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OPINION: Wildcats go from 'must win' to back in the Big 12 race

1. Get Wade going: For practicing just once in the last month, Dean Wade was pretty good against Iowa State. Sure he scored just two points (on a key late basket) against the Cyclones but led the Wildcats with nine rebounds and spent just more than 20 minutes on the court in his return from a foot injury suffered against Georgia State in non-conference play. The 6-foot-10 senior probably ins't ready to pour in 20 points in 30-plus minutes, but his offensive game should take a step forward in Norman.

2. Help for Brown: Barry Brown has mostly carried the K-State offense the last two games, and count me as somebody who believes he can continue to do so through much of the year. For K-State to not have to scratch and claw for every win, however, he needs help to step up. Kam Stokes has taken great care of the basketball, worked as a play-maker and hit some timely shots, but perhaps he's due to score a little more. We talked about Wade above, and perhaps Xavier Sneed can have some more success putting the ball in the hoop when he's not guarding the opposing team's best player (very well, for the record), like he was at Iowa State.

3. Handle success: The Wildcats have proven more than capable of handling adversity. Their NCAA Tournament run a year ago silenced many critics who said they couldn't win in March, and this year K-State played its best stretch of basketball after falling behind 21 points against West Virginia in the second half with an 0-2 league record. K-State stormed back to beat WVU and then stunned the 20th-ranked Cyclones in Ames. Can the Wildcats play with the same intensity after having some things go their way?

Prediction: I think K-State has a shot to win another tough road game in league play, but I just can't convince myself to pull the trigger on the upset. I think Oklahoma is tested, proven and deserving of a Top 20 ranking. And, while Norman isn't thought of as a difficult environment the Brown/Wade/Stokes era has not been kind to K-State on the Sooners' home floor. I believe the Wildcats will continue to play well and give themselves a real chance, but I would take OU at home against almost any team in the Big 12.

Oklahoma 70, K-State 64

GAME 17

KANSAS STATE (12-4, 2-2 Big 12) at 20/19 OKLAHOMA (13-3, 2-2 Big 12)

Wednesday, January 16, 2019

>> 6:01 p.m. CT

>> Lloyd Noble Center (11,562)

>> Norman, Okla.

TELEVISION

ESPN2

Mark Neely (play-by-play)Chris Spatola (analyst)Andy Jacobson (producer)

RADIO

K-State Sports Network

Wyatt Thompson (play-by-play)Stan Weber (analyst)

Listen Online: TuneIn.com [free] // www.kstatesports.com/watch [free]

Satellite Radio: XM 380 / Internet 971

LIVE STATS

www.SoonerSports.com

ou.statbroadcast.com [media only]

TICKETS

www.SoonerSports.com/tickets

(800) 456.GoOU

Single Game $10/$25/$35

COACHES

Kansas State: Bruce Weber (Wis.-Milwaukee ’78)

Overall: 450-239/21st season

At K-State: 137-84/7th season

vs Oklahoma: 8-4 (2-4 on the road)

Oklahoma: Lon Kruger (Kansas State ’75)

Overall: 632-398/33rd season

At Oklahoma: 153-94/8th season

vs. Kansas State: 8-9 (6-2 at home)

PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP

Kansas State (12-4, 2-2 Big 12)

G: #3 Kamau Stokes

G: #5 Barry Brown, Jr.

G/F: #20 Xavier Sneed

F: #32 Dean Wade

F: #14 Makol Mawien

Oklahoma (13-3, 2-2 Big 12)

G: #2 Aaron Calixte

G: #0 Christian James

F: #21 Kristian Doolittle

F: #35 Brady Manek

C: #4 Jamuni McNeace

SERIES HISTORY

Overall: Oklahoma leads 108-99

Current Streak: Oklahoma, 1

In Norman: Oklahoma leads 63-27

At Lloyd Noble Center: Oklahoma leads 25-10

Last Meeting: L, 77-86, 2/24/18

Weber vs. Kruger: 9-4 (2-4 on the road)

OPENING TIP

Kansas State (12-4, 2-2 Big 12) wraps up its 2-game road trip on Wednesday, as the Wildcats travel to Norman, Oklahoma to take on acclaimed lettermen and former head coach Lon Kruger and his No. 20/19 Oklahoma Sooners (13-3, 2-2 Big 12) at the Lloyd Noble Center. The game will tip at 6:01 p.m., CT on ESPN2 with Mark Neely (play-by-play) and Chris Spatola (analyst) on the call.

K-State, by virtue of senior Barry Brown, Jr.’s second straight game-winner, earned its first road victory in Saturday’s 58-57 win over No. 20/21 Iowa State after starting the season with 4 consecutive losses. Overall, the win snapped the Wildcats’ 6-game losing streak in true road games, while ending the Cyclones’ 8-game home court winning streak, and gave the team consecutive wins at Hilton Coliseum for the first time since 2010 and 2011.

The Lloyd Noble Center has been a difficult place to play for K-State with just 10 victories in 35 visits, including just 4 in the Big 12 era, and 3 consecutive losses by an average of 16.3 points per game.

After his back-to-back game-winners and 20-point games, Brown was selected as the Phillips 66 Big 12 Player of the Week for the first time in his career on Monday. The senior averaged 26.0 points on 52.9 percent shooting (18-of-34) to go with 3.0 steals, 2.5 assists and 2.0 rebounds in 37.0 minutes per game in the wins over West Virginia and No. 20/21 Iowa State. He was particularly impressive in the second half of the two victories, scoring 38 of his 52 points (19.0 points average) while posting the game-winning lay-up against the Mountaineers to complete a school-record 21-point comeback and the game-winning lay-up against the Cyclones with 4 seconds.

Led by Kruger, who played (1971-74) and coached (1986-90) the Wildcats, No. 20/19 Oklahoma enters Wednesday’s game, as the Big 12’s best rebounding team at 42.7 boards per game, including 32.0 on the defensive end, while averaging 74.4 points on 44.4 percent shooting, including 34.2 percent from 3-point range. Guard Christian James is enjoying a stellar senior season, as he leads the Sooners in both scoring (16.8 ppg.) and rebounding (7.7 rpg.) to go with a team-best 36 made 3-point field goals, while 4 others are averaging 8 or points, including sophomore Brady Manek (11.6 ppg.), graduate transfers Miles Reynolds (9.5 ppg.) and Aaron Calixte (8.9 ppg.) and junior Kristian Doolittle (9.2 ppg.).

This will be the 208th meeting between K-State and Oklahoma with the Sooners holding a 108-99 advantage, including a decisive 63-27 edge in games played in Norman. Oklahoma owns a slight 16-14 lead since the start of Big 12 play with wins in 5 of the last 7 meetings at the Lloyd Noble Center. The teams split their series a year ago with the Wildcats winning at home, 87-69, on Jan. 16, 2018 and the Sooners winning at home, 86-77, on Feb. 24, 2018.

After dropping its first 2 Big 12 games, K-State followed up its historic come-from-behind 71-69 win over West Virginia on Wednesday with yet another rally to win 58-57 at No. 20/21 Iowa State on Saturday. Down 55-48 with 5:02 play after the Cyclones rattled off a 14-2 run, the Wildcats slowly chipped away at the deficit, as Brown scored eight of the team’s last 10 points, including the game-winner with 4 seconds. The team was buoyed by the return of senior Dean Wade, who had missed the last 6 games due to injury, and returned to grab a game-high 9 rebounds in 22 minutes.

NOTES ON OKLAHOMA

No. 20/19 Oklahoma (13-3, 2-2 Big 12) remained a perfect 7-0 at home this year, as the Sooners came from behind to knock off No. 25 TCU, 76-74, on Saturday at the Lloyd Noble Center. Junior Kristian Doolittle led four players in double figures with a team-high 24 points and 10 rebounds, while senior Christian James added 15 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals.

The Sooners have won their two Big 12 home games (Oklahoma State and TCU) and have lost their two road games (Kansas and Texas Tech).Oklahoma is averaging 74.4 points on 44.4 percent shooting, including 34.2 percent from 3-point range, to go with a Big 12-best 42.7 rebounds, 13.0 assists, 5.8 steals and 4.1 blocks per game, while allowing 66.7 points on 37.7 percent shooting, including 31.4 percent from 3-point range. The team is connecting on 67.3 percent from the free throw line.

James, who is off to a strong senior season, paces the Sooners in scoring (16.8 ppg.), rebounding (7.7 rpg.) and steals (1.1 spg.), while connecting 43.7 percent from the field to go with a team-best 36 made 3-point field goals. Sophomore Brady Manek also averages double figures at 11.6 points per game to go with 7.4 rebounds per outing, while 3 others (Miles Reynolds, Kristian Doolittle and Aaron Calixte) are all averaging better than 8 points per game. Calixte is averaging a team-best 3.3 assists per game.

Oklahoma is led by future Hall of Fame coach Lon Kruger, who has posted a 153-94 (.619) mark while guiding the school to 5 NCAA Tournaments. He has a 632-398 (.614) record in his 33rd season as a head coach, which includes stints at Pan American, K-State, Florida, Illinois and UNLV.