No. 23 Kansas State looks to avoid Oklahoma State trap

In a matchup that has all the makings of a trap game, No. 23 Kansas State hosts Oklahoma State on Saturday in Manhattan, Kan.

The Wildcats (20-6, 10-3 Big 12) lead the Big 12 Conference by a game over Kansas and Texas Tech, and by two games over Baylor and Iowa State. The Wildcats travel to Kansas on Monday night in a game that will have big implications for the conference title.

Meanwhile, the Cowboys (10-16, 3-10 Big 12) are near the conference cellar. Their 68-61 victory over TCU on Monday snapped an eight-game conference losing streak. They are 1-8 in road games this season.

Kansas State beat Oklahoma State 75-57 in Stillwater on Feb. 2.

Add it all up, and the Wildcats might be tempted to look past the Cowboys. But they shouldn't with this much on the line. Kansas State has not won an outright conference championship since 1977, although it did share the Big 12 title with Kansas in 2013.

Seniors Dean Wade and Kamau Stokes have not practiced much this week after surprising even their head coach by playing in a 65-51 victory at West Virginia on Monday.

Stokes scored seven points with three assists in 36 minutes, despite playing with a toe injury. Wade, who was even more doubtful going into the game, played 32 minutes and scored 10 points with six rebounds. He suffered a foot strain in the previous game against Iowa State.

"I've got to give Kam and Dean a lot of credit for playing," coach Bruce Weber said after the game. "I didn't know if they would play as of today. And you know, they both played and did a great job."

Regarding practice this week, he said on Thursday, "I would rather have (them) in the games than in practice."

Barry Brown continues to lead the Wildcats with 15.9 points per game. He is also averaging 4.1 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 2.0 steals per game.

"He's playing as well as anyone in the country right now," Wade said.

There are some bright spots for the Cowboys. They are second in the Big 12 in 3-pointers made (224, 8.6 per game) and lead in 3-point percentage (38.2).

Lindy Waters III is hitting 54.2 percent (26 of 48) of his long-range shots this season. Thomas Dziagwa is making 45.2 percent (85 of 188) from beyond the arc. Dziagwa scored 23 points against TCU, making 8 of 14 shots, including 6 of 11 from 3-point range.

On the defensive end, 6-foot-10 freshman Yor Anei had five blocks against TCU to give him 57 rejections on the year. He needs eight more to tie Byron Houston's freshman record of 65 blocks in 1988-89. Anei is third in the Big 12 with 2.2 blocks per game.

"Any win in our league is a quality win -- one against a really good team," OSU coach Mike Boynton said after the victory over TCU.

"I'm also happy that our kids were able to break through in some ways in terms of outcome. We've played really competitive basketball for the most part, but validating it with a win is always the icing on the cake. Happy to be able to put it behind us and not have to keep hearing about a losing streak."

--Field Level Media