LDN - Sports

Brown, Iwundu fuel Kansas State past Western Illinois

[November 12, 2016] By David Smale, The Sports Xchange

Kansas State used double-digit runs in each half to pull away from Western Illinois for an 82-55 victory Friday night at Bramlage Coliseum.

Barry Brown led the Wildcats (1-0) with 18 points. Wesley Iwundu had 17 points, including 11 in the second half and freshman Xavier Sneed also had 17 in his debut.

The Wildcats led 57-49 with 7:51 remaining in the second half, but a 12-0 run stretched the lead to 20 points and put to rest any thoughts of a Western Illinois upset. Kansas State finished the game on a 25-6 run.

Western Illinois (0-1), which opened last season with a win at No. 17 Wisconsin, was led by Garret Covington with 17 points. Dalan Ancrum was the only other Leatherneck in double-figures with 12 points.

The Wildcats struggled offensively through most of the night, shooting just 44 percent from the field. But they held the Leathernecks to just 37 percent shooting.

Kansas State used a 10-0 run midway through the first half to take control. Trailing 9-7 following another bucket by Covington, the Wildcats were carried by 11 points from Brown.

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The Wildcats were able to take the lead without much offensive contribution from last year's leading scorer Iwundu, Dean Wade or Kamau Stokes. Iwundu scored his first point with 6:07 left in the half. Stokes finished the first half with three points and Wade with one.

The Wildcats went into intermission with a 35-21 lead. Brown led the team with 11 points, followed by Sneed with seven and Iwundu with six. Covington led the Leathernecks with 12 points as only three Leathernecks scored in the half.

Defense was the order of the first half as both teams shot below 32 percent in the half. The Wildcats out-rebounded the Leathernecks 25-17, including 10-0 on the offensive glass.

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