Postgame: K-State 79, Iowa State 75

Sunday6:00 a.m.

After scoring a season-high 30 points during Kansas State’s 79-75 win over Iowa State on Saturday, it’s safe to say Denis Clemente has found his shooting touch.

For the second consecutive game he made half the shots he attempted and scored more than 20 points. He is heating up, and teammates say they don’t see him cooling off anytime soon. Neither does his coach.

Following Saturday’s win, Frank Martin compared Clemente to a baseball player who had watched the majority of his well hit line drives wind up in the gloves of outfielders this season. But now that he’s reached first base with a grounder or two his confidence is up, and he’s back to slugging home runs.

Pretty good analogy considering baseball was Clemente’s first love growing up in Puerto Rico.

“When you’re a good player, and you start feeling better, that’s all it takes,” said Frank Martin. “It’s kind of turning that way for him right now.”
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Scouting the Iowa State Cyclones

Friday10:13 p.m.

With No. 10 Kansas State coming to town Saturday, the Iowa State basketball team will be wearing pink on its shoes and uniforms in an effort to promote the awareness for breast cancer.

But the feminine color may spread all across Hilton Coliseum. The Cyclones are encouraging fans to mix in a few pink shirts with the arena’s traditional cardinal and gold attire.

Sounds like a good idea. Not only will the smattering of pink support a good cause, it could give Iowa State a boost of energy as it tries to pick up its first win over a ranked opponent since 2006 when it beat No. 25 Colorado.

Will the introduction of a new color really help the Cyclones? Probably not, but they could use a change.
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An update on Grant Gregory

Thursday8:41 p.m.

I ran into former Kansas State quarterback Grant Gregory in Manhattan today, and he seemed to be doing well.

He said he will be in town throughout the semester, and is currently working and attending school. In the summer, he will try to become a graduate assistant for a football team somewhere in the South. It is his dream to become a head coach at the college level.

Kansas State is not a likely destination, but he said coach Bill Snyder is actively helping him catch on at another school.

I asked if his injury woes throughout his single season with the Wildcats were as painful as he indicated in this AOL Fanhouse article, and he said yes.
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Big 12 Power Rankings (Week 5)

Thursday5:35 p.m.

There was a time this season when Kansas guard Xavier Henry was considered to be one of the top five freshmen in the country. Now he is struggling to score five points a night.

When Wally Judge originally committed to Kansas State, some compared the freshman forward to Michael Beasley. Now he is fighting for playing time.

After a strong start to his career at Oklahoma, Tiny Gallon has appeared human in five straight games.

All three were McDonald’s All-Americans in high school, but are finding it difficult to showcase their skills now that conference play has begun.
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Postgame: K-State 76, Nebraska 57

Wednesday10:10 a.m.

An elderly man stared blankly ahead, looking as if he was about to fall asleep. Next to him sat a friend playing on his cell phone.

That’s an image the Nebraska video crew decided to show on the JumboTrons last night at the Devaney Sports Center. The camera stayed on them for close to 10 seconds, but neither fellow realized what was going on. They just kept on sitting there looking bored.

It was a lasting image of Kansas State’s 76-57 dismantling of the Huskers. The Wildcats came in ready to go, and won so handily that not a reaction was made across the arena when two unsuspecting people were shown on camera.

Come to think of it, few reactions were made at any point during the game. Behind the hot early shooting of Jamar Samuels (15 points) and hot late shooting of Denis Clemente (23 points) K-State built a large lead and sucked the energy right out of the building.
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Postgame: Kansas 81, K-State 79

Jan. 31, 20102:06 a.m.

Jacob Pullen went toe-to-toe with Sherron Collins, Wally Judge came through with his best game of the season and Bramlage Coliseum was louder than it’s been all year.

The combination made for a terrific atmosphere and even better game Saturday in front of a national television audience, but it wasn’t quite enough to win. No. 2 Kansas defeated No. 11 Kansas State 81-79 in overtime.

It was a difficult loss for most at the Octagon of Doom to take. Fans and players alike put a lot into Saturday, but suffered an oh-so close decision. Afterward, Wildcats coach Frank Martin and his players lamented the mistakes that cost them the game.

No single play stood out to them, but they agreed the game easily could have been theirs.
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Reliving the ‘College GameDay’ experience

Jan. 30, 20101:31 p.m.

As soon as the doors opened to Bramlage Coliseum at 8 a.m. Saturday, the K-State fans came pouring in.

Some had been waiting outside for hours, lining up since before 3 a.m. to get inside their beloved Octagon of Doom. Within minutes, thousands of purple-clad fans were standing on their seats, waving homemade signs and swaying to the Wabash Cannonball.

They were up early to take part in the popular ESPN program “College GameDay,” which was televised live from Bramlage throughout the morning in anticipation of tonight’s 6 p.m. tip between No. 11 Kansas State and No. 2 Kansas.

It was a party from start to finish, and ESPN announcers sent the Wildcats fans away in style by informing them that by coming out in impressive numbers — 8,159 to be exact — they had set a new attendance record for the show.
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Thoughts on the finalized football schedule

Jan. 29, 201011:12 a.m.

Next year’s Kansas State football schedule looks different than any the Wildcats have had in a while under coach Bill Snyder.

What does that mean? Plenty.

Let’s start with what’s good about it. First off, K-State will have a bye week next season. The Wildcats went without a week off last year, and that was not to Snyder’s liking. This time it comes in Week 5, right before a nationally televised Thursday home game with Nebraska.
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A few minutes with … Jay Bilas

Jan. 29, 20101:52 a.m.

Bilas_Jay5.06

Jay Bilas, one of the best college basketball analysts in the business, will soon be in Manhattan to preview Saturday’s must-see game between No. 11 Kansas State and No. 2 Kansas for ESPN’s “College Gameday.”

It is an event both he and K-State fans are looking forward to.

In anticipation of his arrival, he took some time Thursday evening to talk about what he sees in the Wildcats and Jayhawks, why he likes the Big 12 and college basketball in general.

Have you ever been to Manhattan before?

No I haven’t. I’ve been out to Kansas a bunch of times, but never Manhattan. I’m really excited about it.

Have you caught K-State on TV much this season?

Oh yea, I’ve seen ‘em play 1,000 times.

Well what has impressed you about the Wildcats?

I really like the way they play so hard. Early in the season I think I wrote that Kansas State plays harder than any team in the nation. They are a very together team. I was really impressed at how hard they went after it.
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Big 12 Power Rankings (Week 4)

Jan. 28, 201011:32 p.m.

There is no longer a logjam at the top or bottom of the Big 12 conference.

Texas dropped two straight to fall from No. 1, Kansas State suffered a narrow home loss to Oklahoma State and Nebraska can’t buy a win at all.

So for now, we have a solid team everyone else is chasing (Kansas) and a down-on-its-luck team no one is chasing (Nebraska).

The Jayhawks could drop their first conference game of the season at Kansas State on Saturday, but when might the Cornhuskers next be victorious?
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