The Kansas State Wildcats can't quite keep up with the Duke Blue Devils on Tuesday night at Kansas City's Sprint Center. Duke leads K-State 47-39 at halftime of a game Duke has controlled for the most part.
Kansas State's preseason All-American, guard Jacob Pullen, is struggling in this one. ESPN's Dick Vitale has repeatedly pointed out Pullen's body language saying he looks sluggish and that he needs to get himself going emotionally. Pullen is just 1-of-5 for three points.
Duke freshman Kyrie Irving leads all scorers with 12 including 6-of-6 at the free throw line. Guard Nolan Smith has added 11 points.
Here are a few of the keys we talked about before the game:
The bench. Kansas State is getting a lot from their bench as their top three reserves have combined for 24 points. The problem? They have just 11 points from their starters.
Free throws. We said before the game that this would be one of the biggest keys to the game. Duke is very good at the line and they're demonstrating that tonight hitting 14-of-18 free throws. Kansas State has struggled this year and they've connected on just 5-of-11 free throws.
Three-pointers. K-State shot very well from beyond the arc on Monday night against Gonzaga but they're coming back to earth connecting on 3-of-11 three-point attempts. Duke has also hit three but on just six attempts.
Duke leads Kansas State at halftime, 47-39.