Kansas State was unable to defeat UNLV without its best two players in the lineup Tuesday at the Sprint Center.
The loss came in front of a raucous sellout crowd, and the shorthanded Wildcats played the Rebels tough before falling 63-59. But it was a painful night for K-State all the same.
“We’re not about losing here,” said an angry Frank Martin. “We’re not about playing hard and coming up close and moral victories. That’s not what we built our program about. We lost, so it wasn’t good enough.”
Martavious Irving and Jamar Samuels later said they also found few positives in the loss. Samuels made a good point about the Wildcats being strong enough to beat Virginia Tech earlier this season with Kelly out of the lineup and Pullen only playing 14 minutes. He thought they should have done the same here.
K-State is certainly a team that should know how to play with members of its roster unavailable. Of the Wildcats’ 16 players, only six (Rodney McGruder, Victor Ojeleye, Nick Russell, Freddy Asprilla, Jordan Henriquez-Roberts and Will Spradling) have seen action in every game this season.
The other 10 have missed anywhere from one game to nine for various reasons. Here is a rundown:
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By Kellis Robinett
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Tags: Curtis Kelly, Frank Martin, Jacob Pullen, Jamar Samuels, Kansas State, Martavious Irving, Rebels, Rodney McGruder, UNLV, Wildcats, Will Spradling
Filed under Basketball
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Kansas State basketball coach Frank Martin, looking more rested than he has in weeks, met with the media one final time today before heading off to the Final Four.
He said he has yet to look back at video replays of either K-State’s epic win over Xavier in the Sweet 16 or disappointing loss to Butler in the Elite Eight, but remembered both so vividly that he could describe every possession.
Martin said he felt bad for Jacob Pullen, because after draining big shot after big shot all season, he had to watch a key three-pointer rattle in and out late against Butler. Had that trey stayed down, K-State would likely be headed to Indianapolis.
Martin also said he still can’t believe the Wildcats held off Xavier. Regrettably, his lasting memory of the NCAA Tournament was watching Jordan Crawford hit a step-back three (from about 30-feet away) at the end of the first overtime. K-State went on to win in double overtime, but at that moment Martin remembers saying, “I don’t know if we can overcome this.”
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By Kellis Robinett
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Tags: Bob Huggins, Denis Clemente, Frank Martin, Freddy Asprilla, Jacob Pullen, Jordan Henriquez-Roberts, K-State, Martavious Irving, NCAA Tournament, Nick Russell, Salt Lake City, Shane Southwell, Will Spradling
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 the Big 12 Conference released its preseason coaches basketball poll, Kansas State was happy to be picked fourth.
Now that the Wildcats are ranked No. 7 in the national polls and have sole possession of second place in the league standings, a fourth-place finish would bring nothing but disappointment.
That’s how drastically things have changed for K-State since October. The Wildcats are now near the top of college basketball’s landscape, and opponents put everything they have into defeating them.
Players and coaches have adjusted to those changes in many different ways. Here’s a sampling:
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More and more Kansas State athletes are beginning to join twitter. Jamar Samuels (or as some of you know him @JamSam32) may be the reason why.
During his recent down time in between games, the Wildcats’ outspoken sixth man has set up a twitter account for teammate Jacob Pullen (@Jpullz0) and convinced freshman Nick Russell (@NickRussell12) to join the social networking site as well.
All three have been active with their tweets, and have given their followers including myself (@KellisRobinett), some entertaining moments.
From Pullen’s twitter this morning: “In class bored … How did anybody on ‘Saved by the Bell’ graduate but never had class?”
From Russell’s twitter: “Just finished my criminal justice exam, lil homie killed it! Now in study table … Get at me!”
From Samuel’s twitter: “Just woke up slept like a baby. Time to get ready for this game 2marow.”
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By Kellis Robinett
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Tags: baseball, Basketball, Evan Marshall, Frank Martin, Jacob Pullen, Jake Rawlin, Jamar Samuels, K-State, Martavious Irving, Nick Russell, Thomas Rooke, twitter, Wally Judge
Filed under Basketball
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When Jamar Samuels was asked to name his favorite freshman on the Kansas State basketball team Monday afternoon, it didn’t take him long to come up with an answer.
“Martavious Irving,” he said. “He’s a defender and just gets after it. I love those types of players that bring energy to the team.”
What impresses Samuels, a sophomore forward, most about Irving, though, is his ability to make three-pointers with or without the help of 20/20 vision.
During K-State’s most recent media session, Samuels said that when Irving came off the bench to hit two three-pointers against UNLV on Dec. 12, he was not wearing his contact lenses.
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At 10:21 on Tuesday night, Bramlage Coliseum was empty except for a cleanup crew and three K-State basketball players.
With a far too close 83-76 victory against Division II Fort Hays State still fresh in their minds, Wally Judge, Martavious Irving and Rodney McGruder came back to the basketball court to get in some extra practice.
The decision to shoot late-night jumpers was not required by Wildcats coach Frank Martin, but after listening to the ultimatums given to them by Martin and junior guard Jacob Pullen they took it upon themselves to start working harder.
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By Kellis Robinett
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Tags: Bramlage Coliseum, Corbin Kuntzsch, Denis Clemente, Dominique Jones, Fort Hays, Frank Martin, Jacob Pullen, Jamar Samuels, Martavious Irving, Rodney McGruder, Tim Peintner, Wally Judge, Willie Hassell
Filed under Basketball
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