"Freshman year, we were really young, we were just happy to be here," said Jacob Pullen. "We won that first game, it was tough for us back then to have quick turnarounds, focus on the next team and understand what we needed to do to win games. So we had a short stay here in the NCAA tournament."
K-State, now a two seed and a veteran team, hopes it has learned its lesson from that experience, as the Wildcats get set to face seventh-seeded Brigham Young University Saturday in the second round of the tournament.
"I think this year — how we prepared for the big 12 tournament — playing three games in three days in the big 12 tournament and really understanding scouting reports and things like that, I think that can be the difference in us having a short stay and a long stay here.
"We're more mature, we can really settle the guys down. That really can be the difference in our stay here."
The test won't be easy. The Cougars, who defeated Florida 99-92 in double overtime Thursday, are 30-5 on the season. They boast the nation's No. 2 scoring offense, averaging 83 points per game.
In addition, BYU ranks third nationally in 3-point field goal percentage, connecting on 42 percent of its attempts, while averaging more than eight makes from behind the arc per game.
"Initial observations is offensively, they're real good," coach Frank Martin said. "That doesn't mean they're below average defensively, it's just that offensively they're real good."
The Cougars also are the nation's best free throw shooting team, burying 78 percent of their attempts. Getting to the line could be a focal point for BYU Saturday. The Wildcats rank 327 th nationally in fouls per game, committing more than 22 per game.
"From everything I've seen, everybody on BYU's team can really step out and shoot the 3-ball," Dominique Sutton said. "We're looking forward to the challenge. If we stick to our principles, we should come out with the win."
K-State will have its hands full. BYU has one of the best scorers in the nation in Jimmer Fredette, who ranks 12 th in the country with 22 points per game. The junior guard scored a Mountain West Conference tournament-record 45 points against TCU in the first round on March 11.
"He's big time, Martin said. "He's a big time shooter and he knows how to play."
On Thursday, he put on a clinic in the Cougars' victory over Florida, scoring 37 points on 13-of-26 shooting in 46 minutes of action.
Pullen, who will likely draw the defensive assignment on Fredette, said it will be critical for the Wildcats to contest all of his shots.
"He just does a great job of using screens," Pullen said. "You don't see many players in college basketball with the IQ that he has to be able to use screens like he does. He does a great job of initiating contact — he gets to the free throw line, which most good players do.
"As a team, we have to be aware of where he is at."
K-State, which is 17-0 in games in which it scores 20 or more points off turnovers, could have a tough time forcing the Cougars into mistakes. BYU ranks 31 st nationally with just 11.5 turnovers per game, 11 th nationally in turnover margin and 13 th in assist-to-turnover ratio.
Still, K-State will be facing a BYU team that goes nine-deep on its roster and one that played 50 grueling minutes on Thursday while the Wildcats cruised to a 20-point victory over North Texas. So fatigue could be a factor for the Cougars.
"Luckily, we have a day to rest and get a game plan in and practice a little bit," Fredette said. "We just have to start quick. We have to get out and really get our adrenaline going again and know that we're still playing for our life.
"It's one and done and we don't want to lose. So at this point, you just gotta go out and play as hard as you possibly can and not worry about the last game."
It's no different for K-State.
"It's different from the rest of the season," Martin said. "You have to understand one emotion that's different from the rest of the season and that emotion is real simple: If you don't get through that next day, that team will be done, won't play again as a team. That season — all its accomplishments will be over."
The Wildcats experienced that two years ago against the Badgers on a Saturday afternoon, and are determined to not let it happen again.
"That fear of that moment brings a different set of emotions. That's the only way you can understand how to handle them is when you've gone through them before," Martin continued. "That's where being in the postseason three straight years, this being our fourth straight year, allows you to understand that. It allows you to reach into that experience to help you kind of handle those emotions better than you did maybe the first time through."
