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THE POST GAME: K-State 78, Missouri State 62

The Post Game returns for basketball as we'll provide you a recap, insight and likely some (attempted) humor all in one piece. Let's kick off the basketball version of this series following K-State's exhibition contest win over Missouri State.

K-State's quartet of Kam Stokes, Barry Brown, Xavier Sneed and Dean Wade are going to have to produce for Bruce Weber's team to compete for a top-half finish in the Big 12 Conference, and it was that group that led the Wildcats to a 78-62 exhibition win over Missouri State in Bramlage Coliseum ... with help from freshman point gaurd Cartier Diarra.

It wasn't a fully even effort from those four, however, as Stokes and Brown led the way from the backcourt while Wade and Sneed struggled at times in reduced minutes.

Wade and Sneed's lack of time on the floor in the second half did allow Weber to experiment with lineups throughout the contest, likely a goal he set for himself prior to the game.

In an exhibition that presented an obvious chance to try things, K-State was likely happy to get out with a win and an opportunity to see its newcomers get extended minutes.

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STARTING FIVE – The five most fascinating figures inside of Bramlage Coliseum Saturday

1. Cartier Diarra showed flashes immediately off the bench, hitting an open 3-pointer from the right baseline on his first shot and then finishing a drive in the lane with his right hand (he’s a lefty) on his second touch. The questions on Diarra have been his ability to score the basketball, so it was encouraging for Bruce Weber and his staff to see this immediate production.

Diarra ended up leading K-State with 14 points in just 18 minutes.

2. Kam Stokes has appeared confident in practice so far, and that trend continued in the Wildcats' first exhibition. The junior point guard scored or assisted on 13 of K-State’s first 24 points on his way to finishing with 13 points and three assists in 25 minutes.

3. Missouri State senior Jarrid Rhodes started 26 games last year but wasn't a huge scorer, averaging 7.0 points per game. He showed his offensive game on Saturday, however, as the 6-foot-6 guard/forward flashed both shooting touch and an ability to get to the basket on his way to 20 points.

4. He didn’t start, but Makol Mawien looked like K-State’s best post in Saturday’s contest. He showed some range out to 16 feet, an ability to hit free throws and the athleticism to run the floor and rebound for the Wildcats. It’s just one game – and an exhibition at that – but still an encouraging effort for a roster in dire need of post production.

5. Fran Fraschilla was in attendance. Anytime we get to include Fran, you can count on us doing so. He had a great conversation with Jeff Martin you’ll see this week on this site.

OLD SCHOOL - A flash back to the times of traditional game stories

Kansas State opened its 2017-18 exhibition season with a 78-62 victory over Missouri State in Bramlage Coliseum thanks in large part to a strong defensive effort and balanced scoring from its starting backcourt.

The Bears didn’t get on the board until there were just more than 15 minutes left to play in the first half, and while the visitors from the Missouri Valley Conference would hang around for much of the afternoon they never truly threatened coach Bruce Weber’s squad.

K-State's guard tandem of Kam Stokes and Barry Brown provided the necessary offense on the day, pouring in 13 and 12 points respectively - and freshman point chipped in to lead the way with 14 points. The Bears did close to within six points late in the second half, before a late spurt buried the Bears.

The Wildcats will continue their exhibition schedule next Saturday in Bramlage when Fort Hays State visits Manhattan for a 2 p.m. tip.

PICTURE THIS

Fran Fraschilla spent time speaking with our Jeffrey Martin at halftime of Saturday's exhibition.
Fran Fraschilla spent time speaking with our Jeffrey Martin at halftime of Saturday's exhibition.

NOTEABLE

We got our first hint at what K-State’s starting five may be. Kam Stokes, Barry Brown, Xavier Sneed and Dean Wade were in the lineup – as expected – and the starter at center was 6-foot-9 graduate transfer Mawdo Sallah. The first three Wildcats off the bench were sophomore post Makol Mawien, sophomore small forward Brian Patrick and and freshman point guard Cartier Diarra.

Junior college transfer Amaad Wainright was the ninth Wildcat to enter the contest. Freshman post Levi Stockard was the 10th Wildcat to see the floor. Nigel Shadd was the 11th Wildcat to earn minutes, coming in late in the second half. Freshman Mike McGuirl made his debut with five minutes left in the second half. Towards the end of the contest the Wildcats emptied their bench of walk-ons.

The first eight mentioned were easily the biggest part of the rotation, with Wainright seeing more action in the second half than he did the first.

PRESSURE POINT - Who won today's point guard battle?

Kam Stokes won his battle with the Bears' Jarred Dixon, a 6-foot-4 junior who averaged nearly nine points per game last season while making 10 starts for Missouri State. Stokes ended with 13, while Dixon was limited to 2 on just 1-of-7 shooting.

The matchup was made more lopsided by Diarra's performance, which allowed the Wildcat point guards to combine for 27 points.

NELSON’S NOTES - A collection of thoughts from KSO's basketball analyst

-K-State is making a clear commitment to pushing the basketball. It's easy to say you're going to push the ball up the court, but this team is making a real effort to do so. We could hear Coach Weber constantly shouting, "Run!" from the sidelines after made and missed baskets. Jeff has seen this in practice, too, and it seems to be more than lip service.

-When K-State was in the half court, there was an obvious effort to run the offense through Dean Wade, and it really did allow the Wildcats to get a lot of good looks.

-Not a great effort, but a lot to take from it if you want to be positive. K-State looked alert (no falling asleep on in-bounds plays, mental mistakes on defense, etc.) showed energy throughout and maintained focus. The defense didn't give up a basket for almost the first five minutes of the game, then came out of halftime and forced three straight turnovers. That's the sign of a focused team.

THEY SAID IT - Quotes provided by the KSU Sports Information Department

K-State Head Coach Bruce Weber

Opening statement…

"Obviously Cartier (Diarra) did a nice job, I thought Makol (Mawien) played better here in the game than he does in practice on a daily basis. We have talked to him about that and he actually did in the scrimmage last week too. When we add a little people and the lights go on he picked it up a little bit so that part is good. I had mentioned the other day that we had planned that, I did not tell the players, but that last eight to nine minutes we were going to play everybody so everybody gets a chance to play. They are an older team and one of my concerns all year has been rebounding. I want to play our best players and have them on the court. Sometimes we are small and if they want to play, they are going to have to rebound. We are going to have to have a better mentality on rebounding. One of their (Missouri State) strengths is rebounding so I think it was good. They did not have the kid that averages 10. That part was alright. We have some film to watch but we did some good things. We had a little bit of sticky fingers and did not move the ball like I would want them to. We still have three weeks and two more exhibition games and our whole thing is to get better every day and hopefully they got better today."

On experience for younger players…

"It was great, I think we played great. I think we played ten in the first half, and that is pushing it a lot. Obviously everybody got a chance at the end so that was good for them. When you have a guy like Cartier (Diarra) who did not play for a whole year, this is so valuable. This crowd was not great but he probably did not play in front of this many people in high school ever. Same thing for Makol (Mawien), who sat out a year and redshirted and played last year at the junior college level, it is a whole different thing. Even now for Kamau (Stokes), it is a different level for him. He sometimes over thinks but he did some good things. We just have to keep learning and getting better, that is all we can think about."

Freshman Guard Cartier Diarra

On leading the team in scoring…

"I just took my open reads and was aggressive at times and got to the free throw line and made my free throws."

On playing for the first time…

"I was pretty anxious. I am generally anxious before games so I just listen to my gospel music and that soothes me and gets me ready to go out and play. I listen to some smooth music and then when it is game time I turn on some Marvin Sapp and listen to that to calm me down."

On freshmen performance…

"Everybody on our team brings something that we do not have. Of course everybody will not have a good game everyday. One day it will not be Mike's (McGuirl) game and one day it will not be my game but we just work hard and feed off of each other. When we get the chance we have to take advantage of it."

Junior Guard Kamau Stokes

On first exhibition game…

"I think it went pretty well for our first game. A lot of guys got to get in and get the experience and they are going to need that especially later on in the season. Overall I feel like it went well. Of course there are some things that could have went better and some things we are going to work on."

On getting off to a fast start…

"It is definitely going to help getting off to a good start early. It always helps no matter what time during the season. We have guys that come off the bench and they give a good spark."

On Cartier Diarra…

"I felt like Cartier (Diarra) played great. He was aggressive and made the right plays at the right times."

On relying on the bench play…

"We have faith in our guys that have to come off the bench and play for us. They have been going against us the whole summer and the beginning of school so I felt like they were ready for that. We were not worried at all."

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