How big is today’s CBE Classic championship game between fourth-ranked Kansas State and top-ranked Duke?
So big that there is virtually no way to over hype it.
The Wildcats are striving for a marquee victory that will prove themselves capable of handling high expectations. The Blue Devils and coach Mike Krzyzewski are, well, Duke: the defending national champion everyone loves to hate. Except Frank Martin, that is.
“I look at two things,” Martin said. “No. 1, it’s hard to be good for one year. They’ve been good for 28 years. They’ve competed for national championships and conference championships for 28 years. That’s ridiculous.
The other part of it, which shows the kind of man that leads that program, and the people that he demands to have in that program, USA Basketball had become the laughing stock of the world. All of a sudden he engages in USA basketball and now USA basketball is back to dominating the world.
“It’s going to be a privilege to tell my grand kids one day that I was able and fortunate enough to sit on the bench opposite Coach K, and try to prepare a team to compete against his.”
It will be a difficult task.
Duke is battle tested and experienced. Led by Kyle Singler and Mason Plumlee, who absolutely destroyed Marquette with 25 points and 12 rebounds yesterday, it is hard to match up against.
The Wildcats will try to tire them out with their depth.
Following K-State’s 81-64 victory over Gonzaga last night, during which Martin shuffled in 14 players and played 10 players for nine or minutes, Jacob Pullen said his team features more depth than anyone else in the country.
“I believe in playing people,” Martin explained.
Pullen only played for 26 minutes against the Bulldogs and was fine with the number. He knew he would need his rest for the first can’t-miss game of the college basketball season tonight.
EMPTYING THE NOTEBOOK
– Will Spradling continues to impress. The freshman guard made two three-pointers and scored 13 points against Gonzaga.
“I had watched him a bunch on tape and I liked how his head was,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. “He made a huge difference in the first half. He is aggressive on the offensive end in getting his shot. With him and Pullen in there, they have a pretty good weapon. Every game I have watched, I feel like he comes in and helps them.”
– Pullen gave a humorous response when asked if beating Duke would put K-State in the conversation for the nation’s No. 1 ranking.
“You win games now and you drop in the polls, so I don’t know,” he said, pointing to the Wildcats falling from No. 3 to No. 4 this week. “I hope if we win we move up a spot or two.”
– Curtis Kelly saw his first action of the season and scored three points and grabbed four rebounds.
Both Pullen and Martin said he was rusty, but that it was good to have him back.
“He’s back to being the guy that got a college degree from K-State, and the guy who helped lead us into the Elite Eight last year,” Martin said. “I think you see the presence he brings to our basketball team. When Curt is zoned in and paying attention to what’s happening, he’s real good.”
– Rodney McGruder is one of this team’s best rebounders. He grabbed nine to lead K-State against Gonzaga.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Jacob Pullen. The senior guard hit four three-pointers, scored 18 points and looked like the high-caliber scorer he was last season. He got risky with a few passes, but his leadership far outweighed those mistakes.
PLAY OF THE GAME: Victor Ojeleye buried a three-pointer from the corner to give K-State a 49-32 lead late in the first half. Proof that good shooting can be contagious.
THAT WAS SWEET: K-State made 12 three-pointers against Gonzaga, with nine coming in the first half. As Martin would later put it: “When you make threes the way we did, you have a good chance to win.”
WHAT A DOWNER: Gonzaga continually found easy shots inside off interior passes and backdoor cuts in the first half. That wore off as the game went along, and K-State took a large lead, but it’s still something the Wildcats can work on defensively.
NEXT UP: If you like college basketball, you will want to watch tonight’s game. It tips at 8:30 p.m. (more realistically 9) on ESPN2.
SAY WHAT? “You have to pick your poison against them. You either have to double their big men or play out on their guards.” — Few on the difficulties of defending K-State.
