North Texas had that same dream. With what was going on in other NCAA tournament games Thursday, it certainly seemed like an increased possibility.
But Kansas State, the No. 2 seed in the West Region, easily took care of the Mean Green, defeating North Texas 82-62,, dashing its hopes of putting on the magical slipper.
With the victory, K-State advanced to the second round of the tournament, where it will play No. 7 seed BYU, who defeated the Gators 99-92 in double-overtime Thursday morning.
"I was proud of our guys," K-State coach Frank Martin said. "I thought we came out and I thought we guarded and defended. I thought we did what we do."
For the Wildcat players and their coach, it was a sense of relief to get the first game out of the way.
"It's relieving but it's not satisfying," Curtis Kelly said. "We've still got a long way to go and a lot more to accomplish. But it relaxes us a little bit."
"I know I was watching some of those games in the back there," Martin admitted. "The more I watched those games, the more uptight I got for our game."
For the Wildcats, this was all business. They fell behind 8-7 with 15:56 left in the first half, but that was the only time they would trail.
By the early point of the second half, K-State was well in control. And CBS was ready to switch to a more compelling game outside of the local coverage maps.
"We had control of the game so we could relax and cool down a little bit and in your mind start to worry about your next game," Kelly said.
North Texas would cut K-State's lead to 16-13 at the 10:56 mark of the first half on a Tristan Thompson 3-pointer. But K-State would go on a 19-5 run over the next seven minutes, which was capped by a Jacob Pullen 3-pointer to take a 35-18 advantage with 3:51 left.
The Wildcats (27-7) were bigger and stronger than the Mean Green (24-9). K-State imposed its will on them, limiting North Texas to just 20.8 percent shooting in the first half as the Wildcats took a 41-25 lead into halftime. It would have been worse, but North Texas was able to get to the free throw line for 18 attempts in the half, making 13.
"I thought we really defended well in that first half," Martin said. "I thought we gave up a couple of offensive rebounds early in the game, but outside of that, I thought we really zoned in and defended and it allowed us to get into broken floor (situations).
"Then we went up there and converted and made some shots, made some plays, and that allowed us to kind of get away a little bit."
The game featured two teams similar in style. Entering the game, North Texas got to the free throw line at a high clip just like the Wildcats, and the Mean Green pounded the glass for rebounds at a high frequency.
So it was no surprise bodies were flying everywhere. K-State blocked 10 shots, sending bodies to the floor. Pullen was knocked to his back going up for a rebound. The junior guard had to be walked off the floor with a trainer. Chris Merriewether hit the floor face-first coming down with an offensive board.
"It's hard to get a feel for teams watching them on tape sometimes, but there was a sense of toughness and just the level of competitiveness which with they play that I got off tape," Martin said. "That, obviously, was exactly what took place."
The Wildcats bottled up North Texas' leading scorer Josh White, thanks in large part to a sound defensive effort by Denis Clemente. Clemente held White scoreless in the first half on 0-of-4 shooting. The 5-foot-10 guard scored just three points in the game on 1-of-10 shooting.
"They're a very long team," White said. "They're a very physical team. You get to the basket, then you got another man coming that's really long and athletic. It can really affect your shot. I think that affected us on the offensive end. It's real tough for you to score."
The Wildcats limited the Mean Green to just 17-of-55 shooting (31 percent) and 5-of-19 accuracy from 3-point distance.
K-State made nearly 46 percent of its shots in the first half, and connected on 15 of its 26 attempts in the game's final 20 minutes.
The Wildcats were led in scoring by Clemente, who finished with 17 points and six assists. Pullen and Kelly scored 15 points apiece, while Dominique Sutton scored 12 points and grabbed eight rebounds.
At the end of the game, K-State's mission was accomplished. The Wildcats won easily, which was something a few favorites couldn't accomplish Thursday.
But now, there's more to be done.
"We're excited but we're trying not to be too overconfident," Kelly said. "We've still got another mission to go on Saturday, and we've still got five more missions to be where we want to be.
"It's a great game. We got a 'W,' but we have way more work to do."
Pullen fine
Pullen, was injured when he hit the floor hard midway through the second half and landed on his back and elbow. The junior guard went to the locker room for an X-ray on his elbow, which showed no fracture.
"I just took a hard fall, Pullen said. "I'll be all right. Nothing serious."
Pullen later returned to the bench and came back into the game later in the half.
"(Martin) asked me could I go," Pullen said. "I said 'yeah.' Frank, he wasn't in a rush. He wanted to make sure I was all right before I went out there and went at it again."
Game notes
•Due to foul trouble, Jamar Samuels played just seven minutes in the game. The K-State sophomore scored just two points on 1-of-3 shooting while collecting just two rebounds.
•The entire K-State roster received playing time in the victory. Wally Judge led the way for the K-State bench, scoring six points to go along with six rebounds.
