The Kansas State Wildcats could have sleepwalked their way into a bad loss Wednesday night against the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles, but Dean Wade was having nothing of that, leading the team to a 77-68 victory.

Wade carried the Wildcats in the second half, finishing the game with a career-high 25 points on 9-14 shooting and 6-8 from the free-throw line. His 11 rebounds were just 2 off his career-best as well. Wade also played good half-court defense.

Kamau Stokes was the only other Wildcat in double figures, scoring 12 points on 3-11 shooting and 4-6 on free throws.

Barry Brown Jr. was quiet for most of the night, but he effectively sealed the victory around the 2:30 mark of the second half with a transition layup, a block at the other end, then a driving assist to Xavier Sneed in the post.

However ...

K-State lost the rebounding battle, 36-35, giving up 14 offensive rebounds to the Golden Eagles. That is entirely unacceptable, and that falls on the coaching staff. We cannot lose the rebounding battle to a bad Summit League team.

The Wildcats, who could point to their defense as a point of pride until tonight, also gave up too many easy baskets because of mental lapses.

Tonight K-State didn’t look like a team remotely ready for Big 12 competition. Fortunately they have until after Christmas before conference play starts.

Up Next

K-State plays Vanderbilt at 1:30 p.m. Sunday in Nashville, Tennessee.