Kansas State will try to end road woes at Allen Fieldhouse

More than a year has passed since Kansas State won its last Big 12 game on the road.

During that time, the Wildcats have overhauled their roster and Bruce Weber has adjusted his coaching strategy, but the losing streak — 11 and counting — has continued to grow. Weber guided K-State to a 6-3 mark in road conferences his first year. Since then, it has gone 3-19.

It’s a frustrating trend K-State would love to reverse, but the location of its next game doesn’t bode well for a turnaround. The Wildcats take on Kansas on Wednesday at Allen Fieldhouse, an arena where it has lost nine straight and 20 of the last 21.

“There haven’t been many teams that have been successful there other than Kansas,” Weber said. “They play at a high level. Obviously, they have a great crowd there. They feed off of being there. Everyone plays better at home, but it seems like they take it to another level.”

Bill Self is 201-9 at Allen Fieldhouse, and the Jayhawks have won 35 straight home games.

This will be Weber’s fourth trip to Lawrence. His first three ended in double-digit losses. Frank Martin never won there. Neither did Bob Huggins. Of the last five coaches to work at K-State, only Jim Wooldridge won at Allen Fieldhouse, taking down the Jayhawks 59-55 in 2006, his final year with the school.

Weber referenced that game with reporters Tuesday. He wants to replicate the result.

“We just have to play hard and compete, and good things will happen,” Weber said. “We need not to try to do so much and just make simple basketball plays. If we play strong and compete, we can compete with them.

“If we don’t take care of the ball and try to take tough shots, then we will let them get going and that crowd will be jumping and bouncing and they can take it to another level.”

Adding difficulty to the situation is the injury status of freshman point guard Kamau Stokes. He injured his right knee against Mississippi and wore a large brace on Tuesday. Weber says he is questionable to play and is unaware of his recovery time. He could play Wednesday, Weber said, but he could also miss the rest of the season.

If Stokes is unable to play, Barry Brown, Carlbe Ervin and Wesley Iwundu will take turns handling the ball.

“We will do it by committee,” Weber said. “The good thing is we have had a lot of people bring the ball up throughout the year.”

K-State has come close to winning league games on the road this season, falling in double overtime at Baylor and losing on the final possession at Texas, but they were blown out at Oklahoma and West Virginia.

It seemed as if the Wildcats were destined for better road outcomes when Dean Wade hit a game-winner at Georgia in nonconference play, but they haven’t played with the same poise in Big 12 games.

“It’s not easy to win on the road anywhere, especially in the Big 12,” junior forward D.J. Johnson said. “Lately, I don’t think we have executed our game plan late in games. Knowing when to start milking the clock when you have a lead is important. We are learning as we go.”

Weber argues K-State would have more road success on its resume if not for a brutal opening Big 12 schedule. The Wildcats haven’t had the benefit of playing at last-place TCU yet, for example.

“I hope it becomes an advantage and we appreciate the schedule maker in the Big 12,” Weber said, “because we have all the top teams in the league on the road in the first half except for Iowa State. Now we get them at home. Were we ready for that? Probably not, but will it help us in the second half? I hope so.”

Still, K-State will have to win road games if it hopes to make a push for the postseason.

The challenge continues Wednesday.

“It’s not going to be easy at all,” Iwundu said. “Their record at home just says it all. But there is no pressure on us. We are just going in and trying to sneak out with a win.”

This story was originally published February 2, 2016 at 6:10 PM with the headline "Kansas State will try to end road woes at Allen Fieldhouse."