MANHATTAN, Kan. _ More than a month has passed since Kansas State's 81-60 loss at Kansas ended with a nationally publicized brawl, but Wildcats coach Bruce Weber continues to remind his players about it every few days.
Why? So nothing remotely close to that scene happens again.
"Any incident we have had since then _ a rebound, a tussle or whatever _ we have always brought it up to them," Weber said. "Hey, we don't need anything else. It was not great for Kansas. It was not great for Kansas State. It was not great for college basketball, but we move forward."
K-State players have been on the best behavior since James Love, Antonio Gordon, David McCormack and Silvio De Sousa were all suspended following the benches-clearing melee that defined the first Sunflower Showdown basketball game of the season.
The Wildcats have played 10 games since their Jan. 21 trip to Allen Fieldhouse, and they have made it through each of them without incident.
Gordon served a three-game suspension and is now a member of the starting lineup while Montavious Murphy recovers from a knee injury. Love underwent foot surgery to fix an injury that had sidelined for most of the season and he may not play again in a K-State uniform. It's been business as usual for everyone else on the team.
They aren't expecting any problems when K-State hosts KU at 12:30 p.m. Saturday inside Bramlage Coliseum.
"Everything is in the past now," senior guard Xavier Sneed said. "We are just looking forward to getting ready to game plan for this one and the next one coming up. We are just going to keep our heads on straight from there."
"There's nothing to worry about," senior forward Makol Mawien said. "It's over and forgotten about. We just need to worry about the game plan and move forward. That's it."
K-State players are rightfully more focused on playing well against the Jayhawks than avoiding any kind of repeat tussle.
Winning this game would mean a great deal for the Wildcats (9-19, 2-13 Big 12). It's been a disappointing season for them, and they don't have much left to play for other than pride and a desire to move out of last place in the conference standings. Beating the Jayhawks, which K-State fans usually celebrate by storming the court, would provide a happy memory.
"It would mean a lot, especially for me being my last here," Sneed said. "Beating Kansas on our home court would feel great and mean a lot for our season."
That will be a difficult task. K-State and KU are headed in opposite directions. The Wildcats have lost eight straight games while the top-ranked Jayhawks have won 13 in a row.
But Weber was quick to point out this week that crazier things have happened. Iowa State, Oklahoma State and Texas have all rattled off recent victories after many gave up on them. Perhaps K-State can do the same.
One thing is for sure: Weber will continue to remind the Wildcats to keep their cool regardless of the final score.
"We obviously talked a lot about it after it happened and we went through it," Weber said. "We will definitely remind them that we are here to play basketball and we have got to act right. Like I said after the game, act right and play the game with class win or lose. That is the biggest thing."
