Print edition: 
MANHATTAN — Kansas State coach Frank Martin said his basketball team played below expectations in its season opener because of a horrible practice leading up to the game.
For that, he said his players had no excuses.
Junior guard Jacob Pullen doesn't disagree, but he thinks it will be easier to produce maximum effort today when they take on Western Illinois at Bramlage Coliseum, because they will no longer have to worry about their homework.
With a week-long trip to Puerto Rico for an early season tournament coming this week, K-State players have had loads of extra assignments to finish lately.
"It was a busy week," Pullen said. "Heading to Puerto Rico, we had to get schoolwork done so we can make sure that we get out of town and stuff."
Pullen said he should have better organized his to-do list, and found time for both school and basketball, but all that work distracted him from getting into the gym and practicing shooting like he usually does.
Instead, he was concentrating on a seven-page paper that he, Jamar Samuels and Dominique Sutton each had to write in anticipation of their trip.
"We had to spend a lot of time in the library," he said.
That homework should be out of the way now, though. Pullen said he wanted to improve in the shooting department today. Martin said he wants his players' effort to improve. And Curtis Kelly said he wants to rebound better.
After the way Loyola-Chicago, a team from the Horizon League without much size in the front court, outrebounded K-State 51-41, that will be a common interest.
"I wasn't physical enough. I wasn't aggressive enough," Kelly said of his first game. "If I'm more aggressive, a lot more of those rebounds are going to come into my hands. I've just gotta work on that and get better for the next game."
