 were quite good against the Wildcats.They had three double-figure scorers with Marial Shayok contributing 13 points and 13 boards. They went 14 of 24 from beyond the 3-point line, shooting right over Kansas State's vaunted defense. And they dished out 19 assists while turning it over just 10 times.''When our A-team shows up,'' Prohm said, ''we have a chance to do good things. The things the B-team does, we have to keep them as far away as we can.'' Barry Brown had 23 points for the Wildcats, but he didn't get a whole lot of help. The rest of the team was a combined 2 of 13 from the 3-point arc and 11 of 34 from the field.Making matters worse, the short-handed Wildcats - already without top backup Cartier Diarra because of hand surgery - lost senior forward Dean Wade with 9:18 to go. The preseason Big 12 player of the year limped off the floor and spent the remainder of the game sitting on the end of the bench.Wade missed several weeks earlier this season with a right foot injury.''He had some soreness in his foot all week. He didn't practice. He was in a boot,'' Kansas State coach Bruce Weber said. ''It's not the same injury as before. He tweaked it. ... We'll just have to see.'' The Wildcats' half-court defense held Iowa State in check until late in the first half, when Horton-Tucker spoiled even good coverage. The freshman guard hit four 3s and finished with 14 first-half points, one of them a fade-away from well beyond the arc as the shot clock expired.''What are you going to do?'' Weber said. ''It seemed like they had us spread out, they got us down the line. It's the same team we held to 57 at their place. They're good offensively.'' Iowa State was poised to carry a big lead into the break, but Nick Weiler-Babb's miss with a couple seconds left gave Brown a chance to unload a 3-pointer from just inside the mid-court line.It rattled home, giving Brown 16 points in the half and drawing Kansas State within 38-31.Horton-Tucker answered out of the locker room with a 3-pointer from about six feet beyond the arc, and the Cyclones still led 50-41 when Wigginton buried a 3 with 13 1/2 minutes to go.Kansas State pecked away at its deficit, pulling within 57-56 on Mike McGuirl's follow shot with 7 minutes left. But the Cyclones continued to respond with a barrage of 3s, and it was Wigginton whose two fall-away 3s in succession allowed them to regain control.They put the game away when Cameron Lard threw down a dunk with 2:50 to go, and Horton-Tucker buried one last 3-pointer from in front of his celebrating bench.''We just battled the whole game,'' Wigginton said. ''When everyone was doubting us, we came in and responded every time. We've got toughness. We didn't show it last week but we did today.'' BIG PICTUREIowa State is right back in the Big 12 title picture after avenging its loss to the Wildcats at Hilton Coliseum. The Cyclones were coming off a surprising home loss to TCU, but otherwise they've won seven of their last nine games - including four of their last five on the road.Kansas State's margin for error was trimmed considerably, especially with a trip to Kansas still on the docket. The Wildcats now lead Texas Tech by just a half-game in the standings, and the Cyclones and Jayhawks are within striking distance in what has become a four-team race.UP NEXTIowa State returns home to face Baylor on Tuesday night.Kansas State heads to West Virginia on Monday night.---More college basketball: https://apnews.com/Collegebasketball and http://twitter.com/-Top25)
Feb 15, 2019No. 23 Iowa State travels to No. 18 Kansas State for the biggest game on the Big 12 Conference's Saturday schedule.Kansas State (19-5, 9-2 Big 12) leads the conference by 1 1/2 games over Texas Tech and Kansas, with Iowa State (18-6, 7-4) a half game behind that duo.The Wildcats will be looking to extend a nine-game conference winning streak that has launched them to the top of the conference. Those nine consecutive victories are the longest conference winning streak for the Wildcats since they won 11 consecutive in the Big 8 Conference in 1974.The Wildcats stood 0-2 in the conference and looked to be on the verge of collapse when they trailed West Virginia 42-21 early in the second half at home on Jan. 9. But they used a furious comeback against the Mountaineers and then forged a last-second 58-57 victory on the road against Iowa State on Jan. 12 to get things rolling."I'd be totally shocked, to be honest," K-State head coach Bruce Weber said when asked recently about how he felt about his team's chances at halftime against West Virginia. "I didn't think we'd win that game."You've got to give Barry (Brown) and Mike McGuirl a lot of credit for coming to play that second half, fighting it out and it gave us a little boost of energy. Then you get Dean back. Things just kind of fell in place." The nine-game run has come against all nine opponents in the Big 12. The Wildcats already have avenged their two season-opening conference losses (Texas Tech and Texas) and will next face the two teams they beat to start their streak in Iowa State and West Virginia (on Monday).Most recently, all five Kansas State starters scored in double figures, and the team shot 54.9 percent (28 of 51) from the field in a 71-64 victory at Texas. Down 39-31 with 1:37 remaining before halftime, the Wildcats combined for a 23-8 run sandwiched around halftime, including a 19-8 run to start the second half, to earn its third consecutive victory over the Longhorns.Kansas State was picked to finish second in the Big 12 in the preseason, so the Wildcats' lofty status is not a surprise. Iowa State, however, was picked to finish sixth. The fact that the Cyclones are right in the thick of the race is testament to coach Steve Prohm.Among their victories are a 77-60 drubbing of Kansas at home and a 68-64 win at Texas Tech following the defeat to the Wildcats.Iowa State had a week off after a surprising 92-83 loss to TCU, just their second home loss this season. The Cyclones still have the Big 12's top offense, leading the conference at 79.0 points per game, field-goal percentage (48.1), free-throw percentage (73.7) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.4).Iowa State has balance with four players averaging in double figures. They are led by Big 12 player of the year candidate Marial Shayok, who ranks second in the league at 19.3 points per game.But facing the Wildcats, who have the ability to take teams out of their offensive flow, Prohm knows his team needs to focus on its own defense."(It) will be all about us getting better," Prohm said this week. "We've got to continue to work on guarding the ball and being in the gaps, being able to keep people out of the paint." Kansas State also has four players averaging double-figures in scoring, led by Brown (15.4). Wade has 13.9 per game and Stokes has 10.3. Xavier Sneed has at 10.0 points per game.Kansas State holds the all-time lead in the series at 140-87, including the last three. Saturday will be just the third time that both teams have been ranked when they faced each other.--Field Level Media
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