Kansas State earned back-to-back Phillips 66 Big 12 Players of the Week for the first time since 2013, as senior forward Dean Wade was honored as the league’s co-Player of the Week in averaging 18 points in Kansas State’s victories over No. 20/19 Oklahoma and TCU last week.
Wade, who earned the Big 12’s weekly honor for the second time in his career and the first time since January 22, 2018, shared the accolade with Baylor’s King McClure.
Wade follows teammate Barry Brown, Jr., who was named the Big 12 Player of the Week on January 14 after hitting back-to-back game-winners against West Virginia and No. 20/21 Iowa State. They are the first Wildcats to win Big 12 Player of the Week honors in consecutive weeks since Rodney McGruder won the weekly accolade on December 24, 2012 and January 7, 2013. Overall, it marks the school’s 28th Player of the Week honor since the inception of the Big 12 in 1997, including the 12th under head coach Bruce Weber.
The 6-foot-10, 228-pound forward from St. John, Kansas, Wade averaged 18.0 points on 52.2 percent shooting (12-of-23) and 90.9 percent (10-of-11) from the free throw line to go with 3.5 assists, 1.5 rebounds and 1.5 steals in 27.5 minutes per game in the wins over the Sooners and Horned Frogs. This impressive two-game performance came after returning to action just three games ago after missing six games due to injury.
Wade posted just his second 20-point game of the season in helping K-State snap Oklahoma’s homecourt winning streak in a 74-61 victory on Wednesday night. It marked the first time since February 2012 that the Wildcats have earned back-to-back wins over Top 25 opponents on the road. He scored 20 points on 8-of-14 shooting, including 2-of-4 from 3-point range, to go with 2 rebounds, 2 steals and 1 assist in 25 minutes. It was his first 20-point game since scoring a season-high 21 points against Missouri on November 19, 2018.
Wade helped the Wildcats’ run their winning streak to four games on Saturday, as he scored 16 points on 4-of-9 field goals and 8-of-9 free throws in the 65-55 win over TCU. He also dished out a game-high and season-high 6 assists to just 1 turnover in playing 30 minutes.
For the season, Wade is averaging 13.3 points on 50.8 percent shooting to go with 6.8 rebounds and 3.0 assists in 28.8 minutes per game. He has played in just 12 games due to injury.
