Feb. 23, 2011
 
Poor shooting at the line prevent the come back.
 
Lincoln. — Nebraska overcame a seven-point first half deficit and was within one point with 1:31 remaining, but Kansas State point guard Jacob Pullen scored 20 of his game-high 27 points in the second half, lifting the Wildcats to a 61-57 win over the Huskers on Wednesday night at the Devaney Center.

Nebraska, which held its last lead at 38-37 with 14:31 left, trimmed a six-point deficit to 54-53 after Lance Jeter's basket and had an opportunity to tie the score, but Jeter's free throw bounced off the rim. The Wildcats extended their lead to 55-53 after Will Spradling split a pair of free throws with 1:04 left, and after a missed Husker 3-point attempt, hit the free throws down the stretch.

KSU (19-9, 7-6 Big 12) went 7-of-10 from the foul line in the final 1:04 to remain ahead, as Pullen was a perfect 4-of-4 from the line.

The Huskers (18-9, 6-7 Big 12) pulled to within 58-56 on Eshaunte Jones' 3-pointer with 13 seconds left and had a chance trailing 59-56 after Martavious Irving split two free throws. KSU fouled Jeter with eight seconds left before he was able to get a good look at a 3-pointer. The senior hit the first attempt and intentionally missed the second, but Nebraska was unable to get a rebound as the ball didn't hit the rim and Pullen hit two free throws with four seconds left to ice the game.

It was a defensive struggle for both teams, as both squads were held under 40 percent, but Nebraska was doomed by 17 turnovers which were converted to 24 points, while KSU had just 10 turnovers.

"Kansas State is a very good basketball team," head coach Doc Sadler said. "They are athletic inside and have some size, (but) the bottom line is, when you play teams as good as Kansas State, you can't turn the basketball over 17 times. They had 24 points off our turnovers and I don't think we can guard any better than we guarded."

Jeter led Nebraska with 11 points, seven rebounds and three assists, while juniors Brandon Richardson and Caleb Walker chipped in nine points apiece, as the Huskers saw their three-game win streak snapped and lost for just the second time at home all season.

Pullen led all scorers with 27 points, hitting 10-of-11 from the line to off-set a 7-of-17 performance from the floor, while Rodney McGruder added 11 points and eight rebounds Nebraska fought through a scrappy first half in which it committed 12 turnovers, but trailed just 29-27 at the break. McGruder helped KSU to a quick start, scoring seven of his points in the first six and a half minutes to build a 12-8 lead. Nebraska eventually forged ahead 13-12 after a Jeter lay-up, but Kansas State used a 7-0 spurt to build a 19-13 lead after a Jamar Samuels jumper.

The Wildcats eventually pushed the lead to seven points, before a three-point play from Caleb Walker and two Brandon Ubel free throws pulled the Huskers within 23-21. Nebraska trailed 27-23 before a Jones basket and two Richardson free throws tied the score at 27 with 1:56 left in the half but Pullen hit a lay-up with 28 seconds left to spot the visitors a two-point halftime lead.

The Huskers had a strong effort to open the second half, beginning with a hook shot from sophomore Jorge Brian Diaz to tie the game 29-29. After a Pullen 3-pointer, Walker answered with a trey from the corner to tie it again, 32-32, in a highly-energized start to the second half. Jeter then ignited the crowd with a fadeaway 3-pointer from the corner to give NU a 35-34 lead. K-State retook the lead again before Walker drove to the bucket and converted a 3-point play to put NU ahead 38-37.

The lead would be short-lived as KSU ran off the next six points to build a 43-38 lead after Pullen's 3-pointer. The Wildcats' lead would hover until a four-point sequence nearly drew the game evening.

Trailing 48-43 with 5:24 left, Brandon Ubel collected an offensive rebound off a missed free throw and was fouled, while K-State coach Frank Martin was called for a technical. Richardson and sophomore Brandon Ubel hit all four free throws to cut the lead to 48-47, setting up a frantic final five minutes.

The Huskers will now head on the road for a Saturday afternoon matchup at Iowa State. Tipoff from Hilton Coliseum is set for 12:30 p.m., in a game televised by the Big 12 Network.

Nebraska Game Notes

*-Kansas State becomes the second team to win at the Devaney Center this year, as Nebraska falls to 16-2 at home this season.

*-Seven of Nebraska's 13 Big 12 games have been decided by five points or less. NU falls to 3-4 in those contests.

*-In six of Nebraska's nine losses, the Huskers have been within five points with 2:30 remaining (NU trailed 54-50).

*-Nebraska was held to a season-low 34.7 shooting from the field, as the Huskers' previous low was 35.3 percent against Vanderbilt.

*-Nebraska out-rebounded Kansas State, 38-32, after KSU came into the game ranked second in the Big 12 in rebounding margin.

*-Nebraska committed 17 turnovers, its third-highest total of the season, against Kansas State, and those turnovers led to 24 Kansas State points. The Huskers had committed a total of 22 turnovers in the previous two contests.

*-Nebraska held Kansas State to just 36.2 percent shooting, the 15th opponent that Nebraska has held to under 40 percent this season.

*-Jorge Brian Diaz's four blocked shots were a career high, topping his previous high of three set on several occasions. Diaz now has 12 games with multiple blocked shots this season.

*-Brandon Ubel's seven rebounds were his highest total in Big 12 play this season, topping his previous high of five on three occasions.

Quotes Nebraska Head Coach Doc Sadler Opening Statement "I think there are two or three things that you can go back to. Kansas State is a very good basketball team. They are athletic inside and have some size, (but) the bottom line is, when you play teams as good as Kansas State, you can't turn the basketball over 17 times. They had 24 points off our turnovers and I don't think we can guard any better than we guarded."

On the defensive effort "You take the turnovers away and the points they got off the turnovers, that's a pretty good night. You take away the fact that you gave a team like that only nine offensive rebounds, that's a good night. Points off of turnovers were huge and we missed free-throws. That's something that we haven't been doing, and when it's a 1- or 2-point ballgame, you go back and look at the free-throws that we missed. I thought both teams played as hard and you could play, and I couldn't be prouder. As I told the team, it hurts. It hurts to lose, but when you prepare like we did Monday and Tuesday, not that there is any less hurt, at least we know that we did what we needed to do."

On if the two intentionally missed free-throws were planned "Not the first one, it wasn't."

On the second one "Yeah."

On the big guys shooting 3-17 in the game "I can't ask for any more than that. You got it where you wanted it. They tried hard. Our guys did a great job of getting them the ball and they did a great job of getting themselves open. Like you said, you look at it, 3-17, you come up short in that area."

On being able to give the ball to a player like Jacob Pullen late in the game "One guy, 27 points. He made the plays down the stretch. I thought Frank (Martin) did a nice job of running the clock and they got the ball in their two best players' hands. He made the plays. He got to the free-throw line and he made free-throws."

Junior guard Caleb Walker On turnovers being a problem "We lost our focus a little bit when it came to turnovers. That's something we can't do, especially in the first half. That can't happen. That's something we did at their place to. When you play a good team you can't turn over the ball. The turnovers were a killer for us today."

On if anything differed from the last time NU played KSU "Yeah, they ran their offense a lot better than they've been running it. Last time we played them they didn't run it as good, but they executed a lot better this time."

On how frustrating this loss "It's very frustrating especially when you lose at home. I think that if we can get these next three, we would be 9-7 we would still be right there."

On the importance of the Iowa State game now: "It's big, it means a lot. It's the same situation as Texas Tech. We went down there for a big game and couldn't come away with the win. Iowa State is a good team. We had a battle with them here in the first game between us. It's not going to be easy. We just have to go down there prepared and ready."

Senior point guard Lance Jeter On the thoughts behind the intentional missed free throws "Tried to hit it off the backboard quick to try and give our big guys a chance to put it in. It was something that we practiced, but didn't practice much so it was way off. That's why it looked so crazy. You have to complete the play. I have to give my big men a chance and I didn't. That was my fault."

On free throws tonight "Definitely nerves. We've been through this before. With the game on the line you have to concentrate. Down the stretch I had a chance to make some free throws and get some momentum and they didn't fall down."

On how they recover from tonight "You have to have a short memory. When you win you have to have a short memory, and when you lose you have to have a short memory. After Texas we got back on track because we knew what kind of game this was going to be and we had to do that same thing. Right now we're hurt because we feel like we let this one go. Iowa State plays good at home, so we have to regroup and go get this road game."

"This one really hurts us. We are going to come out Saturday ready to play.

Kansas State Head Coach Frank Martin Opening Statement "(It was) just a hard fought win. I'm real proud of our guys. The job Doc Sadler does is off the charts. They're real good. I'm just proud of our guys that we were able to come in here and in a grinding kind of game, to stay the course and to make plays at the end to win."

On if he expected that kind of game "Absolutely. I was tired before the game started. I understood how hard it was going to be."

On the resiliency Kansas State showed in the final four minutes "I'm proud of our guys. We're playing small. We're battling in there and matching up with their size. Ever since the Kansas game, Jordan (Henriquez) hasn't been very good in practice or in the game. He wasn't very good early in the game today, but he went back in there and knew what his team needed. He battled and he defended. And Jacob (Pullen) just put us on his back."

On holding Nebraska's big men to 3-of-16 shooting, and if that was the emphasis: "Absolutely - team effort. They throw it in there. If you can't guard that post now, you're in trouble against Nebraska. All three of our bigs, Curtis (Kelly), Jamar (Samuels) and Jordan (Henriquez), they were pretty solid with their attention to detail as far as the individual match-up scouting report. But our guards also did a heck of a job."

Source: University of Nebraska Athletic Dept.