Kansas State did a lot better in their second game without suspended seniors Jacob Pullen and Curtis Kelly than the first.
The 17th-ranked Wildcats hope for a similar result Friday, when Pullen will serve the final game of his suspension as North Florida visits Bramlage Coliseum, but Kelly will have to sit out for a little while longer.
The NCAA penalized Pullen, the team's leading scorer and first preseason All-American, for three games for receiving impermissible benefits in connection with the purchase of clothing at a department store. The school also announced Tuesday that Kelly, third on the team with 10.3 points per game, will have to sit out four more games for the same violation.
Coach Frank Martin's team was first notified of the suspensions just before a 63-59 loss to UNLV on Dec. 21 in Kansas City, the Wildcats' second straight defeat following a 9-1 start. An angry Martin refused to answer questions about Kelly or Pullen, who is averaging 16.5 points and had previously started 82 consecutive games.
Kansas State (10-3) bounced back for an 80-64 win over UMKC on Dec. 23 as Rodney McGruder hit seven 3-pointers en route to a career-high 24 points. The performance came hours after he underwent emergency dental surgery for a chipped front tooth, suffered during the loss to UNLV.
Pullen's replacement at point guard, Will Spradling, had 15 points, and Wally Judge, benched for three games earlier this season for unspecified reasons, registered his first career double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds. That duo combined for only eight points against UNLV.
"It was a big game for Wally," McGruder said. "I believe that he has that swagger back about himself. He is a great player, and he can be unstoppable in the post. That is all that was missing. He needed a game like this."
If all three players can duplicate those efforts, the Wildcats might thrive against the Ospreys (4-8) before Pullen returns for Monday night's non-conference finale against Savannah State.
Kansas State opens Big 12 play at Oklahoma State on Jan. 8 and is expected to get Kelly back in the lineup for a home game against Texas Tech a week later.
North Florida heads into its first meeting with the Wildcats on a five-game losing streak, with two of those defeats coming on the road against ranked Purdue and Texas squads. The Ospreys will play their fifth Top 25 opponent this season Friday and have lost the previous four by an average of 31.5 points.
They've dropped their past two games to unranked teams, including an 85-62 defeat at Maryland on Wednesday night. Parker Smith hit five 3-pointers while scoring a season-high 21 points, and fellow sophomore Jerron Granberry added 16.
Smith (10.7 ppg) and Granberry (10.3) are the only two North Florida players averaging in double figures.
