MANHATTAN, Kan. -- Kansas State knew there would be some growing pains last season, especially after coach Bruce Weber essentially cleaned house and brought in eight newcomers.There is no such excuse this season.The Wildcats bring back the bulk of their scoring and rebounding from a team that still managed to go 17-16 and beat then-No. 1 Oklahoma, including all those freshmen and transfers who had no choice but to learn on the job. They also added a talented recruiting class to fill some critical holes.The result is a team that, at least on paper, could be the best that Weber has had since going 27-8 and earning a share of the Big 12 championship in his debut five years ago.We were probably three or four possessions away from being in the NCAA tournament (last year), Weber said, but we didnt get there. Now after a year of experience, a trip to Europe, adding a couple guys, you hope all that adds up to having success.There have been a couple of departures, of course. Big man Stephen Hurt and veteran scorer Justin Edwards graduated, Brandon Bolden retired due to an injury and Ron Freeman transferred.Meanwhile, the recruiting class that Weber lured to Manhattan may be one of his best, headlined by four-star prospect Xavier Sneed from St. Louis. The 6-foot-5 scoring machine should carve a place in the regular rotation by the season opener against Western Illinois. Fellow freshmen Cartier Diarra and James Love could also earn early playing time.D.J. (Johnson) and I need to lead the young guys and be that big help for them, said senior forward Wesley Iwundu, the top returning scorer. Were just ready to go out there and show everybody what we can do, and just kind of get to it this year.As the Wildcats get ready for the season, here are the major story lines to watch:DEANS PROGRESSDean Wade was the top prep player in Kansas before arriving at Kansas State, but it was a big jump from his tiny high school to the Big 12. The 6-10 Wade, listed at 225 pounds, spent the offseason putting on muscle, but his biggest leap may come in his confidence. Ive been working on getting my mindset right, Wade said. This year I feel like its all coming a lot easier for me.STOKES IS BACKKamau Stokes had his promising freshman season shortchanged by a knee injury that required surgery. He was averaging more than nine points through the first 21 games. We have to be careful with him, Weber said. Mentally he has to go through the fear factor. We obviously need him and we just got to be patient with him but he also has to work at it to get that knee back.EXPERIENCEStokes and Wade arent the only ones who got their first taste of Division I hoops last year. Barry Brown played nearly 26 minutes a game, while Carlbe Ervin II provided some valuable minutes in the backcourt after transferring from an Oklahoma junior college. There has been so much roster turnover at Kansas State that Iwundu could best be described as a survivor. The versatile forward has played important minutes since his freshman season, and has already appeared in 97 games for the Wildcats.POST PRESENCEWade and Johnson area somewhat undersized post players, so finding big bodies to take the place of Hurt will be important. The 6-10 Love and 6-11 redshirt freshman Isiah Maurice could need to step up despite their inexperience.SCHEDULE SITUATIONMost of the Wildcats non-conference games are winnable, including games against Washington State, Colorado State and Boston College. Their toughest test could be if they meet Maryland at the Barclays Center Classic in late November.Im very confident, Ervin said. We have more depth and right now an eight-player rotation. We got a lot of people that know what they are doing now. And experience, D.J. is really, really healthy and Wes is shooting the ball well. Everything is going well right now. Cheap Custom Rangers Jersey . Its sharpness matched my mind. This was no night to go to sleep. 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MIAMI -- Clayton Richard overcame a shaky start for his best performance of the season.Richard pitched a season-high seven innings to help the San Diego Padres beat the Miami Marlins 1-0 on Saturday night to snap a four-game losing streak.He was outstanding, Padres manager Andy Green said. The sinker worked really well today. He is getting better. Command wavered a little bit the first time. After that he really locked it in.Richard (1-3) allowed eight hits and walked one. He struck out three and threw 63 of 94 pitches for strikes.I got into a good rhythm, Richard said. (Derek Norris) was so good behind the plate. I was able to really on him--the combination of that and our defense playing so well. They made a couple of good plays. When you have that type of defense and (Ryan) Schimpf in the lineup, its usually a good thing.Ryan Schimpf homered homered in the fourth inning off Jose Urena (2-5). Schimpf also homered Friday night and has 16 this season -- all since July 1.Its kind of been like that since I was little, Schimpf said about his power. I dont know why. I couldnt explain. Ive had a lot of good coaches along the way to help me out for sure. Right now its staying within the approach and get a good pitch when you want.Kevin Quackenbush worked the ninth, striking out two for his first save since Sept. 22, 2014, against Colorado.Quacks got a little heartbeat, Green said. He is who hes going to be every single time out. He executed his pitches after going 2 and 0 to Ichiro (Suzuki). The rest of the inning was very smooth for him.Martin Prado had four hits for the fourth time this season.Urena (2-5) allowed one run and four hits in 5 2/3 innings. He struck out six and walked two.I tried to keep the ball down and that was a pretty good game, Urena said.Prado led off the eighth with a hit off Jose Dominguez. Dee Gordon pinch-ran for Prado and was stranded at second after Brad Hand relieved Dominguez and retired the next three batters.dddddddddddd.The Marlins had two hits in the first and three in the second, but no runs to show for it. Robert Andino grounded out to Richard with the bases loaded in the second to end the threat.Obviously those are opportunities you hope that they dont come back and get you later and obviously tonight in a 1-0 game you think about those, Marlins manager Don Mattingly said.Miami was 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position and left eight on base while getting shut-out for the sixth time in their last 32 games.TRAINERS ROOMMarlins: RHP Andrew Cashner (blister) will be scratched from Sundays start and LHP Justin Nicolino will take his place after being recalled from Triple-A New Orleans. Cash has that little finger thing and it didnt seem to want to--we were hoping it would heal and it just stayed tender and wasnt able to get it to where we needed to go, Mattingly said. ... 2B Dee Gordon was held out of the starting lineup for the second straight game for rest. Gordon was held out Friday, but ended up going 0 for 3 after entering the game in the sixth. I felt like he was tired going into the game yesterday and then he ends up getting three at-bats, playing a lot of it and I felt like with a day game tomorrow I want him in there for sure, Mattingly said. I dont think he was very happy, but if that had been a normal game last night he would be in there today.UP NEXTPadres: RHP Luis Perdomo (6-7, 6.24) will start Sundays series finale. Perdomo tied a career high with seven innings in his last start against Arizona allowing one run.Marlins: LHP Justin Nicolino (2-5, 5.57) will take Andrew Cashners spot in the rotation and make his 13th start of the season, first since July 6. ' ' '
