I’m courtside at the McKale Center in Tucson, Arizona, where Penn State-Temple just tipped to start play here, one of two West Regional games to start the day. San Diego State takes on Northern Colorado in the other. The two Southeast Regional games this evening are Wisconsin-Belmont followed by, of course, Utah State-Kansas State, which is scheduled for about a 7 p.m. tip here and 9 p.m. back home. The campus, and this arena in particular, has a ton of tradition. And today, a ton of green. Enough so that it looks like we’re at a Notre Dame game.
Yestreday’s media day was eventful, but the biggest story was Kansas State guard Jacob Pullen’s illness. Or Cheeseburgergate, if you prefer. Whatever it was, it shook up KSU fans a little bit (on Twitter, at least) but K-State officials said Pullen ate breakfast with his teammates this morning and will play today. I’ll be giving updates all day at www.twitter.com/t_adame – the majority of which will be concerning KSU-Utah St. and I will definitely be giving updates on how Pullen looks when he comes out for warmups – i.e. if he seems pallid or dragging a little bit.
Here’s the links to what Kellis Robinett, Bob Lutz, photo/video guy Travis Heying and myself were working on yesterday:
Checking in from the McKale Center in Tucson with a look at today’s activities. All of the Southeast Regional teams here won’t get started until the afternoon with the teams from the West Regional — Penn State, Temple, San Diego State and Northern Colorado — going through media sessions and practice first. Southeast teams will go through media/practice starting at 4:25 in the order of Wisconsin, Kansas State, Belmont and Utah State. It’s spring break here on the University of Arizona campus so it seems empty right now … that all changes in the next 24 hours, obviously.
From last year I can tell you that on the media side the one press conference nobody will miss is K-State coach Frank Martin, who is going on at about 4:45. He’s the big draw, as is the Utah State-KSU game, which seems to be the one everybody here is talking about.
That’s all I’ve got for now. Busy day ahead.
-Tony Adame
PS. Here’s a little “Arizona” for you to start the day
Kansas State is much better at the free-throw line today than it was at the beginning of the season.
Last week, I dedicated an entire blog entry to the topic. But none of the Wildcats’ recent success from the charity stripe has come in the face of Utah State superfan Wild Bill.
If he makes the trip from Logan, Utah, to Tucson and scores a prime seat behind the basket this week at the NCAA Tournament, K-State players won’t want to look into the crowd.
You’ve probably seen him on ESPN by now, but in case you haven’t witnessed the humorous (and amazingly effective) antics of college basketball’s most famous distraction-causing fan, check out the video below.
Texas dropped to a No. 4 seed, Texas A&M fell to a No. 7 seed and Colorado is headed to the NIT.
Frank Martin was shocked on all three accounts.
“Our league continues to get slighted nationally, and it’s unfair,” Martin said. “Our league doesn’t take a backseat to anybody.”
Despite being considered one of the top basketball conferences in the country, the Big 12 only landed five teams in the NCAA Tournament (Kansas is a No. 1 seed, Kansas State a No. 5 seed and Missouri a No. 11 seed). Martin insists the conference deserved more.
“I’m disappointed our league didn’t get six in,” he said. Read More »
Kansas State and South Dakota are about to become familiar foes.
In a release issued by South Dakota’s athletic department Friday, the Coyotes announced they have agreed to play the Wildcats in football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball. All three games are one-time arrangements (money games), and will be played in Manhattan.
K-State will host the South Dakota football team on Sept. 5, 2015. Both basketball games will take place on to-be-determined dates during the 2012-13 season.
Colorado’s 87-75 victory over Kansas State on Thursday in the Big 12 Tournament revealed two things about the Wildcats.
1. If they draw an opponent with skilled guards capable of both driving to the basket and making threes in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, they will be in a lot of trouble.
2. K-State doesn’t take three losses to the same opponent very well.
Let’s start by examining that first revelation. The Wildcats lost to the Buffaloes for the third time this season, mostly because they didn’t know how to guard Alec Burks and Cory Higgins.
The talented, oversized duo of guards combined for 52 points and demanded so much attention from K-State’s defense that they also set their teammates up with open shots.
“That’s the problem with playing Colorado,” K-State coach Frank Martin said. “They’re a hard matchup for us, because their two wings are real good off the dribble and our weakness the whole year has been our ability to guard the dribble.” Read More »
Back when Kansas State was one of the worst free-throw shooting teams in the entire country, the Wildcats had no choice but to get creative.
Not only did Frank Martin and his coaching staff try every shooting drill and practice technique they could think of to fix the problem, they issued special challenges to their players.
In the case of Will Spradling, who is one of the best foul shooters on K-State’s roster, assistant coach Brad Underwood challenged the freshman guard to beat his personal record for consecutive free throws made, which he set while playing for K-State by draining 111 straight.
Underwood checked in with Spradling every few days after that with one simple question: “You beat my record yet.”
When Spradling finally did, Underwood didn’t need to ask.
“I remember waking up to a voicemail from him,” Underwood said. “I knew then he got it. On his message he says, ‘Coach, I didn’t just break your record, I shattered it.’”
While practicing in Bramlage Coliseum one night, Spradling sank 149 straight free throws. Pretty impressive to you or me. Not to Underwood. Read More »
The politically correct answer for any college basketball player this time of year is: “I don’t care who we play.”
The Kansas State Wildcats understand that, but they are taking a different approach heading into the Big 12 Tournament, where they will face Iowa State or Colorado on Thursday.
No offense to the Cyclones, but they don’t want to see Iowa State a third time.
“We kinda want to play Colorado really bad,” said sophomore forward Jordan Henriquez-Roberts. “Even though we lost to them twice, we’re looking forward to that rematch.” Read More »
When Frank Martin heard Texas Tech had fired Pat Knight on Monday, the Kansas State basketball coach felt for his colleague.
“It’s the ugly side of this business,” Martin said Monday evening. “I’d rather not comment. I’ll probably get myself in trouble if I say what I feel.”
Knight, who took over the Red Raiders from his father, Bob, in February 2008, guided Texas Tech to a 13-18 overall record this season and a 5-11 mark in Big 12 play. His overall record was 50-60, and included zero trips to the NCAA Tournament. He will stay on as coach during the Big 12 Tournament.
During his brief time as head coach in Lubbock, he established a friendship with Martin. The two regularly dined with each other the night before their teams played. Martin is confident Knight will coach again.
“He’ll survive,” Martin said. “Pat is one of the good guys in this business. He does his job the right way, and it’s … we all understand what we get into when we sign up for this job. When good guys get let go, it’s something I don’t enjoy seeing.”
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