K-State Basketball: Barry Brown, Dean Wade leading charge for Wildcats
Early in K-State basketball’s matchup with Bayor on Monday in Waco, it was clear the mojo of late would continue for the Wildcats. As they coasted to a 90-83 victory, the growing belief of the fan base almost felt tangible.
While it might not have been heralded as a Big Monday matchup, each game feels huge for Coach Bruce Weber and the Kansas State Wildcats now.
Perhaps the largest issue with Weber’s tenure at Kansas State has been the lack of consistency. The Wildcats have always shown the ability to compete with the top teams in the league on any given night. However, the length and relentlessness of the Big XII schedule has given them trouble under Weber.
It’s a recipe all too familiar for the Wildcat faithful; beat a top-ten team on the road Monday night, lose to the last-place team at home on Saturday.
That’s what the Wildcats look to put behind them each time they step onto the floor now. After starting Big XII play 1-2 and losing point guard Kamau Stokes for an extended period of time at best, things were looking grim.
Enter Cartier Diarra. The redshirt freshman point guard has rejuvenated the Cats, breathing some life into a team looking sluggish and defeated. Since his first start in purple and white, K-State has gone 4-1, with wins at home versus Oklahoma State, #4 Oklahoma and #24 TCU and on the road versus Baylor.
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The Cats only loss in that stretch? A 73-72 game against rival Kansas in Lawrence, where KSU had a chance to win with a shot at the buzzer. Diarra has averaged 13.4 points per game in that five-game span.
Diarra isn’t the only player that stepped up in Stokes’ absence. Juniors Barry Brown and Dean Wade, long thought of as key cogs if the Cats were to make any noise, have stepped up their game to a level they’d only shown in flashes.
As evidence, you need only look to the box score from Monday night. Brown and Wade combined for 58 points on only 28 shots, shooting a combined 64% (18-28) from the floor.
It’s been more than just Monday night. Since their first game without Stokes, Brown and Wade have averaged 24.6 and 19.4 points per game respectively. They’ve combined for 44 points per game between them in that stretch.
In the past, the goal for Wade, Brown and the rest of the Wildcats has always been the same; steadiness and cohesion from game to game. After an impressive two weeks that has seen the Wildcats move into a tie for second in the league, the Cats are firmly setting their eyes on a loftier goal; securing an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, and pushing Kansas for a Big XII crown.