By Blair Kerkhoff
Don’t lay too much blame on Jacob Pullen. Yes, he had a tough shooting night, hitting only one of 12. But as good as Duke’s Kyrie Irving was guarding Pullen, the Blue Devils’ interior defense was just as impressive.
We had a great vantage point from our end zone seat to see how difficult it was for the Wildcats to make entry passes. And if K-State got it inside, Duke was quick with the double team. The Wildcats gave up a few possessions in the first half throwing it away against this pressure.
As for Pullen, he said it was just one of those nights.
“I got a lot of looks that I like,” he said. “A lot of looks that usually go in didn’t rim in.”
He was just as impressed with Duke’s offense.
“They’re so tough to guard,” Pullen said. “They run NBA-spaced offense. You can’t play help (defense) against them. If you do they’ll pick you apart.”
K-State Coach Frank Martin summed it up this way: “If there’s a team better than them, I don’t want to play them.”
NOTES
– K-State’s 21 turnovers gave them at 43 for the tournament. The mistakes the night before against Gonzaga were offset by 12-for-26 three-point shooting. Against Duke, the Wildcats went three of 17 from behind the arc.
– As poorly as the Wildcats played in the first half, they would have been right there had they made some free throws. K-State went five of 11 in the first half and Curtis Kelly, who otherwise had a solid offense game with 19 points, missed two front ends. For the night, the Wildcats went 11 of 23.
For the season, the Wildcats are a 51.5-percent free-throw shooting team. Among the uglier totals: Martavious Irving (1-for-7), Wally Judge (1-for-6), Jordan Henriquez-Roberts (2-for-9).
