MANHATTAN — St. John junior forward Dean Wade earned Phillips 66 Big 12 Player of the Week honors for the first time Monday after collecting consecutive 20-point games in helping Kansas State to wins over No. No. 4 Oklahoma 87-79 and No. 24 TCU 73-68 last week. Wade is fourth in the Big 12 scoring (20.0 ppg).
The 6-foot-10, 228-pound forward from St. John, Wade averaged 20.5 points on 50.0 percent shooting (16-of-32), including 58.3 percent (7-of-12) from 3-point range, with 6.5 rebounds, 6.5 assists, 2.0 steals and 1.0 blocks in 37.5 minutes per game in the wins over the Sooners and Horned Frogs. It marked the Wildcats’ first back-to-back home Top 25 victories since February 2015.
“I try to make the right play every time and try not to force anything,” Wade said. “I forced a few shots tonight but I try not to play outside myself. I always look for your open teammates and when I’m open shoot it.”
Wade won the league’s Newcomer of the Week award as a freshman in 2016. He’s the first Wildcat since Wesley Iwundu earned the accolade on Nov. 16, 2015.
Wade was pleased the Wildcats held off TCU’s challenge
“It has a lot to do with our leadership,” Wade said. “My freshman year we would get ahead but teams would run by us in the second half. It has a lot to do with our defensive focus in the second half. They came out and made a couple runs. It’s a big credit to our defense and being in position the whole time.”
Wade opened the week by posting the first of two all-around efforts in the 87-69 win over No. 4/6 Oklahoma on Tuesday night. He scored 21 points on 9-of-16 field goals, including a perfect 3-of-3 from 3-point range, against the Sooners to go with team-highs in both rebounds (7) and assists (7) in 36 minutes. He followed that up with yet another strong performance in the 73-68 win over No. 24/25 TCU on Saturday with a game-high 20 points on 7-of-16 shooting, including 4-of-9 from long range, to go with six rebounds, six assists, two blocks and two steals in a career-best 39 minutes.
Wade has now scored 20 or more points in three consecutive games for the first time in his career.
Wade is averaging 15.6 points on 58 percent shooting, including 46.9 percent from 3-point range, to go 6.5 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.7 steals in 30.7 minutes per game. The leader in field goal percentage and rebounding, he ranks second on the team in scoring, double-digit scoring games (15), 20-point games (five), field goals made (109), steals and minutes. He ranks among the Big 12’s Top 15 in a number of categories, including third in 3-point field goal percentage, eighth in field goal percentage and 11th in both scoring and rebounding.
inners of three of the last four game, K-State (14-5, 4-3 Big 12) makes a quick turnaround on Monday night, as the Wildcats play Baylor (12-7, 2-5 Big 12) at 8 p.m., CT at the Ferrell Center. The game will air nationally on ESPNU and the WatchESPN app with Matt Schick (play-by-play) and Dino Gaudio (analyst) on the call.