NCAA tournament: No. 2 Kansas State holds off No. 7 BYU, 84-72

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

Jacob Pullen scored 20 of his career-high 34 points in the first half to help dig No. 2-seeded Kansas State out of an early 10-point hole, and the Wildcats turned away Jimmer Fredette and BYU, 84-72, tonight in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

Pullen came alive with a scoring flurry shortly after he and Fredette got tangled up in transition in the first half, and K-State (28-7) wouldn’t trail again in earning its first Sweet 16 appearance since 1988.

Pullen surpassed 30 points for the third time in his career and helped seal the victory with a three-pointer and six free throws down the stretch. Equally as important as his scoring was his physical defense against Fredette, who had scored 37 points to get the seventh-seeded Cougars (30-6) past Florida in double overtime in the first round.

Fredette finished with 21 points on four-of-13 shooting.

-- Associated Press

RELATED: NCAA tournament interactive bracket

RELATED: NCAA tournament photos