K-State knocks off No. 4 Oklahoma
MANHATTAN, Kan. – Paced by 20-point efforts from juniors Barry Brown, Jr., and Dean Wade, Kansas State put together one of its most complete performances of the season with an 87-69 win over No. 4/6 Oklahoma in front of a season-crowd of 10,744 fans at Bramlage Coliseum on Tuesday night.
K-State (13-5, 3-3 Big 12) has now defeated at least one Top 25 opponent in a school-record 12 consecutive seasons, including a school-best eight straight seasons with a victory over a Top 10 opponent. The Wildcats have beaten a ranked Sooner team four times in the last six games at home, including twice when ranked in the Top 5.
Four Wildcats reached double figures for the third consecutive game, including a game-high 24 points from Brown and 21 from Wade. Redshirt freshman guard Cartier Diarra posted double digit points for the third consecutive start with 16 points, while sophomore Xavier Sneed added 13 points.
K-State connected on 56.5 percent (35-of-62) from the field, including an incredible 73.1 percent (19-of-26) in the second half. The Wildcats also hit on 50 percent from 3-point range (52.9 percent; 9-of-17) and knocked down all 8 free throws. The squad, which tallied 11 steals, scored 19 points off of 20 Sooner turnovers.
Oklahoma (14-3, 4-2 Big 12) was led by freshman Trae Young, who scored 20 points on 8-of-21 shooting from the field, including 2-of-10 from beyond the arc. K-State forced Young into a career-high 12 turnovers.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The scoring did not come easy for the leading scoring team in the Big 12, as Young and the Sooners were startled by the Wildcat pressure early on, giving up two turnovers in the opening minutes. K-State made good use of the Young mistakes, resulting in 4 fast break points at the other end for Brown.
The defensive pressure from the Wildcats held the Sooners to just 27 percent (3-of-11) shooting in the first five minutes of play, while the Wildcats claimed an early 11-7 lead.
Over the next four minutes, K-State would take a commanding 23-9 run over the Sooners, behind a 10-0 run that saw the Wildcats connect on 5-of-6 from the field. Brown seemed to be scoring with ease for the Wildcats, with 12 points on 6-of-7 from the field just 8 minutes into the game.
In the first half alone, K-State forced 12 Oklahoma turnovers, including 8 from Young, that led to 13 points in transition and 20 points in the paint. Young was held to 8 points on 3-of-10 shooting to end the half.
However, just before the half, the Sooners would claim their first lead of the game at 33-32 with 1:30 remaining in the half on a layup from junior Rashard Odomes. The lead would not last the final minutes before halftime, as the Wildcats spouted off a 6-0 run to go into the locker room with a 38-33 lead.
K-State claimed the first half lead behind 44 percent (16-of-36) shooting from the field, including 16 points from Brown, while Oklahoma shot 40 percent (12-of-30) from the field and 27 percent (5-of-18) from beyond the arc in the half. The freshman duo of Young and Brady Manek led the Sooners with 8 points each, while Wade led the Wildcats with 8 rebounds at the half.
After the break, K-State continued to fire on all cylinders, as the Wildcats claimed a nine-point advantage at 52-43 after a 3-pointer from Wade.
With a 10-point advantage midway through the second half, K-State went with the lob from Diarra to Sneed who caught the pass and threw it down. The Wildcats would go on to lead by as many as 18 in the second half.
After scoring 22 points against Kansas on Saturday, Wade would go on to rally the Wildcats in the second half against Oklahoma, scoring 16 of his 21 points after halftime, while crashing the boards for 7 rebounds and dishing out 7 assists in the game.
Paired with Wade, Diarra found success late in the game by attacking the rim. He scored 11 of his 16 points in the second half on (6-of-8) shooting from the field in the game. As a team, the Wildcats used a superior second half to put away the Sooners, shooting 73.1 percent (19-of-26) from the field in the second half.
K-State benefitted from their multitude of scorers, as four Wildcats reached double-digits, including a game-high from Brown who tallied 24. Wade (21), Diarra (16) and Sneed (13) would join Brown in double-digits.
As a team, K-State shot 56 percent (35-of-62) in the game, including 53 percent (9-of-17) from beyond the arc. Young would go on to lead the Sooners with 20 points on 8-of-21 shooting, as the Wildcats forced him into a career-high in turnovers (12). The Sooners shot 42 percent (26-of-62) from the field in the game.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Barry Brown, Jr.– Junior Barry Brown, Jr., put together an impressive effort on both ends of the court, as he scored a game-high 24 points on 10-of-17 field goals to go with 5 assists and 3 steals, while being the primary defender on the nation’s top scorer Trae Young, who was held to 20 points on 8-of-21 field goals, including 2-of-10 from 3-point range, to go with 12 turnovers.
STAT OF THE GAME
73.1 – K-State connected on a season-best 73.1 percent (19-of-26) of its field goals in the second half, including 71.4 percent (5-of-7) from 3-point range. It was the highest shooting percentage in a half since shooting 76.2 percent (16-of-21) in the first half against Texas on Feb. 18, 2017.
SEASON RECORD UPDATE
- K-State 13-5 (3-3 Big 12)
- Oklahoma 14-3 (4-2 Big 12)
K-State Head Coach Bruce Weber
On the crowd…
“I am going to start with the crowd because it was unbelievable. That might have been as many students as we have had, including the Kansas games. There is no doubt about it, the guys play off of that. It is great to have the students back.”
On Trae Young…
“Trae Young is good and Barry [Brown] did a tremendous job on him and our team did an unbelievable job on him. He is as good as I have seen. I have done this a very long time. In the college game, to do the things he does is amazing.”
On beating a top 10 team…
“I just think we have came a long way. Makol [Mawien] and the big guys set really good ball screens. Xavier [Sneed] was solid. Cartier [Diarra] got going in the second half. A couple weeks ago he was playing 10-12 minutes a game and now we are throwing him in there for 35 minutes and he goes six for eight with 16 points and five assists. They have really come together… I thought tonight was our best effort defensively.”
On Dean Wade…
“He is one of the best passing forwards in the country and sometimes he is too unselfish. He makes the right read. Tonight he had seven assists and with Kamau [Stokes] out I’ve tried to make it where he can be the passer and make some drives or kick it out.”
Junior Guard Barry Brown
On the game…
“We saw a lot of mismatches and we were able to attack downhill.”
On guarding Trey Young…
“We were just trying to stay on him, he comes off ball screens. He needs one inch and he can shoot it. Credit to the big men for playing the ball screens. It was easy when our big man would force him to get the ball out of his hands.”
Junior Forward Dean Wade
On his offensive outburst in the second half…
“In the first half I was just missing a lot of shots that I usually don’t miss, and in the second half I just focused on my defense. I stayed aggressive and told myself the offense would come.”
On the offense…
“It felt great. I think a lot of it had to do with our penetration – Cartier and X driving in the lane, the defense rotating and leaving guys open on the outside and shooting outside shots. Once you shoot one it kind of gets the momentum rolling.”
Oklahoma Head Coach Lon Kruger
On the game…
“Obviously, K-State played great. They made us play bad. We did not feel good about any aspect of the ball game and certainty that is a credit to Kansas State. Bruce [Weber] had them ready to play well; they have been playing well lately and they did tonight. They wiped us in about every aspect of the game. We have to learn from it and bounce back to get better.”
On their conference schedule moving forward…
“The conference is great. Every time you line up you are playing against a very good team. Teams know each other very well. It is not going to get easier, no question about that. Every three-to-four game stretch is exactly like the next. You are playing good teams every night.”
On Barry Brown…
“Barry has been great a lot of times. He certainly was tonight. He attacked off the dribble, he made shots, and he worked hard defensively. He has been doing a great job for them all year and he was fantastic.”
On K-State’s defense…
“They are as good as we have faced for sure. We are going to face a lot of good defensive clubs, but K-State did as good of a job as anyone has. I thought they got some deflections and steals. They did what they typically do; they are very good defensively and they wiped us tonight in every way.”
Freshman Guard Trae Young
On Barry Brown….
“He is a good player. Every point guard in this league is tough. It was not just him. [Dean] Wade played really well. The whole team played well. Give a lot of credit to them.”
On not scoring much early…
“Just find other ways to impact the game. I did not do very well tonight. I played terrible. I blame a lot of this loss on me, if not all of the loss on me. I did not play very well tonight, so I need to get better and get ready for Saturday.”
On how K-State defended him…
“I have seen everything. They did a lot of trapping to start the game. They played box-and-one, which was probably the second time I have seen that. I just did not make the right plays tonight. I did not make the right reads. They were very into it from the beginning and we were not. Give a lot of credit to them.”
BEYOND THE BOXSCORE
- This is K-State’s eighth consecutive season that the Wildcats have defeated a Top 10 team and the 12th consecutive season that the school has beaten a ranked opponent… Both are school records.
- K-State has won eight of the last 11 meetings with Oklahoma, including six straight at Bramlage Coliseum… The Wildcats have beaten a ranked Sooner squad four times in the last six games at home, including 72-66 in 2004, 59-56 in 2015 and 80-69 in 206 when Oklahoma was ranked No. 1 in the country.
- The win was the 23rd over a Top 5 team in school history, including the fourth under head coach Bruce Weber… It was the third win over the AP’s No. 4 team and the first since defeating No. 4 N.C. State on Dec. 19, 1958, snapping a 14-game losing streak to No. 4.
- K-State is 35-57 all-time against Top 25 teams at Bramlage Coliseum, which includes 17 over teams ranked in the Top 10… The school, is 32-54 against ranked Big 12 teams (since 1997), including 20-17 mark since 2008… The Wildcats are 1-3 vs. ranked opponents this season (No. 6 West Virginia, No. 18 Texas Tech and No. 12 Kansas) with the last win coming against No. 9 Baylor in Big 12 Championship.
- K-State scored 87 points on 56.5 percent shooting (35-of-62), including 52.9 percent (9-of-17) from 3-point range, and went a perfect 8-of-8 from the free throw line… It marked the ninth time scoring 80 or more point this season as well as the ninth time connecting on 50 percent or better from the field… The Wildcats connected on 73.1 percent (19-of-26) after halftime, which was the highest in a half since shooting 76.2 percent (16-of-21) against Texas on Feb. 18, 2017.
- K-State scored 19 points off of 20 Oklahoma turnovers, which marked the 17th time that the Wildcats have had double digit points off of opponent miscues.
- K-State had four players score in double figures for the seventh time this season, including three consecutive games for the first time this season.
- Junior Barry Brown, Jr., scored a team-high 24 points on 10-of-17 field goals to go with 5 assists and 3 steals in 36 minutes… It marked his 11th career 20-point game, including the seventh time this season… He now has 20-point games in five in his last seven games… He has now scored in double figures in 49 career games, including a team-best 15 this season… It marked the 22nd time leading the Wildcats in scoring.
- Junior Dean Wade scored 21 points on 9-of-16 field goals, including 3-of-3 from 3-point range, to go with a team-high 7 rebounds and a career-tying 7 assists in 36 minutes… It marked his eighth career 20-point game, including his fourth this season… It marked the 23rd time leading the team in rebounding and the eighth in assists… He has now scored in double figures in 48 career games, including 14 this season.
- Sophomore Xavier Sneed scored 13 points on 4-of-7 field goals, including 3-of-5 from 3-point range… It marked the 23rd time scoring in double figures, including the 11th time this season.
- Redshirt freshman Cartier Diarra scored 16 points on 6-of-8 field goals, including 2-of-3 from 3-point range… He has now scored in double figures in 5 games, including three consecutive starts.
WHAT’S NEXT
K-State continues its homestand on Saturday, as the Wildcats play host to No. 24/25 TCU (13-4, 1-4 Big 12) at 3 p.m., CT on ESPNU on Throwback Day. The team will wear special lavender throwback uniforms, which were worn from 1973 to 1982 and made famous by Mike Evans, Chuckie Williams and Rolando Blackman.
