Dean Wade a key to Kansas State’s NCAA Tournament chances

Kansas State is 7-11 since Jan. 10. Wake Forest is 10-10 since Dec. 28.

So their meeting Tuesday night in the NCAA Tournament’s First Four in Dayton, Ohio, is the equivalent of the Belk Bowl in college football’s postseason.

With one huge difference: The winner of this game advances. Moves on. Gets another opportunity to move on the tournament bracket.

So, yeah, this is kind of a big deal for a Kansas State team that once looked like a lock, then looked like it should be locked up, then found some good vibes late in the regular season and in the Big 12 Tournament, where the Wildcats knocked off Baylor before losing by a point to West Virginia.

Is K-State capable of making a run that starts with a Tuesday night game in Dayton?

More importantly, how much of a run, if any, do the Wildcats need to make for an antsy fan base to begin warming up to their coach, Bruce Weber?

Kansas State is in the tournament for the first time in three years. They didn’t exactly blow the doors in with a 20-13 record, 8-10 in the Big 12.

The Wildcats needed some things to break their way just to get into the tournament. If you’re going to Dayton for the First Four as an at-large, you are barely in the tournament.

K-State can be dangerous, though. The Cats have a good pair of guards in Barry Brown and Kamau Stokes, a tough post player in D.J. Johnson, a dangerous freshman in Xavier Sneed, a senior leading scorer and rebounder in Wesley Iwundu and an X-factor in sophomore forward Dean Wade.

It’s the 6-foot-10 Wade who is the key to K-State’s NCAA chances.

He’s had a good season, averaging 9.4 points and 4.6 rebounds while shooting almost 50 percent from the floor and just over 40 percent from the three-point line.

But Wade, from St. John, has also had a strange season.

He scored 20 points in each of K-State’s close losses to Kansas and had 12 or more points 12 times. But he had just seven points in K-State’s two Big 12 Tournament games and was shut out against Baylor. Eleven times, Wade has scored five or fewer points.

Wade is still a relatively young player surrounded by quite a few veterans. But when he’s aggressive and doesn’t defer to others, or lose confidence after a slow start, Wade can be a force.

In the seven games in which Wade has put up 10 or more shots — 7 of 33 games — he’s shooting 55.6 percent.

During a nine-game stretch from Dec. 3 through Jan. 10, Wade averaged 13.7 points, shot 57.5 percent from the floor and made 12 of 27 three-point attempts.

In one of the Wildcats’ biggest wins, 75-74 at TCU on March 1, Wade made 8 of 15 shots, 4 of 9 three-pointers and scored 20 points. In three games since, he’s taken 16 shots and averaged six points.

Wade is a rare player with the size to bang with brutes inside and the skill to step outside and make opposing defenses cringe. Too often, though, he’s been an afterthought in K-State’s offense.

The Wildcats have others who can score, so Wade doesn’t have to carry the load. But there’s no way he shouldn’t be taking 10 shots per game.

Wade has had his share of foul issues, which occasionally limits how much he stays on the floor. Too often, though, his teammates lose sight of how dangerous he can be.

Brown and Stokes are effective sophomore guards. But no way they should be taking 334 and 318 shots to Wade’s 223. Especially since Stokes is a 35.5-percent shooter overall and Brown is at 41 percent.

Wade has taken 95 fewer shots than Stokes but made only three fewer.

Again, some of this is on Wade. Maybe even a lot of it.

He’s a huge part of not just the present but the future. If the Wildcats are going to build on the success they’ve had this season, Wade has to continue to improve. Continue to do more and be willing to take on a bigger role.

Great players aren’t complacent. They don’t settle for taking five shots. They demand the basketball and are confident enough to know that a couple of missed shots early doesn’t mean they stop looking for shots.

A confident Wade is a dangerous Wade. But a Wade who blends into the background isn’t good for K-State’s NCAA Tournament chances.

Here’s hoping Wade is front and center for K-State on Tuesday night against Wake Forest and in any other games the Wildcats play in March.

This story was originally published March 13, 2017 at 2:03 PM with the headline "Dean Wade a key to Kansas State’s NCAA Tournament chances."