DAYTON, Ohio _ Kansas State basketball players were happy when they were selected for the NCAA Tournament, but they weren't content.
One after another, every member of the roster said they wanted to do some damage on college basketball's biggest stage. They genuinely believed they had the talent to win a game or two _ maybe even more _ this postseason, starting with a Tuesday trip to Dayton Arena for the First Four.
The Wildcats backed up their words with a 95-88 victory over Wake Forest, shooting a season-best 69.6 percent.
No. 11 seed K-State will play No. 6 seed Cincinnati in the first round on Friday in Sacramento. The game tips at 6:27 p.m. on truTV.
Wesley Iwundu led the way. He played like a man on a mission on his way to 24 points, seven assists and six rebounds. His driving and-one layup with 4:14 remaining might have been the most important basket of his college career, as it gave the Wildcats a 78-70 lead moments after the Demon Deacons had cut the score to 72-70.
Iwundu made the tournament as a freshman and then endured two painful years without a postseason tournament. He pushed himself and his teammates to return, and he took advantage of his return on Tuesday.
But he didn't do it alone. Sophomore guard Kamau Stokes shrugged off a shaky start to make five 3-pointers and score 22 points. Senior forward D.J. Johnson made 8 of 9 shots on his way to 18 points. Barry Brown drained several clutch jumpers and scored 14 points.
Together, they seemed to have an answer for every Wake Forest push. The result gave K-State coach Bruce Weber his first NCAA Tournament victory since moving to Manhattan in 2012.
This was a play-in game for a pair of No. 11 seeds hoping to reach the main bracket and to play No. 6 seed Cincinnati on Friday in Sacramento, but it felt every bit as tense as any other NCAA Tournament game.
In some ways, it felt bigger than your typical first-round game.
Neither team could have asked for a better atmosphere. A capacity crowd crammed into the historic arena that has hosted more NCAA Tournament games than any other site and made the game feel just as important as the Wildcats and Demon Deacons treated it.
The game started with energy, and sharp execution from K-State. The Wildcats jumped to a 9-4 lead behind aggressive plays from Iwundu, Johnson and Dean Wade. They are a team that plays their best when they start well, so the first few moments were a positive omen.
Indeed, K-State played well enough to win this game from the start.
But it also fouled enough to lose it.
Wake Forest is one of the nation's best teams from the free-throw line and they proved it by making 17 of 18 foul shots in the first half to stay within striking distance of K-State at 40-36.
The Wildcats played well on both ends, but mounting fouls negated much of that work. At halftime, fans may have wondered if K-State had enough players to finish the game. Carlbe Ervin and Xavier Sneed both had three fouls, while Kamau Stokes, Isaiah Maurice and Wade each had two.
K-State played smarter in defense in the second half and pulled away in a high-scoring affair.
The Wildcats had a triumphant return to the NCAA Tournament.
