Big 12 Basketball Takeaways: Kansas State, Texas Tech make statements

3 of 4

ATLANTA, GA – MARCH 24: Barry Brown #5 of the Kansas State Wildcats speaks to his team during a timeout in the second half against the Loyola Ramblers during the 2018 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament South Regional at Philips Arena on March 24, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) /

Kansas State keeps on rolling

Kansas State picked up two wins this week to stay a game up in the Big 12 standings as they won at West Virginia and at home against Oklahoma State. Yes, these are the two worst teams in the conference but coming off a double-digit point home loss against Iowa State they responded in a big way.

Anytime you go on the road in this conference, it is tough and playing in Morgantown is possibly the second toughest place to play in this conference behind Lawrence, Kansas. They won 65-51 in that game as they got it done on both ends of the floor. Barry Brown led the way as he has so often this season, finishing with 21 points. Xavier Sneed also had a good game with 19 points.

Then, on Saturday, they came back home and absolutely blew out Oklahoma State. They were dominant on both ends of the floor en route to an 85-46 blowout win. It was a full team effort in this game as five players scored in double figures with Austin Trice, and Xavier Sneed leading the way with 12 points each.

The Wildcats will be a tough out as long as they continue to defend at an elite level as they did this week. The offense is their biggest question mark but they continue to improve on that end of the floor. All they need to do is be average offensively to win games; it’ll take more than that to make a deep NCAA Tournament run but that will at least keep them in games.

Dean Wade and Barry Brown form one of the most underrated duos in all of college basketball. Brown is a candidate for both Big 12 Player of the Year as well as Defensive Player of the Year in the conference. He gets it done on both ends of the floor and often carries this team down the stretch of games. Wade was the preseason Big 12 Player of the Year so that says how much he is thought of throughout the conference and when he’s been healthy; he has been dominant.

They have been playing great but Monday night is their biggest game of the season. It is always a big deal to take down Kansas. If they want to win the Big 12 title outright this is how they do it. The Jayhawks look to stay alive for 15 straight conference titles will their in-state rival looks to crush their chances. It’s going to be a huge game and could be one of the best games of the college basketball season.

Home/Big 12