Kansas State Basketball: Perfect Time For Road Trip
By Stan Unruh
Kansas State Basketball is fighting for an NCAA tournament bid. It might be the perfect time to take a trip to face struggling Oklahoma.
Bruce Weber’s Wildcats have been on a roller coaster ride throughout the season. They’ve had big wins over Baylor and West Virginia.
They also had frustrating finishes in Lawrence and Lubbock and now 4 straight home losses – the longest stretch since losing 5 in a row in 2000.
Playing in Norman might be just what the Wildcats need. Oklahoma has had a difficult season since earning a trip the final four a year ago.
The Sooners also have had to play through player injuries. Earlier this month, senior guard Jordan Woodard suffered a season ending knee injury.
In their January 7, win over OU, the Wildcats got off to a hot start. Kansas State played some of their best basketball of the season early in this contest.
They hit three early 3-point shots including 8 of their first 13 shots from the field and forced a number of early turnovers- 19 OU turnovers in the contest.
In the second half, Kansas State almost gave the game away. While Dean Wade and Kamau Stokes were in control in the first half, the duo did nothing through the first 12 minutes of second half.
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Wade spent too much time on the bench after a 3rd foul and the Sooners pulled to within six points a couple of times.
Fortunately, D.J. Johnson was aggressive and took control of the paint with another double digit scoring performance. The ‘Cats once again had 5 players score in double figures to get their 13th victory of the season.
They desperately need to get their 18th win on Saturday night. To win, Dean Wade needs to be aggressive and Wesley Iwundu need to score. He had 21 points on Wednesday night.
The senior’s career is winding down. With D.J. Johnson not 100 percent healthy, Iwundu’s leadership is critically important in these final 3 games of regular season. Bruce Weber’s future in Manhattan may depend on it.