Wildcats pummel Bulldogs
By Brad Dornes
From tip-off to the final game buzzer, K-State dominated the Gardner-Webb Bulldogs in nearly every aspect of the game. The Wildcats never relinquished the lead during their 107-48 victory Sunday night in Bramlage Coliseum.
The 107-point effort was the most points scored by a K-State men’s basketball team since 1998 when K-State beat Missouri 111-56.
Sophomore guard Jacob Pullen led the way for the Wildcats with 14 points and 11 assists – his first career double-double.
“I thought I would of gotten it last year playing with Mike and Bill,” he said. “Everyone played well today, so I didn’t have to do so much offensively.”
Along with Pullen three other Wildcats scored in double digits. Denis Clemente and Jamar Samuels each had 20 points and Fred Brown scored 18 points by shooting 6-9 from behind the 3-point arc.
“When we play this well and when we play together as a team, those games are fun,” Pullen said. “We’re getting assists, we’re getting in transition and we’re doing everything we do in practice.”
K-State (7-3) applied defensive pressure throughout the game forcing the Bulldogs into 26 turnovers and scoring 41 points off those turnovers.
The Wildcats pulled away from the Bulldogs by utilizing scoring runs of 17-0 in the first half and 20-2 in the second half. K-State’s stretched its biggest lead to 62 points with 4:23 left in the game.
A dunk by Buchi Awaji with 5:46 left to go in the second half put the Wildcats over the century mark for the first time all season and the first time since the Wildcats beat Missouri 100-63 on February 16 last season.
“We played good defense and shared the ball well on offense,” head coach Frank Martin said. “We attack on the transition and got everyone shots. We made every single open three and that is a heck of a recipe to win ball games.”
Next up for the Wildcats will be the Centenary Cyclones at 1 p.m. on Saturday in Bramlage Coliseum.