State NCAA tournament hopes alive

Kansas State appears on its way back to the NCAA Tournament. Kansas State versus Baylor tips off tomorrow at around 8 p.m. on ESPNU!

If Kansas State was playing desperate, Baylor coach Scott Drew hopes his team becomes desperate in the NCAA Tournament.

Compared to the first, the second half was an offensive explosion.

The Kansas State Wildcats head into this tournament losing five of their last eight games.

“We are not done”, Weber said. Carlbe Ervin – his energy, his effort – he’s kept the greatest attitude. When you’re on the court or in between the white lines, you’re a competitor and you want to win. That’s all he cares about.

Junior power forward Johnathan Motley, Baylor’s leading scorer and rebounder, suffered a dislocated left finger on his non-shooting hand in the second half.

Freeman had 16 points to lead Baylor.

Morris finished with 21 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists for the fourth-seeded Cyclones (21-10), who will carry their late-season season momentum into a semifinal matchup with TCU.

“We spent the majority of the week working on the defensive end, but give them credit”, Underwood said. But I also think Weber has devised the best way to attack Motley. “Isaiah came in and gave us quality minutes”.

K-State led by as much as three before Baylor used a 7-2 run to reclaim the lead at 20-18 with 4:57 to play.

Then Xavier Sneed, Wesley Iwundu and D.J. Johnson had their moments to push the margin to 11 points with four minutes remaining.

“I love the kid”, said Iowa State coach Steve Prohm, adding he was glad the triple-double didn’t happen on a meaningless basket. But the Mountaineers are just 2-4 in the Big 12 tourney since they joined the conference in 2012, and their road to the title could include a date with Baylor.

Kansas State won the second half however, building a double-digit lead in the final ten minutes and holding on from there to win by 6. The Baylor Bears are shooting 35.2 percent from beyond the arc and 71.6 percent from the free throw line.

No. 2 Villanova 108, St. John’s 67: Donte DiVincenzo had 25 points, Kris Jenkins added 24 and Villanova cruised past St. John’s in the Big East tournament quarterfinals at Madison Square Garden in NY. The Wildcats will face West Virginia in the second semifinal on Friday.

“I think so”, Weber said.

At one time, CBS Bracket expert Jerry Palm had the Wildcats as a bubble team -number 10 seed. We outdid them at what they do well. Twice they haven’t even made the title game. The Kansas State Wildcats have won three of their last four games on neutral sites. The team stayed together, no matter what was being said in the media. We told (the players) the only way you know you’re in the NCAA Tournament is to win this tournament. “We got one step closer”.

“We knew that anyone could win this because of the parity in the league. And now we’ve got to worry about West Virginia and that’s what we’ve got to focus on”.