K-State basketball wins ugly against Robert Morris, 61-40

It was only pretty for about 2.5 minutes, but K-State easily outclassed the Robert Morris Colonials on Tuesday in Manhattan, winning 61-40.

The Wildcats rushed out to a quick 10-0 lead less than three minutes into the game on the strength of a confident start from Dean Wade. Then K-State went cold, going more than four minutes without a field goal, from before the under-16 timeout until after the under-12 timeout. K-State was able to partly get out of that funk during the first half, taking a 36-19 lead into halftime. Free throws were a struggle, though, as the team shot 46.7 percent from the charity stripe in the first half.

The Wildcats went cold again early in the second half, and the free-throw shooting didn’t really improve over the first half.

Wildcat of the Game

Wade nearly tallied a double-double, finishing with a game-high 13 points and 9 rebounds. He also blocked a shot and finished with no turnovers. The most promising sign for Wade this game was his ability to stay out of foul trouble. He only picked up one foul, and that came about 17 minutes into the game. Early foul trouble has been the bane of Wade in his first year-plus at K-State.

Under-the-Radar Player of the Game

Kamau Stokes gets the nod for the under-the-radar performance, scoring 9 points and grabbing 3 steals. More importantly, he was the only Wildcat who was perfect from the free-throw line, making both of his attempts.

Stat Shot

The Wildcats were absolutely dreadful from the free-throw line, making only 10 of 21 freebies. That has to be cleaned up, and soon. Fortunately, Robert Morris’ offense was even worse than K-State’s free-throw shooting, giving away 25 turnovers and shooting only 22.8 percent from the field, so credit the defense.

Up Next

The Wildcats’ next game tips off at 6 p.m. CST Friday as they play against the Boston College Eagles in the semifinals of the Barclays Center Classic in Brooklyn, N.Y.