Over the past month, as Kansas State challenged for a Big 12 championship and a spot in the Final Four, Frank Martin routinely talked about how important it was for his players to embrace the moment.
He told them to push their bodies to the brink, to focus as hard as they could during games and take a shot at being great.
If the Wildcats could accept those challenges, their season would end in one of two ways: euphoria or heartbreak.
Well, Martin’s team did everything he asked, and that meant tears were everywhere in the K-State locker room Saturday.
After winning more games than any other squad in program history, after climbing high up into the national rankings and after making a name for itself in the NCAA Tournament, K-State was beaten by Butler 63-56 and fell one game short of the Final Four.
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By Kellis Robinett
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Tags: Butler, Chris Merriewether, Curtis Kelly, Denis Clemente, Final Four, Freddy Asprilla, Gordon Hayward, Jacob Pullen, Luis Colon, Salt Lake City, Shane Southwell, Will Spradling
Filed under Basketball
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Kansas State’s 101-96 win over Xavier at EnergySolutions Arena on Thursday was so entertaining, so incredible and so epic that you could call it “the greatest game I’ve ever seen,” without fear of disagreement.
Denis Clemente willed K-State to victory in the second half. Jordan Crawford refused to let Xavier lose. Jacob Pullen hit some game-altering three-pointers for the Wildcats. Terrell Holloway played 47 minutes of clutch basketball for the Musketeers.
Both teams were impressive, and that’s what made the game so great.
The madness went on for nearly three hours and two overtimes, and as play went deeper the reactions got bigger.
Exuberant CBS announcer Gus Johnson stood up multiple times during his call and hopped around with excitement. Everyone in the arena — including crushed Syracuse fans — were on their feet after all the huge plays. At one point, the officials all looked at each other in disbelief and shook their heads. They couldn’t believe what they were witnessing either.
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By Kellis Robinett
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Tags: Chris Merriewether, Curtis Kelly, Denis Clemente, double overtime, Energy Solutions Arena, Frank Martin, Jacob Pullen, Jordan Crawford, Kansas State, Terrell Holloway, Xavier
Filed under Basketball
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For 28 games this season, the Kansas State basketball team cruised to 24 wins and soared up the national rankings.
After a shocking 85-82 overtime loss to Iowa State on Saturday at Bramlage Coliseum, combined with a 17-point loss at Kansas earlier in the week, the Wildcats are now headed in the other direction.
How far? Maybe just a spot or two in the polls. Maybe out of the top 10. It all depends on the voters.
What will that mean for K-State’s NCAA Tournament seeding? A No. 1 seed appears out of the question, but it all depends on how the Wildcats play at the Big 12 Tournament. Win a game or two in Kansas City, and they are likely looking at a No. 2 seed. Lose a third straight game and a No. 3 seed may be in the cards.
All that is certain is that K-State needs to perform better in the postseason than it did against the Cyclones if it wants to make a run through March.
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By Kellis Robinett
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Tags: Chris Merriewether, College Gameday Final, Craig Brackins, Curtis Kelly, Cyclones, Denis Clemente, Diante Garrett, Frank Martin, Iowa State, Joe Lunardi, K-State, Kansas, Kansas State, Luis Colon, Wildcats
Filed under Basketball
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The Kansas State basketball team has been strong in nearly every area this season, but free-throw shooting has always found a way of causing it problems.
Coming into Wednesday’s 91-87 victory over Nebraska, the Wildcats had made 65 percent of their foul shots.
The Cornhuskers figured they could use that statistic to their advantage, and went out of their way to foul K-State, thinking a string of misses would get them back in the game. But the Wildcats responded to the strategy by sinking 14 straight free throws to end the game.
How did K-State suddenly become such a clutch free-throw shooting team?
“We’ve been spending a lot of extra time on free throws,” Jacob Pullen said. “Everybody in the locker room has assigned times for free throws, and it’s really during the day during school hours. If you have a break during your class periods, we just take 10-15 minutes to get 100 free throws up at Bramlage or Ahearn, whichever one you’re closest to.”
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When Texas A&M senior Derrick Roland went down earlier this season with a leg injury so horrific that it has been compared to Joe Theismann’s famous break, college basketball players and coaches across the country cringed.
With the Aggies coming to Bramlage Coliseum tonight, K-State basketball coach Frank Martin said his thoughts are still with Roland (a senior guard who is now almost certainly done for the season) and the A&M basketball team.
“My heart goes out to them,” Martin said. “You don’t want to lose a senior. You don’t want to lose a four-year guy. Guys who play the game the right way don’t deserve for those things to happen to them.”
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The first thing Kansas State basketball coach Frank Martin addressed following today’s 74-68 loss at Missouri was the physical contact he made with Chris Merriewether. Here is what he said:
“Before you guys ask any questions, I want to apologize. I flicked, I kinda whacked Chris Merriewether in his side there after that one turnover. We just talked about that in the locker room. That’s a mistake on my part. I’m an old-school guy, but I also understand the times are real sensitive right now. I love him. I don’t know what to tell you. It’s wrong on my part and completely out of line and had no part in the game. I mean to apologize for those actions.”
Merriewether, a senior guard who scored eight points but had a key pass stolen in the closing moments, also discussed the incident. He downplayed it by saying:
“He hit me in the arm. It wasn’t really that serious. Jacob Pullen came back right after and hit me in the arm, too. It really wasn’t too much. I trust Frank and Frank trusts me, and, you know like I said, just a heated moment type deal. It’s all right.
“It’s not a big deal at all. He came up to me after the game, we talked about it. We talked about some other things as well. We’ve just gotta come back Tuesday and get a win. I trust Frank, Frank trusts me. He’s had my back since day one. I’ll always have his back.”