Pullen’s ‘Player of the Week’ recognition very much deserved

By Ashley Dunkak

For averaging nearly 20 points per game in this past week’s victories over Nebraska and Iowa State, K-State’s senior guard Jacob Pullen has been named the Phillips 66 Big 12 Player of the Week.

Truly, whoever bestowed this recognition certainly knew what he was doing.

Of course, the play everyone remembers from the 86-85 win over the Cyclones is Pullen’s painful but effective (he actually lost the ball as he went to the hoop) drive to the basket for the game-winning layup, after which only 2.6 seconds remained on the clock.

What they should remember is the Pullen’s entire second half, relative to his entire first half. In the opening 20 minutes, he scored one basket and made a pair of free throws. Period. Granted, he only shot the ball four times, as he deferred to the hot hands of freshman Will Spradling and sophomores Martavious Irving and Nick Russell.

Still, this performance was very impressive to me. I’m not saying Pullen’s perfect, because no one is, but the duality he displayed in this game was amazing.

Being easily the most recognizable face on this team, he had the humility and patience to set up others (to the tune of a season high of 8 assists, mind you) and watch them get the razzle-dazzle plays and the high point totals for the first half.

Conversely, after only scoring one bucket in 20 minutes, he had the confidence to step up when needed to keep K-State neck and neck with its opponent and eventually overcome it. In those 20 minutes, he scored 17 points, including that memorable last one.

At the moment that layup went in, hope was restored for the Wildcats. But really, fans should have been excited long before that. Head coach Frank Martin has been calling for leadership all season long, and recently he said he is trying to help players learn how to lead. Based on the play of K-State on Saturday, his lessons have not fallen on deaf ears.