Kansas State got the bad taste of its first loss out of its mouth with an 80-61 victory over Green Bay Wednesday night at Bramlage Coliseum.
Barry Brown’s 18 points led the way, but it was a balanced scoring effort throughout for the Wildcats, who never trailed.
On the heels of a 69-68 heartbreaker to Maryland in the Barclays Center Classic, K-State (6-1) opened the game with focus and intensity. The Wildcats shot 55 percent in the opening period and led by as many as 16.
“I challenged them to come ready to play and they did,” K-State coach Bruce Weber said. “We got off to a nice start in the first half and we really needed that.”
K-State’s lead was trimmed to eight by halftime, but the Wildcats’ Dean Wade ensured there would not be a letdown in the second half.
To open the period, he hit a three, then found Brown for another triple less than a minute. K-State started the half on an 8-0 run. The lead remained in double-digits the rest of the way as grew as large as 23 midway through the second half.
Weber was pleased with how his team came out of the locker room for both halves.
“I thought they were both pretty good,” he said. “We still need a little bit more of a killer mentality, but you could see some good things happening.”
In addition to Brown’s 18 points, Xavier Sneed contributed 14 on 5-of-9 shooting. Sneed was held scoreless against Maryland.
Weber said the performance was significant for the confidence of Sneed, a freshman.
“It was a nice game for him,” he said. “With him it’s all about consistency. He looked great against Boston College. He just has to learn to do all the little things.”
K-State also got 11 points from Wesley Iwundu, while three other Wildcats added at least eight.
After leading the team with 26 points and 8 rebounds against the Terrapins, D.J. Johnson was held to 6 points in this contest, partially due to foul trouble. But he did record a season-high four blocks on the defensive end.
Next up for K-State is a road trip to Saint Louis this Saturday. It will be the first true road contest for the Wildcats this season.
