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Posted: 9:35 PM Mar 20, 2010
Pullen scores 34 and K-State heads to "Sweet 16"
Jacob Pullen and Kansas State are moving on, thanks to a physical brand of basketball that was too much for even Fredette's prison-toughened game
Reporter: Associated Press Email Address: sports@kktv.com |
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OKLAHOMA CITY -- BYU's Jimmer Fredette got smacked in the face, whacked on the head and then sent home from the NCAA tournament.
Jacob Pullen and Kansas State are moving on, thanks to a physical brand of basketball that was too much for even Fredette's prison-toughened game.
Pullen scored 20 of his career-high 34 points in the first half to help dig No. 2 seed Kansas State out of an early 10-point hole, and the Wildcats turned away Fredette and BYU 84-72 on Saturday night in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
Pullen came alive with a scoring flurry shortly after he and Fredette got tangled up in transition in the first half, and K-State (28-7) wouldn't trail again in earning its first round of 16 appearance since 1988.
Pullen matched his career-best with seven 3-pointers and surpassed 30 points for the third time in his career. Down the stretch, he helped seal the victory with a 3-pointer and six free throws. Equally as important as his scoring was his physical defense against Fredette, who had scored 37 points to get the seventh-seeded Cougars (30-6) past Florida in double overtime in the first round.
Kansas State did something it couldn't even do with future No. 2 NBA draft pick Michael Beasley on the roster two years ago, moving on to face the winner of a Sunday game between No. 3 seed Pittsburgh and sixth-seeded Xavier next weekend in Salt Lake City.
Fredette finished with 21 points on 4-of-13 shooting, breaking his string of three straight games with at least 30 points.
Fredette put his stamp on March Madness with a combination of tricky scoop shots and clutch 3-pointers as he matched BYU's NCAA tournament scoring record in the opening game. It only added more intrigue that he had a unique nickname -- created by his mother to distinguish him from her brother, who's also named James -- and his experience toughening up in pickup games against inmates at upstate New York prisons.
Copyright 2010 By The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
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