Eastern Kentucky Colonels

K-State advances to Paradise Jam semifinals with 95-68 win over Eastern Kentucky

Published Nov. 17, 2018 1:16 a.m. ET

Bill Kiser

ST. THOMAS, U.S. Virgin Islands — Xavier Sneed scored 16 points to lead five Kansas State players in double figures, and the Wildcats led by as many as 31 points in the second half in their 95-68 win over Eastern Kentucky at the Paradise Jam on Friday night.

Dean Wade and Cartier Diarra added 14 points each, and Kamau Stokes and Barry Brown Jr. had 10 points apiece for the 12th-ranked Wildcats (3-0).

"Our guys have prepared well, but I don't think they realize how their opponents are preparing for us," Kansas State coach Bruce Weber said. "Those guys, they know if they beat us, they're going on ESPN because we're a Top-15 team. So they're going to come at us with some emotion.

"At times, we got some good reads and made some easy layups; other times, we forced the issue. The second half, we were much better. We got some steals and some easy layups, and started to break their spirit."

Dujuanta Weaver scored 12 points and Nick Mayo added 11 points for Eastern Kentucky (2-2), whose only lead came when Kelvin Robinson's jumper 19 seconds in made it 2-0.

But Kansas State went on a 13-5 run over the next six minutes before taking a 37-28 lead into halftime.

James Love's hook shot made it 93-62 with 1:46 to play.

"We drew the toughest team, with a Hall of Fame coach coming off an Elite Eight appearance," Colonels coach A.W. Hamilton said. "We fought like crazy, we tested them and made them work. But that's the No. 12 team in the country, and we're building right now. We battled like crazy. We had some chances to take the lead early, and we just couldn't get it to go in."

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