One week after the Kansas Jayhawks beat the Baylor Bears, the Kansas State Wildcats came in and did the same. K-State did the same against Baylor, 69-61, on ESPN's Big Monday at Bramlage Coliseum. The Wildcats get a much needed victory after they had lost four of their last five games.
Jacob Pullen finished with 17 points on 4-of-13 shooting along with 7 of 9 from the free throw line. Will Spradling hit all nine free throws he attempted en route to a 17-point night as well. Curtis Kelly had 13 points and seven boards while Rodney McGruder added 12 points and seven rebounds.
Baylor's main man is LaceDarius Dunn and Pullen held him in check much of the night but what really helped K-State was how they started -- a 16-4 run to tip off the game. That lead to a 25-18 advantage at halftime but Baylor had a quick second half push in them and took an early lead in the half before Kansas State responded and pulled away.
"We needed to line up and win, and win against a good team," K-State coach Frank Martin said. "We just needed to line up and figure out a way to win and make us feel good again. To make us understand if we do things the right way, good things will happen. I was real proud of our kids."
Indeed they needed this victory because Kansas State didn't have a respectable win in the Big 12 yet. Since Conference play had started, they beat up on Texas Tech but had lost four other league games to Oklahoma State, Colorado, Missouri and Texas A&M.
Kansas State now moves to 14-7 on the season and 2-4 in the Big 12. The schedule doesn't get any easier later this week when they travel to Lawrence, Kan., to take on the Jayhawks.