KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — All-Big 12 forward Dean Wade is expected to miss the entire Big 12 tournament for No. 15 Kansas State because of a foot injury that has lingered for much of the season.

Wildcats coach Bruce Weber said after Wednesday’s practice at Sprint Center that the 6-foot-10 Wade would spend most of his time this week getting treatment. The hope is that Wade will be ready for next week’s NCAA tournament, though Weber said he could not promise anything.

Wade is averaging 12.9 points and 6.2 rebounds for the Wildcats, who are the No. 1 seed in Kansas City after tying Texas Tech for the regular-season conference title.

The Wildcats did get some good news in that Cartier Diarra, who has missed several weeks after hand surgery, is expected to be available for their quarterfinal on Thursday.

— Associated Press —

MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — There was one thing Kansas State seniors Barry Brown, Dean Wade and Kamau Stokes wanted to cross off their lists as they played their final home game for the Wildcats: win a Big 12 regular-season title.

Check.

Stokes scored 19 points and No. 18 Kansas State clinched a share of the conference title with a 68-53 victory over Oklahoma on Saturday night.

Brown added 15 points and Wade had 11 as the Wildcats (24-7, 14-4) finished atop the conference for the second time in 42 years, and first since 2013.The three seniors capped senior night by hoisting the Big 12 title in front of a sold-out crowd after winning just five conference games their freshman year.

“It was tough to only win five games that year,” Brown said. “When we came, this program was rebuilding and we knew that, but they allowed us to come in and play and get better every year.”

Kansas State is co-champions with No. 8 Texas Tech (26-5, 14-4), which topped Iowa State 80-73 earlier Saturday.

Kristian Doolittle scored 14 points and Jamal Bieniemy 12 for the Sooners (19-12, 7-11).

“We were down by 10 at the half, so obviously didn’t do what we needed,” coach Lon Kruger said. “They dictated pretty much throughout the game, but they are a good team.”

Kruger won two conference championships when he played at Kansas State in 1972 and `73.

“Just respect for what Bruce Weber has done,” he said. “He has been fantastic throughout his career and to win a conference championship is great for Bruce.”

K-State was dominant on the offensive boards, grabbing 11 rebounds and scoring 16 second-chance points.

The Wildcats also used nine three pointers, including four from Stokes and held the Sooners to only five.

Stokes started the second half by scoring eight straight points in a 10-1 run for the Wildcats, which gave K-State a 42-23 lead with 17 minutes to play. The Wildcats never looked back and led by as many as 29 in the win.

“I told them those first five minutes were very important,” Weber said. “To do something special, it doesn’t come easy. But this was easier than I thought it would be.”

Brady Manek was ejected late in the second half after a flagrant 2 foul.

As Brown and Wade walked off the court one final time, they both kissed the Powercat logo in the middle of the floor to show their appreciation of K-State.

“It’s been an incredible ride here at Bramlage and it means so much to cap it off being Big 12 champs,” Wade said. “It’s been an incredible journey and you couldn’t write it any better way.”

It’s tough to make a run in the NCAA Tournament, but Weber thinks this Wildcat grouped is equipped to do anything.

“We told our guys this is one phase of our mission this year,” he said. “We have to keep moving forward, there’s a lot more stuff to add to their rings.”

BIG PICTURE

Oklahoma: The Sooners are playing much better since the middle of February and look much better than they did six games ago.

K-State: Won their first Big 12 regular-season title in six years and the second under Weber. K-State has won five of its last six games heading into the conference tournament.

UP NEXT

Oklahoma: Takes on 10th-seeded West Virginia on Wednesday night in the opening round of the Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City, Missouri.

K-State: Will play the winner of No. 8 seed TCU and ninth-seeded Oklahoma State on Thursday.

— Associated Press —

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Barry Brown had 16 points to lead four Kansas State players in double figures and the 18th-ranked Wildcats beat TCU 64-52 on Monday night to maintain a share of the Big 12 lead with one game remaining in the regular season.

Kansas State (23-7, 13-4 Big 12) went ahead to stay with a tiebreaking 13-4 run to end the first half, then scored the first 10 points after halftime.

Kamau Stokes added 15 points for the Wildcats, who remained tied with No. 8 Texas Tech (25-5, 13-4) atop the Big 12 standings. The Red Raiders, who won by 15 at slumping TCU on Saturday, finished a 70-51 home win over Texas only minutes after the K-State game ended.

Kevin Samuel had 17 points and seven rebounds to lead TCU (18-12, 6-11), while RJ Nembhard scored 12 points.

After TCU’s Desmond Bane made a second-chance 3-pointer with 4:47 left in the first half to tie the game at 23, the Wildcats started their game-turning run.

Dean Wade, who scored all of his nine points before halftime, assisted on a 3-pointer by Stokes before the 6-foot-10 senior who was the preseason All-Big 12 player of the year had a steal. Wade and Brown then traded passes down the court before Wade slammed the ball home.

Stokes hit a 3 that beat the shot clock just before halftime for a 36-27 lead at the break.

K-State led by as many as 21 points before TCU reeled off 10 points in a row, a streak that finally ended when Mike McGuirl stopped underneath and passed out to Makol Mawien for a 13-foot jumper in the lane.

Xavier Sneed had 11 points and Mawien 10.

BIG PICTURE

Kansas St.: The Wildcats have a chance to win their second Big 12 title. They were co-champions in 2012-13, coach Bruce Weber’s first season, when they shared the title with Kansas — the 14-time defending champion that won the last five titles outright. K-State started 0-2 in the Big 12 when Wade was out with a foot injury, but is 13-2 in conference play since.

TCU: The Horned Frogs lost for the sixth time in seven games, a stretch that has taken them to the NCAA Tournament bubble. Before that, they seemed to be well on their way to their second consecutive NCAA Tournament after ending a two-decade drought last year.

SENIOR NIGHT

TCU seniors Alex Robinson and JD Miller were recognized before the game. Robinson, who is from Fort Worth but played his first college season for Texas A&M, is TCU’s career assist leader at 628. Miller has played in all 133 games since he got on campus, three short of Brandon Parrish’s school record of 136.

UP NEXT

Kansas State wraps up the regular season Saturday at home against Oklahoma, on senior day for starters Wade, Brown and Stokes.

TCU plays its regular-season finale Saturday at Texas, another NCAA Tournament bubble team.

— Associated Press —

MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — There was a possibility of Kansas State overlooking Oklahoma State on Saturday with a huge matchup with Kansas looming Monday night.

The Wildcats were ready to play overmatching the Cowboys from the opening tip in an 85-46 victory.

“I got on our guys this morning because our shoot around didn’t have great emotion,” coach Bruce Weber said. “We did some good things and got some layups early and moved the basketball. It all goes back to defense and defense gives you a chance and defense wins championships.”

The Wildcats scored the first 15 points of the game, forcing five turnovers.

Xavier Sneed and Austin Trice led Kansas State with 12 points each and Kamau Stokes had 11. K-State had 10 players score. Trice had his best game of the season and went 6 for 6 from the free throw line after struggling in that area early in the season.

“We keep talking about trust and he definitely helped his trust today,” Weber said. “Xavier was fighting the flu and you just have to give him credit to play and be one of our leading scorers is great.”

The Wildcats (21-6, 11-3 in Big 12 play) shot 62 percent and held the Cowboys to 31 percent.

Yor Anei, who had 12 points for Oklahoma State (10-17, 3-11).

“K-State dominated us for 40 minutes and we never had a response,” coach Mike Boynton said. “I don’t have enough time to say all the things we could’ve done better. They’ve got size, experience and are well coached and they just have everything it takes to play for a national title.”

It was largest margin of victory for the Wildcats in Big 12 play since 1998 when they beat Missouri by 55.

BIG PICTURE

The Wildcats will need to play at this level again Monday night when they take on Kansas with a chance to sweep the regular-season series for the first time in 36 years. K-State is in control to win the Big 12 title with four games to go.

This was the beginning of a stretch of playing the top three teams in the conference for Oklahoma State, which must perform better to have any chance at victory.

UP NEXT

Oklahoma State: At Texas Tech on Wednesday night.

Kansas State: At Kansas on Monday night.

— Associated Press —

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) — Barry Brown scored 21 points and No. 23 Kansas State beat West Virginia 65-51 on Monday night to remain atop the Big 12 standings.

A 14-0 run midway through the second half, led by a couple of 3-pointers by Xavier Sneed, gave the Wildcats (20-6, 10-3) their fifth straight conference road win.

After shooting poorly in the first half and only holding a two-point lead, Kansas State kept the Mountaineers (10-16, 2-11) at bay with 50 percent shooting in the final 20 minutes.

Sneed added 19 points for Kansas State, including five 3-pointers. Dean Wade, who was questionable going into the game, scored 10 points and grabbed six rebounds.

Lamont West led West Virginia with 16 points. Derek Culver picked up his sixth double-double of the season with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Brandon Knapper scored 10 points.

The Mountaineers outrebounded the Wildcats 35-31.

BIG PICTURE

Kansas State: The Wildcats remain on top of the Big 12 by bouncing back after their 78-64 loss to then-No. 23 Iowa State on Saturday. No. 12 Kansas and No. 14 Texas Tech remain one game back at 9-4. The Jayhawks and Red Raiders play each other on Saturday in Lubbock, Texas.

West Virginia: Considering the recent depletion of their roster, the Mountaineers put up a pretty good fight against the stout Wildcats, not caving until midway through the second half. With Oklahoma State’s win over TCU on Monday, WVU sits alone at the bottom of the Big 12.

UP NEXT

Kansas State returns home to host Oklahoma State on Saturday.

West Virginia heads to Waco to play Baylor on Saturday.

— Associated Press —

MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Iowa State was drilled at home by TCU a week ago, then had to sit around without another game until Saturday, left to brood over its uphill climb to get back into the Big 12 race.

The Cyclones finally released that pent-up angst against No. 18 Kansas State.

Lindell Wigginton hit five 3-pointers and scored 23 points, Talen Horton-Tucker buried six 3s and had 20, and the No. 23 Cyclones pulled away late for a 78-64 victory over the Big 12-leading Wildcats on Saturday to answer a chorus of critics that had been surfaced over the past seven days.

“Soft on defense. Not moving the basketball. Not running the floor. Not sharing. Not being engaged in huddles. Not executing out of timeouts,” Cyclones coach Steve Prohm said, reflecting on what needed to change after the TCU loss. “We had a list of things that weren’t very good.”

Oh, the Cyclones (19-6, 8-4) 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 PICTURE

Iowa 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 NEXT

Iowa State returns home to face Baylor on Tuesday night.

Kansas State heads to West Virginia on Monday night.

— Associated Press —

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) – – Barry Brown and Xavier Sneed each scored 16 points, and No. 18 Kansas State beat Texas 71-64 Tuesday night for its ninth straight Big 12 victory.

Three other Wildcats scored in double figures, Dean Wade with 12 points, and Kamau Stokes and Makol Mawien with 11 apiece.

Kerwin Roach led Texas with 17 points, and Courtney Ramey added 10.

Kansas State (19-5, 9-2 in Big 12) converted nearly 55 percent of its field goal attempts, including 56.5 in the second half.

The Wildcats used runs of 8-0 and 9-0 in the second half before seven minutes were gone, the latter giving the Wildcats a seven-point lead. Even so, they could not shake Texas. A long 3-pointer by Kamau Stokes with 4:30 left gave them their second seven-point lead of the half.

Texas (14-11, 6-6), trying to cut the deficit to two with 3:02 left, used too much of the 30-second shot clock, Jaxson Hayes’ basket ruled to be too late after the officials went to replay.

Roach committed three turnovers in the first six minutes of the game, but he eventually made a star turn, scoring 14 points in the first half, primarily with hard drives to the basket that resulted in layups and free throws.

Ramey added all 10 of his points for Texas in the half, and the Longhorns led 39-35 at the break.

Roach slowed down in the second half, scoring just three points and committing three more turnovers.

Kansas State played without guard Cartier Diarra, its top reserve who recently suffered a broken finger on his shooting hand that will require surgery. He’s out indefinitely.

BIG PICTURE

Kansas State: The Wildcats maintained their hold on first place in the Big 12 standings. One reason is a 5-1 record on the road in conference games, an area in which they have improved the last three seasons. They are 13-11 in Big 12 road games since the beginning of 2016-17. In the previous two seasons they were 2-16 in Big 12 road games. Kansas State did get a break when Baylor was missing two starting guards, including leading scorer Makai Mason, on Saturday.

Texas: The Longhorns, a really poor 3-point shooting team earlier in the season, have recently improved, but they still ranked only 227th nationally before Tuesday with 33.4 percent accuracy. They made 17 of 43 (39.5 percent) in two games before facing Kansas State, so perhaps they were due for a bad game. They had one, hitting 4 of 19 against the Wildcats.

UP NEXT

Kansas State hosts Iowa State on Saturday. The Wildcats beat the Cyclones 58-57 on Jan. 12 in Ames. Barry Brown Jr. hit the game winning driving shot with four seconds remaining.

Texas hosts Oklahoma State on Saturday. Texas lost to the Cowboys 61-58 on Jan. 8 in Stillwater, stopping their momentum after a 2-0 start in Big 12 play and starting a three-game losing streak.

— Associated Press —

WACO, Texas (AP) — Cartier Diarra had just hit a 3-pointer to put Kansas State back ahead at Baylor when coach Bruce Weber called a timeout.

Weber wanted to get his team reorganized defensively, telling them to get some stops and finish the last six minutes of the game right.

The Wildcats got the message and are now alone atop the Big 12 standings.

Kamau Stokes had 20 points, including his own 3 after Diarra’s that started the late 11-0 run, and K-State finally got past undermanned Baylor for a 70-63 victory Saturday night.

“We weren’t down a whole lot during the game. We knew that we had to make plays,” Stokes said. “It came down to who was going to be the tougher team, and I felt like we made the tougher plays. … Little plays changed that game for us.”

Stokes’ 3 during that run for the Wildcats (18-5, 8-2 Big 12), came after his defensive rebound.

Then down the stretch, Diarra managed to keep a ball from going out of bounds under the Baylor basket, and swiped the ball way ahead to Barry Brown for a breakaway dunk. When Baylor got within 3 in the final minute after Devonte Bandoo made a 3-pointer and two free throws, Stokes made four consecutive free throws.

“Just using my athleticism, and used a little hang time,” Diarra said of his big save and assist. “I threw it long and (Booker) ran and got it before the Baylor player. It looked really good I bet. It was a smart play.”

K-State has a littler margin in the Big 12 after No. 17 Iowa State (18-6, 7-4) lost at home to TCU earlier Saturday.

Brown, whose 3-pointer with 3:20 left wrapped up the 11-0 run for a 62-53 lead, had 13 points and six assists. Dean Wade had 12 points and Diarra 10.

Baylor (15-8, 6-4), already without two players out for the season with injuries, was missing starting senior guards Makai Mason, its leading scorer, and King McClure. Mason (bruised foot) and McClure (knee) had both played in a loss Wednesday at Texas that snapped the Bears’ six-game winning streak.

“Our effort was good enough to win, our execution wasn’t,” Baylor coach Scott Drew said. “As a coach, you hate it. Relating it to real life, you work really hard, you get a bad grade. You work really hard, you don’t get a paycheck. That’s how our guys feel.”

Bandoo led Baylor with 15 points. Freddie Gillespie and Jared Butler each had 13 points.

“I think they wore down at the end of the first half, and maybe the end of the second half,” Weber said. “Our experience made a difference. … They made the shots, made the plays. We executed and got stops when it counted.”

BIG PICTURE

Kansas St.: The Wildcats have won eight Big 12 games in a row, their longest conference winning streak since 11 in a row in the Big Eight in 1974. During the stretch, they did have a 65-53 loss at Texas A&M in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge.

Baylor: Going into a week when the Bears could have gone to the top of the Big 12, they instead suffered more injuries and consecutive losses for the first time this season.

BETTER BEYOND THE ARC

After going 3-of-14 on 3-pointers before the half, K-State made 6-of-12 after the break — including three in the 11-0 run.

“I think they just made a decision they’re not going to let Dean get it,” Weber said. “They were small, they didn’t have much depth and they just protected the paint. I don’t want to say dared us to shoot the 3. I thought we moved the ball, we had some good looks.”

POLL IMPLICATIONS

Kansas State, which this week also beat instate rival and No. 13 Kansas, has a chance to get ranked for the first time since falling out of the poll Dec. 17. The Wildcats were the preseason No. 12 team and were ranked in the first six polls, falling out from No. 25 after losing consecutive games in mid-December.

UP NEXT

Kansas State plays again in the Lone Star State, at Texas on Tuesday night.

Baylor is home Monday night against Oklahoma. It’s the third time this season the Bears play two Big 12 games in three days.

— Associated Press —