Slate: ‘Cats Beat ‘Roos, and Other K-State News

Men’s Basketball

In a ragged, disjointed affair that at times resembled pickup games on a neighborhood driveway, K-State (2-0) dispatched UMKC (1-2) by a score of 72-51.

The ‘Roos, who opened their season with a 52-point loss to Wichita State, led the game early, 7-4, while K-State alternately turned the ball over and missed jump shots. Xavier Sneed hit a 3-pointer at the 15:32 mark to tie the game, but UMKC surged ahead again, 11-7, before K-State settled down and caught some traction.

K-State would hold UMKC scoreless for nearly four minutes while forging a 17-11 advantage. After taking the lead at the 12:13 mark of the first half, K-State never trailed again. The ‘Cats built their lead steadily, pushing it to 28 points, until the last few minutes of the game, which belonged to subs and walk-ons.

Barry Brown paced a balanced attack with 14 points. Xavier Sneed contributed 13, and Mawdo Sallah chipped in an efficient 11 points and 9 rebounds off the bench. Dean Wade, after two ghastly turnovers in the opening minutes, made several assertive drives to the basket and finished with 11 points on 5-7 shooting. He also had 8 rebounds and 4 assists to fill out the stat sheet.

Makol Mawien, who was a revelation in the opener against American, was plagued with four fouls in his four minutes of play, and was never able to get on track.

Undoubtedly, the game was sloppy. That tends to happen when an opponent is outmatched and focus drifts. It also tends to happen early in the year. Teaching moments, all around.

A couple of notable exceptions: After losing track of some shooters early, K-State’s defense clamped down on the ‘Roos, who did not reach 40 points until 5:33 showed on the second-half clock. Also, K-State out-rebounded the opposition by a ridiculous margin of 46-28.

Here are the various recaps from people who get paid to write about sports:

Ken Corbitt, Capital-Journal: K-State Cruises past UMKC

Kellis Robinett, Wichita Eagle: Xavier Sneed Stands Out in Easy K-State Victory over UMKC

Greg Woods, Manhattan Mercury: Wildcats Lock Down on Defense in Win over Kangaroos

Kstatesports.com: Team Effort Leads Kansas State Past UMKC, 72-51

Football

K-State held its weekly football press conference, in which Coach Snyder discussed last week’s loss, being a giant underdog on the road in Stillwater this week, and the performances of Skylar Thompson and Dalvin Warmack, among other topics. He also revealed he regularly daydreams about using D.J. Reed on offense. Oh, my! (Kstatesports.com)

Kellis Robinett noted the team is still searching for chemistry, with two regular season games to play. (KC Star)

Volleyball

The volleyball team faces its final road test of the season tonight at No. 19 Baylor. K-State will be looking to break an 8-match losing streak, the second longest of Coach Suzie Fritz’s career. (Kstatesports.com)

Nine K-State volleyball players have been named to the Big 12’s Academic All-Conference team. First Team selections include senior Bryna Vogel, junior Macy Flowers, junior Zsofia Gyimes, junior Alyssa Schultejans, redshirt sophomore Sarah Dixon, sophomore Elle Sandbothe, and redshirt freshman Peyton Williams.

Redshirt juniors Devan Fairfield and Kylee Zumach were named Second Team Academic All-Big 12.

Track and Field

Senior track and field athlete Keiteyana Parks is one of two Big 12 athletes chosen to attend an NCAA Student Athlete Leadership Forum in Washington, D.C. this week. Parks will be joined by Iowa State track and field student-athlete Christopher Celona.