Senior Barry Brown, Jr.’s driving lay-up with 4 seconds helped lift Kansas State past No. 20/21 Iowa State, 58-57, on Saturday before a sold-out crowd of 14,384 at Hilton Coliseum.
It marked the second consecutive game that Brown has delivered the game winner after his lay-up with 29 seconds gave K-State the lead for good in the come-from-behind victory over West Virginia on Wednesday night. Almost mirroring his performance against the Mountaineers, he poured in 18 of his game-high 23 points in the second half against the Cyclones after scoring 20 of his game-high 29 points against WVU after halftime. In the last 2 games, he is averaging 19.0 points on 53.8 percent shooting (14-of-26) from the field in the second half.
The win gave K-State (12-4, 2-2 Big 12) consecutive wins at Hilton Coliseum for the first time since 2010 and 2011, while ending Iowa State’s 8-game home court winning streak. The Wildcats won for the first time in 4 road games this season and snapped a 6-game skid in true road games dating back to last season.
K-State was buoyed by the return of senior Dean Wade, who had missed the last 6 games due to injury. Wade played 22 minutes in the start, scoring 2 points and grabbing a game-high 9 rebounds.
The Wildcats held the Big 12’s top scoring offense (81.3 ppg.) to a season-low 57 points on 42 percent (21-of-50) shooting, including 37.5 percent (9-of-24) from 3-point range. K-State has now held 79 opponents to 60 points or less in the Bruce Weber era, including 10 of 16 opponents this season.
The Wildcats led for most of the game, including 35-26 at halftime, before Iowa State (12-4, 2-2 Big 12) used a 14-2 run midway through the second half to take a 55-48 lead with 5:02 to play. The Wildcats slowly chipped away, as Brown knocked down consecutive jumpers to close the deficit to 55-52 with 3:11 remaining before a pair of Brown free throws pulled the team to within 57-56 with 16 seconds left.
A missed free throw by Lindell Wigginton set up the last play, as Brown drove the paint and laid the ball up with 4 seconds. Wigginton’s desperation shot was no good at the buzzer.
Brown was joined in double figures by fellow senior Kamau Stokes, who scored all 12 of his points in the first half, a half in which the Wildcats scored their most points (36) since the George Mason game on Dec. 29, 2018. Sophomore Cartier Diarra added 8 points off the bench after starting the previous 6 games with Wade out.
Senior Nick Weiler-Babb was the only Cyclone to score in double figures with 11 points, including 3 triples, while graduate transfer Marial Shayok and freshman George Conditt VI added 9 points each.
With the win, Weber claimed his 450th victory in his 21-year coaching career, while he broke a tie with Jack Hartman (1970-86) for the most career Top 25 victories in school history with his 23rd in his seventh season.