K-state’s rugged defense tackles Loyola
No. 9 Wildcats face No. 11 Ramblers for berth in Final Four
ATLANTA — Kansas State has been an afterthought through the NCAA Tournament — until now.
Even in the South Region, where the top four seeds were bounced out on the first weekend — a first for the NCAA Tournament — no one was really talking about these Wildcats.
There were those other Wildcats from Kentucky, which Kansas State sent home; the comeback kids from UNR and of course the feel-good story of the tournament, Loyola-chicago.
“We played with a chip on our shoulder throughout the whole season, just trying to prove people wrong,” said Kansas State guard Kamau Stokes. “And I feel like we’re showing them.”
The ninth-seeded Wildcats are indeed making a point. And so is their opponent Saturday night, No. 11 Loyola.
It is an unlikely pairing: No. 9 vs. No. 11 in the Elite Eight, another NCAA Tournament first.
But then again, perhaps Kansas State’s path to the regional final should not be seen as a surprise. The Wildcats have brought back-alley toughness to the Elite Eight. They don’t back down.
“I don’t feel like anyone should pay attention to seeds because they are just opinions, you know? Opinions,” Stokes said.
Kansas State’s opponents can’t win if they can’t score, and the Wildcats (25-11) have held seven straight teams below 59 points. The latest demonstration of Kansas State’s defensive prowess came in Thursday night’s 61-58 win over Kentucky, which was held to a season scoring low.
Asked on Friday to define Kansas State basketball, junior Barry Brown Jr. said “First off, it’s defending. We take a lot of pride on defense.”
Coach Bruce Weber said “there’s no doubt” Brown is the team’s defensive catalyst.
“When he was a freshman, I said, who’s going to be our defensive stopper, and he’s very stubborn,” said Weber of Brown. “He’s a little bit confident, overconfident, but he said ‘I am going to be, coach.’ … He’s been the leader. Xavier (Sneed) has really taken some pride as the season has gone on in being a stopper. We’ve convinced him of that. And then the other guys just have kind of bought into it.”
Loyola (31-5) has won its three NCAA Tournament games by a combined four points.
In each win the Ramblers found a different player to deliver the big shot in the closing seconds. In Thursday night’s 69-68 win over UNR, 6.3 seconds remained in the game when Marques Townes barely beat the shot clock with his crucial 3-pointer.