DAYTON, Ohio, SportingAlert — Wesley Iwundu and Kamau Stokes led a balanced offense for Kansas State in a 95-88 victory over Wake Forest in the NCAA Tournament First Four on Tuesday night.
Iwundu shot 6-of-9 from the floor and made 11-of-13 free throws to top score with 24 points, while dishing out seven assists and grabbing six rebounds in the win.
“It’s a good matchup for us,” Iwundu said. “You know they’re a tough team, but we’re down for any challenge.
“We’re the underdogs now but we like being the underdogs.”
Stokes scored 19 of his 22 points in the second half and made five 3-pointers, while D.J. Johnson shot 8-for-9 from the field in scoring 18 points to go with six rebounds and three blocks for the Wildcats (21-13).
Barry Brown ended with 14 points and five rebounds for the No. 11 seeded Kansas State, which shot 66-percent from the field in its first NCAA Tournament win in five years.
John Collins had 26 points and nine rebounds to lead the way for Wake Forest, which shot 47.2 percent from the floor.
“We came close and then we let them build another lead,” said Collins. “So I think it was kind of a trend.”
Bryant Crawford added 20 points and Austin Arians ended with 17 for the Demon Deacons (19-14).
K-State (21-13) moves on to play No. 6 Cincinnati on Friday in Sacramento in the South Regional bracket.
“Now you’re playing somebody new and maybe you can get some of the little looks that you haven’t gotten in probably like the last six weeks,” Kansas State coach Bruce Weber said.
