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Missouri-Kansas St. Preview

Feb 27, 2010 - 12:27 AM By NICOLINO DIBENEDETTO STATS Writer

Missouri (21-7) at Kansas State (23-4), 8:00 p.m. EDT

The Big 12 regular-season title might be out of reach for Kansas State, but Jacob Pullen has the team on the brink of securing a bye in the conference tournament.

Pullen will try to help the sixth-ranked Wildcats extend their winning streak to seven games Saturday night when they host Missouri, one of only four teams to beat them.

Kansas State (23-4, 10-3) is second in the conference, three games behind first-place and top-ranked Kansas with three games remaining. The Big 12 rivals will meet Wednesday before the Wildcats conclude the regular season against Iowa State next Saturday, while the Jayhawks visit Missouri.

Kansas, which travels to Oklahoma State on Saturday, could clinch the conference title with a win and a loss by Kansas State.

While their conference title odds are slim, the Wildcats can clinch a bye into the quarterfinals of the Big 12 tournament, which begins March 10 in Kansas City, Mo. The top four teams earn byes, and Kansas State has a two-game advantage over No. 21 Texas, 24th-ranked Baylor and No. 22 Texas A&M - all tied for fourth - while holding each of the tiebreakers.

Pullen kept Kansas State rolling Tuesday, connecting on 9 of 14 shots for 28 points with five assists and three steals to spur an 83-64 victory at Texas Tech.

"There was something about his body language and about the message he kept repeating to the team in the locker room and on the bus," coach Frank Martin said of the junior guard. "I've been around him enough to where I'm starting to have reads on him. And I had the feel that he was really, really zoned in."

Pullen is third in the conference, averaging 18.8 points, and posted 21 in a 74-68 loss at Missouri (21-7, 9-4) on Jan. 9.

The Wildcats, though, have won five in a row at home against the Tigers by an average of 19.0 points. Pullen scored 23 in an 88-72 win on Jan. 28, 2009.

Winning at Manhattan for the first time since 2004 could all but assure Missouri a return to the top 25 for the first time since being ranked ninth at the conclusion of last season.

"It's going to be a big game. No question about it," Missouri coach Mike Anderson said. "We were fortunate to pull out a win here. They're one of the hotter teams playing right now in the country-they're playing really, really well."

The Tigers have also played well of late, and received 17 votes in the AP poll this week after beating then-No. 15 Texas and Nebraska. They improved their chances to a return among the elite by shooting 58.3 percent in a 92-63 rout of Colorado on Wednesday.

"We're playing good basketball," Anderson said. "I like how we're playing and putting games together. We're getting a lot more guys to contribute, and that's a good thing. I think the leaders of our basketball team are starting to emerge."

Marcus Denmon is emerging as an offensive threat off the bench. The sophomore guard is averaging 22.5 points on 62.5 percent shooting over the last two games, up from 8.1 points on 41.1 percent from the field in the previous nine.

He scored 14 against Kansas State last month, while Kim English - the team leader at 14.4 points per game - made 3 of 11 shots for eight points.

English has struggled in the last two games, shooting 26.3 percent to average 8.5 points.