MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Kansas State head coach Bruce Weber has remarked several times this season about sophomore Barry Brown’s commitment to staying in the gym this season.

Wednesday night’s performance against Green Bay gave Weber the chance to talk about Brown’s commitment once again.

Brown scored 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting, Xavier Sneed added 14 points and Kansas State beat Green Bay 80-61 on Wednesday night.

“He’s been the most consistent and been in the gym the most,” Weber said. “I don’t know if he’ll be in there tonight but usually he’s in there every night and that’s why he’s making shots.”

Wesley Iwundu had 11 points and five assists and Carlbe Ervin II scored 10 for Kansas State (6-1). Dean Wade added eight points and eight rebounds.

Turner Botz led Green Bay (4-3) with 11 points.

Iwundu, Kamau Stokes and Sneed each hit a 3-pointer during a 13-2 run that put the Wildcats up 30-14 with 7:27 left in the half. The Phoenix trimmed its deficit to 37-29 at halftime, but Wade and Brown hit back-to-back 3s before a dunk by Iwundu to make it 45-29 fewer than two minutes into the second half and Kansas State led by double figures the rest of the way.

Green Bay was 11-of-33 shooting, including 3 of 15 (20 percent) from 3-point range, and committed 11 turnovers in the first half.

“I think their defense had a lot to do with it,” Green Bay coach Linc Darner said. “We cannot match their length and size in practice. We are shooting over 6-foot-7 to 6-foot-9 guys. We do not have a lot of those guys in our practice and that’s one area where we’ve struggled this season.”

Kansas State shot 57 percent from the field and never trailed.

BIG PICTURE

Green Bay: The Phoenix had not faced a Big 12 opponent since they hosted Kansas State in 2002.

Kansas State: With the win over Green Bay, Kansas State is 7-1 against opponents from the Horizon League.

UP NEXT

Green Bay: Green Bay will face off with Toledo on Saturday as the second game of their four game road trip.

Kansas State: On Saturday, the Wildcats travel to St. Louis to face off against the Saint Louis Billikens.

STAT OF THE NIGHT: The Wildcats had 20 assists but committed 20 turnovers.

FRESHMAN STANDOUT: Xavier Sneed rebounded from a poor performance against Maryland to rebound with a 14 point, three rebound effort against Green Bay on Wednesday night.

LETDOWN: Green Bay’s Khalil Small struggled from the field early and often missing his first three shots of the game. He finished with just four points on 1 of 11 shooting.

— Associated Press —

NEW YORK (AP) — Xavier Sneed scored 16 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead Kansas State to a 72-54 win over Boston College in the first game of the Barclays Center Classic on Friday night in New York.

Dean Wade and Barry Brown added 11 points apiece as Kansas State improved to 5-0.

Ky Bowman led Boston College with 13 points. Connor Tava and Jerome Robinson finished with 11 each.

The third meeting between the ACC and Big 12 programs-and the first in regular season play-was not especially competitive.

Kansas State used a 11-2 run spanning 6:47 in the first half to take control. The run began with Isaiah Maurice’s jumper at 7:27 which tied the game 7-7, and was culminated by Wade’s dunk with 5:46 left in the half. By that point, the Wildcats had an 18-9 lead that they would not relinquish.

The Wildcats led 31-22 at halftime and limited the Eagles to 29.2 percent shooting from the field in the first and 33.3 percent for the game.

Boston College committed 14 turnovers in the first half and 21 for the game, with Sneed’s steal and breakaway jam midway through the second half underscoring Kansas State’s prowess in turning turnovers into points.

Sneed’s jam put the Wildcats up 47-35, and from there the Eagles never seriously threatened Kansas State.

The Wildcats finished the game shooting 45.4 percent from the field.

BIG PICTURE

Boston College: After starting the season with four games against small programs, the Eagles took on a major conference squad in Kansas State and were found to be significantly lacking. Was it an isolated moment or is Jim Christian’s team headed for its third-straight losing season?

Kansas State: The Wildcats’ first game against a major conference opponent could not have been scripted better as Kansas State maintained its early first half lead for the remainder of the game.

POLL IMPLICATIONS

Boston College: The loss ended the Eagles’ three-game winning streak, and probably put to rest any hopes Boston College could break into the Top 25.

Kansas State: Despite a complete performance in beating Boston College, Kansas State is probably not going to move into the Top 25.

NOTABLE

Boston College: Nic Popovic was tended to by a trainer as he lay on the court after being inadvertently elbowed by Kansas State’s D.J. Johnson early in the first half.

Kansas State: Friday night’s game was Kansas State’s second at the Barclays Center.

UP NEXT

Boston College: Will meet the loser of the of the Maryland/Richmond game Saturday.

Kansas State: Will meet the winner of the of the Maryland/Richmond game Saturday.

— Associated Press —

MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — The first few games of Dean Wade’s sophomore season showed that he may have fallen into the “sophomore slump” but on Tuesday night, there were new signs of a slump.

Wade had a season-high 13 points and DJ Johnson and Barry Brown added 12 points each to help Kansas State beat Robert Morris 61-40 in a regional round matchup of the Barclays Center Classic.

“I felt like I was letting the team down by not playing aggressive,” Wade said. “So tonight I wanted to come out and be as aggressive as I could and still be smart with the ball.”

The Wildcats (4-0) never trailed and shot 47 percent on 23-of-49 shooting. Wade also grabbed nine rebounds and Johnson had eight.

Although Kansas State led the entire game, there were mental lapses for the Wildcats that led to sloppy play after Kansas State jumped out to a quick 10-0 lead.

“During shoot around, I said we can’t leave for New York till tomorrow,” Kansas State head coach Bruce Weber said.

“We have to take care of business today. Today we were very impatient with the ball, you had to keep moving the basketball with guys making different cuts. It’s kind of hard to explain.”

Robert Morris (0-5) shot 23 percent on 13 of 57 shooting and Kansas State was able to separate during the Colonials’ scoring droughts. On top of their shooting woes, Robert Morris also committed 25 turnovers.

The 23 percent shooting was the lowest for a Kansas State opponent since Long Beach State shot 19 percent back in 2013.

Isaiah Still led the Colonials in scoring with 10 points on 3-of-17 shooting and Aaron Tate grabbed 11 rebounds.

BIG PICTURE

Robert Morris: The Colonials’ 25 turnovers were a season high.

Kansas State: The Wildcats were the first team this season to hold Robert Morris under 50 points.

STAT OF THE NIGHT

Despite losing, Robert Morris edged the Wildcats on the boards 40-38.

FRESHMAN STANDOUT

Kansas State freshman Isaiah Maurice came off the bench to grab a season high six rebounds.

QUICK COMPARE

Kansas State’s DJ Johnson overpowered his Robert Morris counterpart Braden Burke. Johnson finished with 12 points and eight rebounds while Burke grabbed eight rebounds but could only muster two points on 1-of-9 shooting.

UP NEXT

Robert Morris: Robert Morris will finish out their portion of the Barclays Center Classic with Hampton on Friday and then face the winner of Stony Brook and Towson the following night.

Kansas State: Kansas State will travel to Brooklyn for two games in the Barclays Center Classic. They will take on Boston College on Friday night.

— Associated Press —

MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Coming into the season, one of the bigger questions for Kansas State was how senior Wesley Iwundu would fare with some adjustments to his jump shot over the summer.

The answer appears to be so far so good.

Iwundu hit 3 of 3 from 3-point range and scored a season-high 23 points, Barry Brown added 16 on 7-of-12 shooting and Kansas State beat Hampton 89-67 on Sunday night.

Xavier Sneed scored 15 and Kamau Stokes had 13 points for Kansas State. Sneed and Stokes made three 3-pointers apiece as the Wildcats hit 12 of 23 from behind the arc.

“At the beginning of the game, both of us we’re going back and forth” Kansas State coach Bruce Weber said. “I’m looking at the score and we got four threes, they got three threes. As I’ve said all along, we’re a better three point shooting team. The main thing is getting good ones.”

Stokes made a 3 to break a 10-all tie and spark a 13-0 run and Kansas State (3-0) took a 46-36 lead into halftime. The Wildcats led by double figures throughout the second half and scored 13-straight points to open their biggest lead, 75-49, with 7:23 remaining.

Jermaine Marrow and led Hampton (1-2) with 15 points. Lawrence Cooks hit three 3-pointers and scored 10.

Kansas State made 28 of 48 (58 percent) from the field and hit 21 of 38 foul shots. The Pirates were 5 of 10 from the free-throw line.

STAT OF THE NIGHT: With the win vs. Hampton, Bruce Weber moved past Lon Kruger on K-State’s career wins list. Weber is now 82-54 in five seasons at Kansas State.

INJURY: Dante Williams returned to the Kansas State lineup on Sunday night after being under the concussion protocol and missing the first two games of the season.

BIG PICTURE

Hampton: The game against Kansas State is their only game against a team from a major conference in the 2016-17 season.

Kansas State: Barry Brown’s 16 points mark the third straight game where the sophomore has scored in double figures. Brown added four assists and three rebounds.

UP NEXT

Hampton: The Pirates remain on the road for the second game in the Barclays Center Classic. On Tuesday night they will travel to Virginia to face the Richmond Spiders

Kansas State: The Wildcats will be in action on Tuesday night as they welcome Robert Morris to Manhattan before traveling to Brooklyn for the semifinals of the Barclays Center Classic.

— Associated Press —

WACO, Texas (AP) — Baylor fans have grown accustomed to seeing offensive explosions in recent years, especially since moving into McLane Stadium in 2014.

If the Bears’ last two home games are any indication, they might have to get used to watching them come from opponents.

Kansas State freshman Alex Barnes rushed for 120 of his 129 yards and all four of his touchdowns in the second half to pace the Wildcats to 35 points during that span and a 42-21 win Saturday.

“I just liked that he did what he always does, and that’s run extremely hard,” Kansas State coach Bill Snyder said. “He makes a few miss on his way sometimes, not always, but he’s a gifted, powerful-type runner, which we have always known.”

It was the first win for the Wildcats (6-4, 4-3 Big 12) in Waco since 2002 and made them bowl eligible for the seventh straight season. Baylor’s 6-0 start seems a distant memory after its fourth consecutive defeat and its second in a row at home after a 62-22 drubbing from TCU two weeks ago.

Barnes had only one carry in the first half, but it was his show after that, especially in the third quarter. That’s when scored three of his four touchdowns, and Kansas State held the ball for 11:37 and outgained Baylor 186-38.

“I knew that we, as a unit would have a big day on the ground,” Barnes said. “I didn’t realize that it would be me specifically, but I knew we were going to get it done.”

Neither team got much done in the first half, but the Bears (6-4, 4-3) took a 14-7 lead into halftime thanks to cashing in a muffed punt and fumble that set them up at the Kansas State 25 and 40, respectively. But Baylor struggled to find offensive consistency all day, and Donnie Starks pulled in two of Zach Smith’s three interceptions in the second half of his first career start.

“You always have to finish,” Kansas State coach Bill Snyder said. “Sometimes we have, sometimes we haven’t. You take two ballgames that have gone down to the wire, that shouldn’t have, that go down to the last snap of the ballgame. You have a chance to win, can’t finish it off. So (it was nice) to be able to do that.”

Jesse Ertz threw for 177 yards and ran for 46 more, including a 40-yarder on a fourth-down run in the second quarter that set up Kansas State’s first score.

Smith threw for 258 yards and three touchdowns in his first career start, and Shock Linwood, Baylor’s all-time leading rusher, added 110 yards on 24 carries.

“We just didn’t go out there and execute like we had to,” Smith said. “Kansas State came out and executed, and they played great football. We, offense or defense, didn’t execute coming out for the second half. When you don’t do that, you lose.”

THE TAKEAWAY

Kansas State: The Wildcats continued their success on the ground, eclipsing the 200-yard mark for the fourth straight game with 237 on 51 attempts.

Baylor: The downward spiral continues for the Bears, who were held below 30 points for the third straight game. Baylor also failed to score a rushing touchdown for the first time in 39 games, snapping the longest active streak among Power Five conference teams.

KEY NUMBERS

Kansas State: It was an uncharacteristically undisciplined first half with 80 yards in penalties and two turnovers, both of which resulted in Baylor touchdowns. The Wildcats cleaned the up in the second half with 5 penalty yards and no turnovers.

Baylor: This was the fourth time Baylor was held scoreless in the first quarter this season. That happened to the Bears three times in the previous four seasons combined.

UP NEXT

Kansas State returns home for a rivalry game with Kansas next Saturday. A Wildcat win would give Bill Snyder 200 for his career, making him the 26th coach in FBS history to reach that plateau.

Baylor has no time to lick the wounds from its latest loss with a short week looming before a Friday tilt with Texas Tech at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.

— Associated Press —

MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — The first few minutes of Tuesday night’s contest against Nebraska-Omaha were not the greatest if you’re a Kansas State fan. However, things turned in their favor and the worries in Bramlege Coliseum turned to cheers.

After opening up the game going 1 for 6 from the field, Kansas State went on a 21-0 run to defeat Nebraska Omaha 81-68 victory.

The Wildcats (2-0) were down 13-4 when the run came. DJ Johnson and Barry Brown capped the run with back-to-back 3-point plays for a 12 point lead at the 9 minute mark.

“We always want to get out and get going in those first five minutes,” Johnson said. “We just started off slow tonight.”

Kansas State led 42-31 at the half and ended up shooting 51 percent.

Brown finished with 15 points and Wesley Iwundu and Kamau Stokes had 14 apiece for K-State.

Stokes sandwiched a pair of 3-points around a Xavier Sneed 3 as the Wildcats opened the second half with nine quick points. Iwundu had a 3-point play at the 11:19 mark to push the lead to 20 points.

Tre-Deon Hollins led the Mavericks (1-2) with 12 points. Zach Jackson had 11 points and eight rebounds. This was the third game in four days for the Mavericks but head coach Derrin Hansen remains optimistic as his team continues in the early part of the season.

“I think we have a good basketball team,” Hansen said. “I think we have a chance to have a good year. I know it was hard, but it was set up in a situation where we are going to learn a lot about ourselves.

“We have to play every possession. We cannot hit home runs. Give K-State credit in this game. I really like their guards.”

BIG PICTURE

Omaha: Marcus Tyus has led the Mavericks in scoring through the first two games of the season but was held to only two points as he dealt with foul trouble most of the night.

Kansas State: Starting forward Dean Wade was the only starter to not score in double figures as he finished with three points.

STAT OF THE NIGHT: Kansas State was plus-7 on assist-to-turnover ratio while Nebraska-Omaha was minus-3.

INJURY: Kansas State forward Dante Williams returned to practice this week but sat out during Tuesday night’s contest as he is recovering from a concussion suffered this past week.

UP NEXT

Omaha: After opening up the season with their first three games on the road, the Mavericks will play their first home game against Rice on Saturday.

Kansas State: The Wildcats host Hampton on Sunday in the third game of a four game home stand to start the season.

— Associated Press —

MANHATTAN, Kansas – Kansas State women’s basketball used a balanced performance and a strong second quarter to record the program’s 300th win in Bramlage Coliseum with an 82-62 decision over Tulsa on Monday night.

Kansas State (2-0) had five players in double figures led by All-American candidate Breanna Lewis with 18 points, six rebounds and two blocks. Senior guard Kindred Wesemann registered 12 points, two assists and two steals, while freshman forward Eternati Willock chipped in with 11 points and seven rebounds. Also reaching the double figure threshold were junior forward Shaelyn Martin with 10 points, five rebounds and four assists and sophomore guard Kayla Goth with 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting.

Tulsa (1-1) was paced by Erika Wakefield and Ebony Parker with 15 points each.

Kansas State opened the first quarter with a 13-5 lead with 5:14 to play in the quarter. The opening run was highlighted by 4-of-5 shooting from the field including a 3-pointer and a pair of free throws from Kindred Wesemann. Tulsa clawed back into the game with a 10-4 run to close the first frame down two, 17-15.

The Wildcats rebuilt its lead to seven, 28-21, with 7:19 to play in the second quarter. Goth carded a pair of layups and Willock followed with a layup of her own following a baseline dish from Martin.

Tulsa hit three consecutive 3-pointers to pull to within two, 32-30, with 5:29 remaining in the half. K-State responded by ending the half on a 14-3 run to hold a 46-33 halftime lead.

During the run, a pair of newcomers to the roster each contributed five points as junior guard Karyla Middlebrook notched five straight points followed by freshman Peyton Williams scoring five straight. In total, the Wildcats registered 29 points in the second quarter on 65.0 percent shooting (13-of-20).

Kansas State increased its halftime lead to 17, 57-40, with 4:54 remaining in the third quarter. Wesemann tallied her second 3-pointer of the game, followed by a long two-point jumper to increase the lead.

The Golden Hurricane would narrow the game to 16, 61-45, with 2:27 to play in the third stanza. K-State responded with a pair of three-point plays by Martin and Williams to increase the lead to 22, 67-45. A pair of Wakefield jumpers to close the quarter brought the score to 67-49 entering the final frame.

The Wildcats kept Tulsa at arms’ length in the final quarter, cobbling together a 15-13 edge in points.

For the night, Kansas State shot 50.0 percent (34-of-68) from the field and held Tulsa to 41.1 percent shooting (23-of-56). The Wildcats register an enormous edge in the paint, outscoring the Golden Hurricane, 60-12, in the lane. K-State owned the glass with a 41-26 advantage, including 13 offensive boards resulting in 16 second chance points.

Kansas State will end its three-game home stand on Sunday, November 20, as the Wildcats host Lamar at 1 p.m.

— K-State Athletics —

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Boasting 13.5 tackles for loss and nine sacks during his senior campaign, Kansas State defensive end Jordan Willis is one of 24 players nationally to be named to the midseason watch list for the 2016 Hendricks Award, the Ted Hendricks Foundation has announced.

Willis is the third player in school history to be named to the midseason watch list for the award that is given annually to the nation’s most outstanding defensive end. He joins Ian Campbell, who was a semifinalist in 2006 and a midseason candidate in 2008, as well as Ryan Mueller in 2013.

A product of Kansas City, Missouri, Willis ranks third nationally and tops in the Big 12 in sacks, while he is ninth in the country in TFLs and second in the conference. He is one sack shy of tying for 10th in school history for a single season, while he has 23.5 career sacks to rank fourth in K-State history, the most career sacks by a Wildcat since Darren Howard set the school record with 29.5 from 1996-99.

Willis, who has sacks in six of K-State’s nine games this season and TFLs in eight contests, also has 36.5 career tackles for loss as he is 3.5 TFLs away from a tie for ninth in school history, a list that has not been touched by any Wildcat in the last 15 seasons.

The Ted Hendricks Foundation will trim the midseason list to a final watch list in two weeks. The process to select finalists and the 2016 recipient will take place in late November, and the organization will reveal its winner on Wednesday, December 7.

Kansas State travels to No. 25 Baylor next Saturday, November 19. The game time and television designation will be announced this Saturday night or Sunday morning. The Wildcats’ next home game is the Dillons Sunflower Showdown against Kansas on Saturday, November 26, a game that will kick off at either 11 a.m., or 2:30 p.m., on FS1. Kick time will be announced on Monday, November 14.

— K-State Athletics —

MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy is never going to second-guess Kansas State counterpart Bill Snyder.

There will be plenty of others who do.

The No. 18 Cowboys took advantage when Snyder elected to punt near midfield on fourth-and-inches in the fourth quarter, and rallied for a 43-37 victory Saturday that was only secured when the Wildcats’ pass to the end zone was picked off on the final play.

“I know in the past he’s played the percentages,” Gundy said about the decision to punt, which gave his team the ball back trailing 37-28 with about 8 minutes left. “He’s somewhat a genius when it comes to that.”

This time, it helped the Cowboys (7-2, 5-1, No. 22 AP) keep their Big 12 title hopes alive.

Mason Rudolph connected with James Washington on an 82-yard touchdown passes two plays later, and after a three-and-out, Chris Carson capped a go-ahead drive with a 17-yard TD run to give Oklahoma State the lead.

“I joked with the guys that I told Carson to slide if he gets in the open,” Gundy said.

Instead, Kansas State (5-4, 3-3) got the ball back with 1:39 left. After quickly marching downfield, and converting fourth-and-5 to remain alive, an offensive pass interference penalty in the end zone with 10 seconds left pushed them back to the Oklahoma State 13 with 4 seconds to go.

Ertz’s wobbler to the end zone was intercepted by Jordan Sterns to end the game.

“We were inconsistent in the second half of that ball game,” Snyder said. “Some good things, some not-so-good things, but a lot of that was Oklahoma State.”

Rudolph finished with 457 yards and five touchdowns through the air, though he also threw two picks — one returned by Duke Shelley for a score. Washington had seven catches for 117 yards and two touchdowns.

Ertz ran for 153 yards and three scores for Kansas State, but he was just 12 of 18 for 87 yards through the air, as the Wildcats finished with 345 yards rushing in a woefully imbalanced attack.

The ground game allowed Kansas State to control the game early, marching on back-to-back long touchdown drives to take a 13-0 lead. But the Cowboys answered with back-to-back touchdown passes from Rudolph, and that began an entertaining back-and-forth matchup of vastly differing styles.

The Wildcats stuck to the ground, bulldozing their way through a defense unable to stop them.

The Cowboys kept shredding through the air a defense that couldn’t keep pace.

“You can’t let them have that deep ball,” Kansas State’s Elijah Lee said. “That’s what they live for.”

Oklahoma State led 23-21 at halftime before an atrocious third quarter that included a muffed punt return, a blocked punt and two crucial penalties allowed the Wildcats to seize a 30-21 advantage.

The teams kept trading blows all the way to the final second.

“If we lose that game, this press conference is about being poor in special teams, you turn the ball over and can’t stop the run then it’s hard to win a football game,” Gundy said. “I told our team earlier that it’s a great accomplishment to win up here.”

STILL STREAKING

The Cowboys won their fifth straight Big 12 game by snapping a two-game skid in Manhattan. It was the first time in six meetings that the home team did not with the matchup.

ALTERNATE UNIS

Kansas State broke from tradition and wore silver camouflage helmets in a nod to the military on Fort Riley Day. Snyder has generally avoided the trend toward several uniform combinations.

THE TAKEAWAY

Oklahoma State: Despite throwing two picks, the first ending a streak of 163 attempts without one, Rudolph was calm when it mattered the most. He engineered two scoring drives down the stretch when Oklahoma State’s Big 12 title hopes hung in the balance.

Kansas State: It was another oh-so-close loss for the Wildcats, who dropped a similar nail-biter to West Virginia. Their failure to convert on third-and-inches in the fourth quarter, and then punting rather than going for it on fourth down, may have cost them the game.

QUOTEABLE: “We need to improve our defense against the pass,” said Snyder, whose team has given up at least 300 yards through the air four of the past five games. “My 9-year-old granddaughter knows that. And I don’t have a 9-year-old granddaughter.”

UP NEXT

Oklahoma State plays its home finale against Texas Tech on Saturday.

Kansas State has a week off before visiting Baylor.

— Associated Press —