COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Big 12/Pac-10
Hardwood Series
Friday’s game
No. 5 KANSAS STATE 63,
WASHINGTON STATE 58
KANSAS STATE (7-1)
Asprilla 2-6 0-3 4, Kelly 7-11 1-3 15, Pullen 2-11 3-4 8, Russell 0-4 0-0 0, McGruder 5-8 0-0 15, Southwell 0-0 0-0 0, Irving 0-2 0-2 0, Ojeleye 1-2 0-0 3, Henriquez-Roberts 0-0 0-0 0, Samuels 4-7 4-5 12, Spradling 2-7 2-2 6. Totals 23-58 10-19 63.
WASHINGTON ST. (5-1)
Casto 3-8 3-4 9, Lodwick 0-1 0-0 0, Capers 4-7 1-2 9, Thompson 5-15 5-9 16, Aden 4-13 0-0 8, Moore 4-5 1-2 10, DiIorio 0-0 0-0 0, Motum 0-3 3-4 3, Winston Jr. 0-1 0-0 0, Enquist 0-0 0-2 0, Simon 1-4 0-0 3. Totals 21-57 13-23 58.
Halftime_Kansas St. 30-22. 3-Point Goals_Kansas St. 7-22 (McGruder 5-7, Ojeleye 1-2, Pullen 1-6, Irving 0-1, Russell 0-2, Spradling 0-4), Washington St. 3-16 (Moore 1-2, Simon 1-3, Thompson 1-7, Motum 0-1, Lodwick 0-1, Aden 0-2). Fouled Out_Lodwick, Motum. Rebounds_Kansas St. 45 (McGruder, Samuels 8), Washington St. 33 (Casto 7). Assists_Kansas St. 11 (Pullen 5), Washington St. 8 (Moore, Thompson 3). Total Fouls_Kansas St. 20, Washington St. 18. Technical_Kelly. A_11,671.
PULLMAN, Wash. (AP) — The delirious crowd inside Beasley Coliseum had gone from derisive chants about Saturday’s Apple Cup football game against Washington, to an ear-piercing din as Washington State took the lead in the closing minutes.
Exactly the kind of situation Kansas State coach Frank Martin wanted his No. 5 Wildcats to face, especially with preseason All-America selection Jacob Pullen a non-factor offensively.
Rodney McGruder scored 15 points, hitting two key 3-pointers midway through second half, Kelly also had 15 points and the Wildcats made up for an off night from their star in a 63-58 victory over Washington State on Friday night in the Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood Series.
Pullen wasn’t completely absent from having a hand in this victory. He hit two free throws with 9.1 seconds left that finally sealed a challenging road victory for the Wildcats, their first road win over a Pac-10 team since 1980.
It was one of the few enjoyable moments for Pullen, who rarely got open looks and when he did, his shot was off. Pullen was just 2 of 11 from the field and finished with eight points, just the second time in 44 games dating to his sophomore season Pullen has failed to score in double figures.
Less than two weeks ago, Pullen suffered through the second-worst shooting game of his career missing 11 of 12 shots in Kansas State’s loss to No. 1 Duke. Friday night wasn’t much better, but the Wildcats (7-1) managed to survive.
After playing Gonzaga and the Blue Devils in Kansas City, Mo., the trip to Pullman for a rare Friday night contest was the Wildcats’ biggest test until facing Florida and UNLV in back-to-back games later this month.
Despite the high ranking, Martin really wanted to see how his team would respond when pressed and when the crowd wasn’t mostly purple.
Klay Thompson led Washington State (5-1) with 16 points, and Reggie Moore, in his first action of the season, added 10 points, as the Cougars tried to prove their 5-0 start to the season wasn’t a fluke despite the weak competition.
After trailing by 10 early in the second half, Washington State took a 54-53 lead when Moore found DeAngelo Casto alone underneath with 2:35 left. It was Washington State’s first lead since 10-7 in the opening moments, erasing the bad memory of going the final 12:46 of the first half with just one field goal and erupting the nearly full arena.
Jamar Samuels split a pair of free throws to pull even at 54 and after a WSU turnover, Pullen found Kelly open underneath for a 56-54 lead.
Thompson and Moore missed 3s at the other end for the Cougars, and while Pullen missed a 17-footer with a minute left, he grabbed the long offensive rebound to give the Wildcats another possession to burn time.
The Wildcats worked around the perimeter and found Samuels on the block. He turned into the lane, paused long enough to get Casto’s timing for the block attempt off and scored from six feet with 32 seconds left.
