Jacob Pullen scored seven of his career-high 32 points in overtime and Kansas State outlasted Illinois State 83-79 Wednesday night in the first round of the NIT. Darren Kent added 19 points for the Wildcats (22-11). Dominique Sutton finished with nine points and 12 rebounds, including an offensive grab he put back to tie the game at 73 with four seconds remaining and force the overtime. Champ Oguchi led Illinois State (24-10) with 23 points but fouled out midway through the overtime with the Redbirds trailing 77-76. Kansas State seized control of the game in overtime, with a layup by Pullen putting the Wildcats ahead for good at 80-79 with 14 seconds left. With the scored tied at 76, the Wildcats used a 7-3 run to put the game out of reach. A free throw by Ron Anderson extended Kansas State's lead to two with a second left, but he missed his second attempt and the buzzer sounded. However, upon further review, the ball wasn't touched before it rolled out of bounds, so the time was put back on the clock. The arrow gave the ball to the Wildcats. Pullen ended the game by inbounding the ball off an Illinois State player and sinking a layup as time expired. Illinois State grabbed 45 rebounds to the Wildcats' 43, only the seventh time this season that Kansas State was outrebounded. With the win, Kansas State advanced to the NIT second round. The Wildcats will travel to No. 1 seed San Diego State on Saturday.
