Kansas State Athletics

MANHATTAN, Kan. — Kansas State attempted to overcome a double-digit deficit for the second consecutive meeting with Iowa State, but it fell short in the second half by a score of 87-79 on Wednesday night in front of 11,387 fans at Bramlage Coliseum.

K-State (16-10, 5-8 Big 12), which nearly overcame a 20-point deficit in a 70-65 defeat to Iowa State (16-9, 8-5 Big 12) at Hilton Coliseum on Jan. 24, were down by as many as 19 points in the first half before closing to within 70-64 with 4:09 to play on a layup by sophomore Barry Brown.

Brown, who scored a game-high 21 points, had an opportunity to cut it to one possession with 3:40 remaining but his 3-pointer was off the mark and the veteran Cyclones responded to put the game back out of reach with a 3-pointer from senior Matt Thomas from the corner with 3:14 to play.

The Wildcats could get no closer than six points the rest of the way in dropping their third game in a row.

Iowa State, which connected on 60.7 percent (17-of-28) in jumping out to its big first-half lead, finished at 51.8 percent (29-of-56) from the field, including 46.7 percent (7-of-15) from 3-point range. The Cyclones were also excellent from the free throw line, knocking down 84.6 percent (22-of-26) of its attempts.

K-State finished at 45.5 percent (30-of-66) from the field, including scoring a season-high 53 points in the second half on 58.1 percent (18-of-31) shooting. The Wildcats tallied 42 points in the paint, while they took advantage of 13 Cyclones turnovers to score 17 points.

Brown was among four players to score in double figures, as he connected on 9-of-14 field goals, including 1-of-3 from 3-point range, to go with 2 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 steals in 37 minutes. The 9 field goals were one more than he had totaled in the previous four games combined (8-of-31).

Senior Wesley Iwundu collected his eighth career double-double, including his third this season, with 16 points on 7-of-12 field goals and a career-best 13 rebounds, while sophomore Kamau Stokes extended his double-digit scoring streak to 16 games with 13 points. Fellow sophomore Dean Wade finished off the double-figure scoring with 15 points on 6-of-12 shooting with 13 coming in the second half.

Freshman Solomon Young paced five Cyclone starters in double figures with a double-double of 18 points on 8-of-10 field goals and 12 rebounds, while seniors Deonte Burton (17), Naz Mitrou-Long (16), Monte Morris (15) and Matt Thomas (14) also tallied double digits.

The Basics
• Final Score: Iowa State 87, Kansas State 79
• Records: Kansas State 16-10, 5-8 Big 12 // Iowa State 16-9, 8-5 Big 12
• Attendance: 11,387
• Next Game: Saturday, Feb. 18 // at Texas // 1 p.m. CT // Longhorn Network

The Short Story
• Iowa State withstood a late Kansas State rally to sweep the season series for the second consecutive season with an 87-79 win on Wednesday night at Bramlage Coliseum.
• The Cyclones led by as many as 19 points in the first half on the strength of 60.7 percent (17-of-28) shooting before the Wildcats close to within 70-64 with 4:09 to play.
• Senior Matt Thomas was able to respond with a huge corner 3-pointer with 3:14 remaining to push the lead back out to 73-64.
• K-State could get no closer than six points the rest of the way in dropping its third straight game.
• Sophomore Barry Brown broke out of his shooting slump with a game-high 21 points on 9-of-14 shooting, while senior Wesley Iwundu notched his eighth career double-double, including his third this season, with 16 points and a career-high 13 rebounds.
• Freshman Solomon Young led five Cyclone starters in double figures with a team-high 18 points on 8-of-10 shooting to go with a team-best 12 rebounds.

How It Happened | First Half
• Iowa State knocked down 4 of its first 6 shots to take an 8-4 edge into the first timeout at the 15:52 mark.
• A 5-0 spurt by Cyclones forced head coach Bruce Weber to use his first timeout at the 13:54 mark, as they increased their advantage to 13-4.
• The run increased to 10-0 after a 3-pointer by Naz Mitrou-Long and a jumper by Deonte Burton before a Xavier Sneed layup cut the deficit to 18-6 at the second media timeout with 11:40 remaining.
• ISU continued to extend their lead with a 3-pointer by Monte Morris and a layup by Solomon Young to take a 29-12 advantage into the third media timeout at the 7:44 mark.
• The lead stood at 33-15 as Weber was forced to call his second timeout with 6:31 left after a pair of free throws and a dunk by Young.
• A 3-pointer by Mitrou-Long gave the Cyclones their largest first-half lead at 36-17 at the 5:20 mark.
• K-State closed to within 36-22 on a 3-pointer by Barry Brown with 3:13 before halftime.
• Young’s tip-in with 35 seconds closed an impressive first half with 12 points, as Iowa State took a 42-26 lead into the locker room.
• K-State connected on just 34.3 percent (12-of-35) in the first half, including 18.2 percent (2-of-11) from 3-point range, while Iowa State shot 60.7 percent (17-of-28), including 50.0 percent (4-of-8) from long range, and hit on all 4 of its free throw attempts.
• Brown led the Wildcats with 9 points on 4-of-5 field goals, including 1-of-1 from 3-point range.

How It Happened | Second Half
• Iowa State continued to push their lead just minutes into the second half, as the Cyclones led 49-31 at the 15:41 mark on the strength of two jumpers from Deonte Burton and a 3-pointer from Naz Mitrou-Long.
• K-State was able to close the gap to 49-39 on a strength of 9-0 run to force ISU head coach Steve Prohm to call its first timeout with 12:47 remaining.
• The lead stood at 49-40 after Barry Brown hit 1-of-2 free throws after an intentional foul call.
• The run grew to 12-0 after a jumper by Kamau Stokes cut the deficit to 49-42 at the 12:27 mark.
• However, the veteran Cyclones responded with a 3-point play from Donovan Jackson to push the lead back to double digits at 54-44 with 11:16 remaining.
• A tip-in by Jackson capped a 9-5 spurt by ISU to force Weber to call his third timeout at the 8:11 mark with the Cyclones extending their lead to 63-49.
• A steal and layup by Carlbe Ervin capped a 6-0 run and forced Iowa State to call a timeout with 7:04 remaining after K-State closed to within 63-55.
• The Wildcats were able to get within 66-60 on a Dean Wade layup with 5:55 to play.
• Monte’ Morris came through with a pair of free throws and jumper to push the Cyclones back out to a 70-62 advantage with 4:28 remaining.
• After Brown pulled K-State to within 70-64 at the 4:09 mark, Matt Thomas put the exclamation point on his success against the Wildcats with a 3-pointer to extend it back out to 73-64 with 3:14 to play.
• Iowa State would extend the lead back in double digits down the stretch, including 80-69 after two Thomas free throws with 44 seconds remaining.
• A Wade 3-pointer would close the deficit to 82-76 with 25 seconds left, but the Cyclones would end the game at the free throw line by hitting on 5 of their last 6 attempts.
• K-State connected on 58.1 percent (18-of-31), including 25 percent (2-of-8) from 3-point range, in the second half, while Iowa State shot 42.9 percent (12-of-28) from the field and knocked down 81.8 percent (18-of-22) from the free throw line.
• Wade scored 13 of his 15 points after halftime, while Brown (12) and Wesley Iwundu also registered double figures in the second half.

Beyond the Boxscore
• Iowa State has won 7 of the last 9 meetings against Kansas State, including sweeping the season series in back-to-back seasons for the first time since the 2000 and 2001 Big 12 seasons.
• K-State still leads the all-time series, 137-87, including 80-27 at home.
• K-State allowed consecutive 80-point outings for the first time since Feb. 10-15, 2014.
• The Wildcats scored a season-high 53 points (most points in either half) in the second half on 58.1 percent shooting (18-of-31) after scoring just 26 in the first half on 34.3 percent (12-of-35) shooting… The team has connected on at least 50 percent of their field goals in at least one half of 20 games this season.
• Four Wildcats scored in double figures for the 17th time in 26 games.
• Sophomore Barry Brown collected his 3rd career 20-point game, including his second this season, with a game-high 21 points on 9-of-14 shooting in 37 minutes… He has led the Wildcats in scoring 14 times in his career, including a team-best 7 times this season.
• Brown’s 3 steals gave him 62 for the season, which ties Steve Henson (1989-90) and Fred Peete (2004-05) for the 4th-most in a single-season… He is just 5 shy of Jacob Pullen’s school record of 67.
• Senior Wesley Iwundu collected his 8th career double-double, including his 3rd this season, with 16 points and a career-best 13 rebounds.
• Sophomore Kamau Stokes extended his double-digit scoring streak to 16 with 13 points.

Quotable
• “I thought we had a great practice on Monday,” said head coach Bruce Weber. “I thought yesterday was pretty good. You do not have D.J. [Johnson], and Kamau [Stokes] hurts his foot. Kamau has a procedure today just to play. You have got tough times. You have got adversity. You have got to rise up and have some character and toughness down the stretch. I feel good about our guys. We are going to come back on Saturday and play at a high level.”

Up Next
• K-State continues Big 12 play on Saturday, as the Wildcats travel to Austin, Texas to take on Texas (10-16, 4-9 Big 12) at 1 p.m. CT on the Longhorn Network. Tickets are available for just $12 through the Texas Athletic Ticket Office by calling (512) 471.3333 or online at www.TexasSports.com.