Kansas State Basketball: Keys to move past UC Irvine in the first round

2. Don’t let UC-Irvine dominate the paint.

In what seems to buck the trend in college basketball today, UC-Irvine gets a majority of their 73 points per game inside the three-point arc. They do it not by just pounding the ball inside to the big men like Jonathan Galloway and Tommy Rutherford who combine for nearly 14 points per game, either. They use their guards, who like to slash and drive into the lane and either get to the rim or create odd-man situations in order to drop the ball off to an open teammate around the rim.

It is going to be important for Kansas State to keep the Anteaters on the perimeter and out of the area where they can really do damage. That means the onus will be on the Wildcats’ guards to make sure that Max Hazzard and Evan Leonard settle for shots outside of fifteen feet. Barry Brown, Jr. and Cartier Diarra should draw that responsibility for Kansas State.

It will be an even bigger key for Kansas State if Wade is unable to go. Junior Makol Mawien will then be the only rotation player taller than 6-5, so keeping UC-Irvine out of the lane will be key because they don’t have the size to deal with the Anteaters’ size.