''Exhibition'' was the perfect term to describe No. 3 Kansas State's victory over Newman on Tuesday night.
Wildcats coach Frank Martin took the opportunity to showcase his entire roster in an 83-56 win over the Jets.
As a result, there were plenty of ragged moments in the season debut of the preseason Big 12 favorites.
''We're talented, but we've got a lot of work to do,'' Martin said.
Jacob Pullen, a preseason All-America, led the Wildcats with 15 points. Sophomore Wally Judge had 14 points and 11 rebounds and transfer Freddy Asprilla added nine points and 13 rebounds.
But Martin said there was ''too much gambling, too much reaching, too many bad rotations.''
The Wildcats also saw a problem pop back up from last year, foul shooting. They missed 19 free throws.
But ball movement looked good at times.
In one sequence, freshman guard Will Spradling stole the ball and threw an outlet pass to Rodney McGruder, who fed Judge for a layup.
''We have size, we have depth, experience, and we've just got to continue to build on that,'' Judge said.
Newcomers played a big role. Freshman Shane Southwell put up nine points, and Spradling had seven points and three assists. Pullen called Southwell a ''talent'' and said he has a lot of potential and can really help the team in the future.
''Unlike a lot of ranked teams, we return a lot of talent but not a lot of experience,'' Pullen said.
Six Wildcats ended up with 19 or more minutes, and four others played between 10 and 16. Martin said he intentionally used lineups pairing upperclassmen with newcomers in hopes the veterans would step up.
''You think about how many layups we missed, how many free throws we missed,'' Martin said. ''I'm not into final scores. I'm into performance. If I was into final scores I would've played certain people, certain combinations, a lot more. I'm into seeing guys doing their jobs, having them lead, coexist.''
Added Pullen, ''It's us trying to figure out who plays well together, who can do what,'' Pullen said.
Chip Steven had 13 points and Tommy Brumbelow had 12 for the Jets. No one from Newman had more than six rebounds against the taller Wildcats.
