, we get an opportunity to play again.”
“If it was left up to me, I would say, ‘For sure, we belong in the NIT,’” added junior guard Wesley Iwundu. “I want it for our team and for our seniors.”
At 17-16 with a RPI in the low 80s, K-State fits the traditional NIT mold. But there are fewer at-large bids available than usual.
The Wildcats will learn their fate at 7:30 p.m. Sunday when the NIT Selection Show begins on ESPNU.
Out of the zone
Weber used a 2-3 zone throughout K-State’s loss to Kansas in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament. The strategy produced mixed results.
The Jayhawks excelled against it in the first half, scoring 45 points, but cooled slightly in the second. KU made 57.1 percent of its shots, overall.
Weber said K-State executed the zone properly, the Jayhawks simply made shots against it.
Iwundu slowed
K-State junior Wesley Iwundu was limited with a minor ankle injury. He was seen wearing a walking boot before the game, and played 29 minutes against Kansas.
Iwundu said he was slowed slightly by the injury, but it wasn’t a major factor in his performance. He expects to be back at full strength, should K-State play in the NIT.
Humble Bragg
Kansas coach Bill Self turned to freshman Carlton Bragg as the two exited the locker room to head to the postgame press conference.
“You nervous, Carlton?” Self said with a smile.
The freshman, who sometimes gets jittery when asked to speak in public, had earned his spot as a KU representative following a 12-point effort Thursday.
“I was ready when my number was called,” Bragg said. “Just playing hard and playing my role.”
Self still made sure to give him a hard time in front of reporters.
“I told him most guys that come in here get more than zero rebounds,” the coach said.
Diallo sits with injury
KU freshman Cheick Diallo did not play Thursday after getting elbowed in the mouth by teammate Svi Mykhailiuk during Wednesday's practice at Allen Fieldhouse.
“He didn’t do it on purpose,” Diallo said. “I (went) to block him, and he just elbowed me.”
Diallo received three stitches in his upper lip but said he would be available to play Friday against Baylor.
Playing through
Self was asked about playing his starters — particularly Frank Mason, Devonte’ Graham and Perry Ellis — while up 20 points with less than four minutes to go.
The coach said leaving those players in was “not a risk.”
“Jamari (Traylor) was tired, and weren’t going to play Cheick, and no reason to put a stiff Landen (Lucas) back in,” Self said. "We were just trying to buy a couple minutes. Frank and Devonte’ can play all day long.”
Kellis Robinett, Jesse Newell
This story was originally published March 10, 2016 at 8:03 PM with the headline "Wildcat-Jayhawk report."