Kansas State’s Dean Wade had another outstanding performance against a nationally ranked team on Monday night. His leadership is critical to the Wildcat Basketball success in the final weeks of the season.
Bruce Weber’s team has struggled this month while Wade recovered from a foot injury.
Wade didn’t see much personal success in three games against the Jayhawks in his freshman season.
That changed in 2017. He scored 20 in the January 3 “Travel-gate” game in Lawrence.
In the Sunflower Showdown rematch Monday, Wade scored 20 more (10 in each half) and led four Wildcats in double figures along with Kamau Stokes (16), senior Wesley Iwundu (13) and senior D.J. Johnson (14).
Wade’s scoring came of 8-12 shooting and he didn’t miss in three attempts from beyond the arc. He also made his only free throw during his 34-minutes on the court. He only committed two fouls and had no turnovers.
His two blocked shots were huge including a block of freshman star Josh Jackson late in the game that received a lot of attention on social media.
Dat' Block Tho. #KStateMBB 👀 pic.twitter.com/YRulDYEiyW
— K-State Men's Basketball (@KStateMBB) February 7, 2017
A Wade 3-pointer tied the Sunflower Showdown at 63 but the Wildcats didn’t regain the lead.
According to postgame notes from Kansas State Athletics, Wade credited his teammates with his big night from the field. “They were looking at mismatches and getting me the ball when I was open. I have to give all the credit to them.”
Jayhawk coach Bill Self praised Wade’s performance.
Next: Wildcat's Waste Performance From Wade in Sunflower Showdown
“I just thing he is a good basketball player. He is a Kansas kid that is playing against KU, just like Perry Ellis was a Kansas kid playing against K-State. He is a good player and he shot the heck out of it, going 3-for-3 from three-point range.”
With 7 regular season games left, Bruce Weber needs Wade to continue to be aggressive and lead.
Kansas State continues their daunting stretch of three straight Top 10 opponents on Saturday at West Virginia.