Kansas State Sets March Madness Bar for Rest of Big 12
By Stan Unruh
Kansas State Basketball’s first trip to March Madness in three seasons started successfully Tuesday. The Wildcats 95-88 win over Wake Forest set the tone for the rest of the Big 12.
On Sunday afternoon, coach Bruce Weber and Kansas State fans around the country were nervous.
Despite 19 wins and upset victories over nationally ranked Baylor and West Virginia there was no guarantee the ‘Cats would be in NCAA tournament.
After the first-four win Tuesday, the Wildcats have put the pressure on the rest of the Big 12.
In Dayton, Kansas State played one of their best games of the season.
They shot the lights out in the game, especially in the second half.
They hit on almost 70 percent of their shots in the second half and ran past the Deacons.
It was a far different game than the team’s 50-point effort against West Virginia in the Big 12 Conference semifinals.
The Wildcats dominated Wake Forest in the paint. They out-rebounded the bigger Deacons 29-21. Senior Wesley Iwundu scored a career high 24 points and the 19 second half points from Kamau Stokes was huge.
Now the Wildcats can relax a little. They’ve shown what they can do in the bright lights of the NCAA tournament and the Big 12 should be proud.
Next: Wildcats Open March Madness With Win
How would Kansas, Baylor, West Virginia or Oklahoma State feel if they lost in the opening round of the Big Dance?
How will the other Big 12 teams perform on the big stage this year?
If you are still filling out your bracket, try the Allstate Bracket Predictor Tool designed for both diehard and casual fans, uses predictive analytics from STATS to help fans build a winning NCAA tournament bracket with data science.
It is clear, the month of March 2017 is very good for Bruce Weber’s team. Forget what happened in the month of February. The ‘Cats are peaking at the right time and set for their second March Madness game on Friday against Cincinnati.