Wildcats beat Penn in Paradise Jam semifinals
ST. THOMAS, U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS >> Kansas State coach Bruce Weber didn’t panic when his 12th-ranked Wildcats struggled to score Sunday against Penn.
Instead, Weber counted on Kansas State’s defense to settle things down in the Wildcats’ 64-48 victory over the Quakers in the semifinals of the Paradise Jam tournament.
Dean Wade scored 17 points to lead three players in double figures for Kansas State (4-0), which advanced to Monday night’s championship game against Missouri at the University of the Virgin Islands’ Sports and Fitness Center.
“Our defense has been our strength,” said Weber, whose Wildcats forced Penn into 19 turnovers, leading to 24 points. “It was last year, and so far we’ve been pretty good.
“Our guys were trying to make plays, and we’ve gotta let the team make the plays. We’ve got good balance, and we just need to let things come to us.”
Kamau Stokes added 16 points and Xavier Sneed had 11 for the Wildcats, who advanced to their fourth inseason tournament final under Weber.
“It’d be nice to finally get one,” Wade said. “We got a little antsy on offense at the beginning. We had some interesting shot selection, but once we got settled down, things started flowing. We started getting buckets.”
Devon Goodman scored
18 points and Michael Wang added 14 for the Quakers (41), who led by as many as eight points in the first half.
As Kansas State struggled, missing 18 of its first
22 shots, Penn was able to pull ahead 19-11 on Wang’s layup with 7:16 remaining in the first half.
But the Wildcats scored
17 of the next 19 points to lead 28-21 at the half. Austin Trice’s tipin with 2:46 left made it 21-all, and Wade’s 3-point play at 1:35 put Kansas State ahead 2421.
WEST VIRGINIA 97, ST. JOSEPH’S 90 >> Junior Lamont West had seven 3-pointers and 27 points — both career highs — and Sagaba Konate had 15 points and nine rebounds before fouling out late, helping West Virginia beat Saint Joseph’s 97-90 on Sunday for third place in the Myrtle Beach Invitational.
West made 5 of 6 3-pointers in the first half and scored 17 points to help West Virginia build a 5149 lead. The teams combined to make 17 3-pointers in the first half and both shot over 53 percent from the field. Saint Joseph’s led
64-62 before West Virginia went on a 14-5 run, capped by West’s open 3-pointer in transition, for a 76-69 lead with 10 minutes to go. West made six of his first eight
3-point attempts and finished 7 of 11.
Esa Ahmad chipped in with 12 points — all in the second half — for West Virginia (2-2). The Mountaineers were again without James “Beetle” Bolden, who was helped off the floor in their opener with 4:43 remaining after scoring a career-high 21 points.