Nearly two weeks ago, following a closer-than-expected victory over IUPUI, Frank Martin said his Kansas State basketball team was soft.
Today he says the opposite.
The Wildcats went up against Xavier on a cold, snowy Tuesday night and won rather convincingly 71-56 because they showed toughness.
All but two players who saw action scored and six players scored at least seven points. That, and a fantastic rebounding performance, made up for leading scorers Denis Clemente and Jacob Pullen combining for a below-average 24 points.
“We don’t have to rely on one person to score,” said Pullen, who scored 16. “We take what we get each night. … That’s the type of thing that makes a team talented and deep and makes ‘em have a deep run come March.”
K-State certainly looks like a team that could win a few postseason games right now.
The Wildcats are 8-1 on the season and own wins against the Atlantic 10′s two best teams (Xavier and Dayton) and Washington State. They are receiving more and more votes in the polls each week, and if they beat No. 18 UNLV on Saturday they likely will bust into the Top 25.
K-State is in this position because of its ability to win in different ways.
Most of the season, Pullen and Clemente have scored the lion’s share of the points (Pullen had scored 20 or more in four straight games before Tuesday and Clemente is almost always in double figures) but against Xavier they pulled away thanks to everyone else.
“We’ve got other parts,” Martin said.
With Xavier defenders focusing on K-State’s two veteran guards, the Wildcats hit the glass — hard. Jamar Samuels, Dominique Sutton and Curtis Kelly all had at least seven rebounds and K-State won the battle of the boards 46-33. At halftime, it was winning the battle by 20.
“They were foaming at the mouth to start the game,” Xavier coach Chris Mack said. “We could not answer them.”
It also held Xavier to 29.4 percent shooting from the field.
It’s tough for a soft team to produce those numbers.
Emptying the notebook:
– Poor weather conditions kept a good number of seats at Bramlage empty, but the K-State student section was jam-packed. KSU officials said it was the largest student crowd of the season.
Players were so appreciative of their presence that they did a victory lap around the court following the game and made sure anyone who wanted a five or “thank you” got one.
Martin was blown away by the crowd.
“I walk out of that tunnel and the passion of our fans get me going. I fully expected us to come out here tonight and see 2,000-3000 people, and when I walked out of that tunnel and saw those students …
“The part that just really, really got me there was a moment in the game when those guys got so loud that I couldn’t believe it. Our fans are so committed to our team. They battled the conditions to come in here and help us.”
– Clemente didn’t score his first points until late in the second half.
– Martavious Irving is playing better by the game. He scored eight points in 19 minutes.
Player of the game: Curtis Kelly. The forward scored 15 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead K-State to victory. His near double-double was exactly what the Wildcats needed.
Play of the game: It was a tight game for much of the first half, but K-State started to pull away when Jamar Samuels made a three-pointer to spark an 18-3 run that spanned both halves.
Do this again: Anytime K-State approaches 50 rebounds in a game, it will likely win.
Try to avoid: The Wildcats struggled from deep, making just 4 of 17 three-point shots.
Bottom line: Beat a team like Xavier by 15 when your two best scorers have off nights, and you know you’re doing something right. K-State is playing like a Top 25 team.