K-State defense causes misery for Missouri

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The offense will likely be hit and miss throughout the season for Kansas State’s basketball team, so coach Bruce Weber is counting on defense as a foundation.

With a 37-percent shooting night and its lowest point total of the young season, the foundation was rock solid Monday when the Wildcats limited Missouri to 31-percent shooting for a 66-42 victory in the opening round of the CBE Hall of Fame Classic at Sprint Center.

“We always take a lot of pride on the defensive end and shutting people down,” Weber said. “In the first couple of exhibition games we were actually better on defense than we were in practice and they carried it into the first few games.”

K-State took a step backward, giving up 42 first-half points to South Dakota last Friday. The Wildcats came back strong against Missouri, advancing to the CBE championship game against No. 9 North Carolina late Tuesday night.

North Carolina, the preseason No. 1 team that fell in the rankings after a loss at Northern Iowa, defeated Northwestern, 80-69.

“I’m not sure we’re ready,” Weber said of playing the Tar Heels, “but I hope our guys would appreciate the challenge.”

Missouri shot 5 for 27 in the first half as K-State built a 31-14 halftime lead, and the Tigers shot 17 for 55 in the game.

“We were worried about their guards getting into the paint,” Weber said. “They got so frustrated, we would have three guys there and they would still get in between us and we would get a tip or a steal or something.”

Wildcat freshman Dean Wade notched his first double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds while junior Wesley Iwundu put up another solid stat line with 10 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists.

“I thought Wes was very important,” Weber said. “He played very determined, whether it was his drive to the basket, rebounding, getting put-backs.”