Big 12 Roundup: K-State edges Iowa State

By The Associated Press     Feb 6, 2011

? Kansas State 86, Iowa State 85

Down one with the ball and the shot clock turned off, Kansas State coach Frank Martin called a play his team hadn’t run all year.

Predictably, the Wildcats didn’t execute the way Martin drew it up. But as he’s done so often in his brilliant career, Jacob Pullen was there to bail them out.

Pullen sliced through traffic for a layup with 2.6 seconds left, and Kansas State rallied for its first Big 12 road win.

Pullen scored 17 of his 21 points in the second half to lead the Wildcats (16-8, 4-5 Big 12), who’ve won two straight following a humbling 90-66 loss at rival Kansas last weekend.

Pullen nearly lost the ball before tossing a one-hander off the glass, capping a stellar clutch performance from Kansas State’s senior leader.

“Jacob did what good players do, they make a play. It’s not always the X and the O. It’s sometimes the player within the X and the O that makes a play that makes the difference,” Martin said.

Pullen brought the Wildcats within 81-80 with 2:20 left, and his three with 53 seconds left cut the Cyclones’ lead to 85-84. Diante Garrett then missed a layup, giving KSU one more chance to put the ball in Pullen’s hands.

“A lot of times we get down on the road, and we panic and take bad shots. Just wanted to settle down and take the shots that were given to me,” Pullen said. “It was a win that we needed — a win that we needed a lot.”

Iowa State’s Jamie Vanderbeken, who drilled a long turnaround three at the buzzer to beat Creighton earlier this season, missed a similar shot at the buzzer.

Garrett had 23 points, Scott Christopherson added 22, and Vanderbeken had 18 for Iowa State (14-10, 1-8), which has lost two Big 12 games in overtime and two others by a point in the final seconds.

“I was proud of them for their effort (Saturday), for fighting all game to give us a chance. We made big plays. Diante was outstanding; Scott made big shots,” Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg said. “We gave ourselves a chance, and that’s what you have to do. The ball just didn’t bounce our way at the end.”

No. 3 Texas 76, Texas Tech 60

Austin, Texas — Jordan Hamilton and Gary Johnson had 16 points apiece, and Texas remained unbeaten in the Big 12.

The Red Raiders kept this one closer than Texas’ 31-point romp the last time the teams met on Jan. 11, cutting the Longhorns’ lead to seven in the second half. But J’Covan Brown made two three-pointers in a 90-second span to help end the rally and give the Longhorns the push to put the game away.

Brown finished with 10 points for Texas (20-3, 8-0), which is off to its best-ever start in the Big 12.

No. 14 Missouri 89, Colorado 73

Columbia, Mo. — A lineup shuffle might have done the trick for Missouri. Either that, or just being home again.

Kim English busted a scoring slump with 21 points in a rare reserve role, and the Tigers rattled Colorado into a season-worst 23 turnovers.

“It’s kind of easy to have energy at home,” said English, who came off the bench for only the second time this season. “You know one big play will get the crowd involved.”

Marcus Denmon added 17 points, and Ricardo Ratliffe had 14 points and nine rebounds for Missouri (18-5, 4-4 Big 12), which is 0-4 on the road in conference play but has dominated at home. The Tigers are 14-0 in Mizzou Arena and have led by at least 15 points in the second half of the last nine games.

“I think we came out with more energy,” Denmon said. “Everyone was moving around, flying on the defensive end.”

Playing out of town remains a puzzle for the Tigers, who visit second-ranked Kansas on Monday night.

“Unfortunately,” English said. “We can do it, we just have to do it consistently.”

Baylor 76, No. 16 Texas A&M 74, OT

College Station, Texas — Anthony Jones scored on a layup with 3.1 seconds left in overtime, and A.J. Walton stole the ball from Khris Middleton to preserve the victory for Baylor.

Perry Jones, who led the Bears (15-7, 5-4 Big 12) with a season-high 27 points, gave them a 74-73 lead with his three-point play with just over a minute left in overtime. B.J. Holmes made one of two free throw attempts to tie it at 74.

Holmes finished with 19 points to lead Texas A&M (17-5, 4-4).

The Aggies tied it 69-all on a three-pointer by Nathan Walkup with 48 seconds remaining.

Oklahoma State 81, Oklahoma 75

Stillwater, Okla. — Jean-Paul Olukemi scored 19 points, Darrell Williams added a career-high 18 points and 12 rebounds, and Oklahoma State raced back from an early 15-point deficit to snap Oklahoma’s four-game winning streak.

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