Slate: Barry Brown, Dean Wade Lead K-State Past Denver

K-State won both ends of a double-header in Bramlage Coliseum last night, but neither game was without drama.

Men’s Basketball

The No. 12/11 Wildcats struggled from the floor and the free throw stripe again Monday night, allowing the Denver Pioneers to keep the game within two possessions until the last 23 seconds of game time. Barry Brown scored 25 of K-State’s 64 points, while Xavier Sneed contributed 12 in his first regular season game, and Dean Wade posted a double-double with 12 points and 16 rebounds.

Team defense has been solid thus far, forcing turnovers and holding the first two opponents to 41 and 56 points, respectively. But shooting touch from the floor and the free throw line must improve if the ‘Cats are to scratch the potential everyone sees in the squad. As Coach Weber put it, they need to get in the gym and get some shots up.

Recaps of last night’s action abound:

From the Mercury: K-State Men’s Basketball Defeats Denver and Brown drops 25 as K-State Offense Struggles.

From the athletic department: Brown, Wade carry 12/11 K-State past Denver, 64-56

From the Capital-Journal: Brown scores 25 to help No. 12 K-State Survive Denver Upset Bid

From the Star and Eagle: Cold-shooting Cats Survive Denver and How Concerned should Bruce Weber be about K-State’s Cold Outside Shooting?

Women’s Basketball

Coach Mittie’s women started sluggishly and trailed 30-22 at halftime before clamping down defensively and running away from the Omaha Mavericks, 61-46. K-State used a balanced scoring attack, led by Jasauen Beard’s 12 points, Rachel Ranke’s 11 and Peyton Williams’ 10. Williams also corralled 10 rebounds, tossed four assists, blocked three shots and collected one steal to stuff the stat sheet.

K-State trailed by two after the third quarter, but poured on the effort to outscore Omaha 22-5 in the final frame. After sitting out the exhibition games with an injury, Kayla Goth played 34 minutes. She scored four points, all from the free throw line, as she tried to settle in and knock the rust off her game.

Football

Saturday’s home tilt against the Texas Tech Red Raiders will be Senior Day for a class highlighted by Dalton Risner, Duke Shelley and Kendall Adams. The game kicks off at 2:30 and will air nationally on ESPNU. After a hot start to the season, the Red Raiders have dropped their last three games and are only one win better than K-State at 5-5 (3-4 Big 12).

This week’s performance of K-State alumni in the NFL was highlighted by Tyler Lockett’s touchdown grab against the Rams. Lockett presented the ball to Floyd Mayweather, for reasons nobody can quite fathom.

Golf

Alumni from Texas Tech and Kansas State got together at Colbert Hills to contest the Crofut Cup, an annual event that raises funds for the schools’ respective golf teams. K-State won the event this year, taking an 8-7 lead in the all-time series. The winning school gets 60% of the proceeds in the Ryder Cup-style event, giving an added edge to the competition.

Philanthropy

Justin Schmutz, a K-State senior in biological systems engineering, made news recently for notifying the scholarship committee for the Vanier Family 4-H scholarship that he would not be reapplying so that someone in greater need of the $12,000 annual scholarship could benefit from it. The Vanier family was so touched by his selflessness that they decided to endow a new scholarship in his name, so the story can be told year-after-year.