Field Level Media
Nov 18, 2018
No. 12 Kansas State used a stellar defensive effort to defeat Penn 64-48 Sunday in the second semifinal of the Paradise Jam tournament in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands.
The Wildcats (4-0) will play Missouri in the championship game Monday night. Missouri defeated Oregon State 69-63 in the first semifinal. Penn (4-1) will face Oregon State in the third-place game.
Former conference rivals, Kansas State and Missouri have played 235 times, with the Wildcats holding the all-time edge 119-116.
Penn came into Sunday's game averaging 83 points per game, but the Wildcats held them to just 30.6 percent from the field, including 20 percent from 3-point range. The Wildcats also forced 20 turnovers by the Quakers.
While their defense shined, the Wildcats struggled on offense. They shot just 42.1 percent from the field, 28.6 percent from long range.
Dean Wade led the Wildcats with 17 points. Kamau Stokes added 16 and Xavier Sneed scored 11.
Makol Mawien had only five points, but he had nine rebounds and three blocks.
Penn's Devon Goodman led all scorers with 18 points. Michael Wang added 14.
Both teams struggled offensively in the first half. Kansas State opened just 3-of-14 from the field in the opening minutes. Penn didn't fare much better, going just 4-of-15 early on.
But the Quakers got hot, hitting consecutive three-pointers to grab a 17-10 lead. The Quakers also controlled the boards early before finishing the half even at 20 boards apiece.
Trailing 19-11 midway through the half, the Wildcats finally got untracked. They closed out the half on a 17-2 run, including scoring the final 13 points of the half to claim a 28-21 advantage.
Wade led the Wildcats with 11 points. Wang led the Quakers with seven points off the bench.
Quakers' leading scorer A.J. Brodeur was held scoreless and picked up three first-half fouls.
--Field Level Media