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Basketball
On Saturday, Kansas State beat Baylor 77-67 to end the regular season on a winning note. The Wildcats finished 10-8 in Big 12 play, the best finish since sharing the Big 12 title in the 2012-13 season. Kansas State is now in fourth place in the conference standings and will be the fourth seed in the Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City next week.
It took a team effort to put the Bears away. Three players were in double figures, with Dean Wade scoring 25 points off 9-of-14 shooting and Barry Brown tallying 18 points on 6-of-9 field goals including two from beyond the arc. Teammate Makol Mawien had 14 points.
Wade and Brown have been key contributors all season long, and in this game, they became the latest Wildcats to surpass the 500-point milestone in a single season. Together, Wade and Brown are the first duo to manage the feat since Jacob Pullen and Denis Clemente in the 2009-10 season.
There were more accolades in store for Wade and Brown this weekend too. They were both named to all-Big 12 teams, with Wade making the first team and Brown the second team. Wade joins an elite list of recent Kansas State players including Pullen, Michael Beasley, and Rodney McGruder as a first-team selection. Adam Stewart has more HERE.
How good is Wade? Well, consider this:
In Big 12 history, two players have finished Top 10 in scoring, rebounding, steals, and 3-point percentage.
— Tyler Dreiling (@TylerDreiling) March 4, 2018
One is Kevin Durant.
The other one is Dean Wade.
Does this mean we’ll lose Wade to the pros soon? Yes, if things go as Scott Drew would like.
While the men’s team still has the Big 12 tournament to look forward to, and a probable NCAA bid, the women’s basketball team’s season may well be over. The Wildcats lost a lopsided game to Baylor in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament 83-54.
Kayla Goth, a second-team All Big 12 selection, had 24 points and four assists, the 30th game this season with Goth in double figures.
The Wildcats are not in contention for an NCAA Tournament bid, but will find out on March 12 if they will make the WNIT Championship field.
Baseball
It took 11 innings, but Kansas State finally managed a run in the bottom of the 11th for a walk-off 11-10 win over LaSalle at Tointon Family Stadium yesterday.
Trent McMaster had the RBI double in the 11th inning leading to a Brett Owen run for the walk-off victory. Rainer Ausmus’ solo homerun in the bottom of the ninth—with the BatCats trailing 9-8—sent the game to extra innings. LaSalle took a one-run lead in the 10th inning only to have Kansas State match it when pinch runner Caleb Littlejim scored.
Reliever Mitch Zubradt scored his first win of the season and tossed a perfect 11th inning.