Print edition: 
MANHATTAN — When Jacob Pullen hit a three-pointer, made a layup and hit another three in less than a minute on Tuesday, the crowd at Bramlage Coliseum rose to its feet in celebration.
Or maybe it was relief.
The Kansas State basketball team eked out a much-closer-than-expected 83-76 victory against Division II Fort Hays State, and it wasn't until Pullen scored eight straight points with under 8 minutes to go in the second half that Wildcats fans could truly feel safe.
Up until that point, they were restless for good reason. Much to the chagrin of Pullen, the Tigers stayed with K-State shot for shot.
"Nothing against Fort Hays State, they're a hell of a team and they played hard, but there's no way they should have been anywhere in the game with us," Pullen said. "At the same time, when you allow people to boost their confidence and believe that they're equal with you, then they had the right to fight the whole game."
Fort Hays felt equal from the start. It jumped out to a 24-14 lead, displeasing Wildcats coach Frank Martin to such a degree that he called timeout little more than a minute into the game and experimented with different lineups throughout the night.
Thanks to a game-high 21 points from Jamar Samuels, 20 from Pullen and 17 from Denis Clemente, the Wildcats avoided an embarrassing home loss. But the victory brought only the slightest degree of relief to the K-State locker room.
Pullen said he was "appalled" by the Wildcats' effort.
Samuels said K-State couldn't have taken a worse approach into the game.
"I really think we looked Fort Hays State over," Samuels said. "We watched their scouting report. Not an athletic team, thought they couldn't make shots. Kansas beat them by (39). We just came in the game like, 'Oh well, who are they? Let's just go ahead and get this game over with and look forward to the next one.' "
The Tigers made the Wildcats pay for that attitude up until Pullen's 8-0 run in the second half. When Fort Hays led by 10 in the first half, Willie Hassell, who led the Tigers with 17 points, said he expected to win the game.
"But we got too excited," Hassell said.
That allowed K-State to turn up the intensity and go on a 21-6 run to end the half with a 35-30 lead. But Fort Hays came out in the second half and took a 48-46 lead when Tim Peintner hit a jumper with 12:34 remaining.
It was a fight the whole way.
That's not good news for the Wildcats, who now face a difficult stretch of four games that match them up against teams from power conferences. Washington State and Xavier come to Bramlage for 8 p.m. tips on Saturday and Tuesday, and after that come neutral court games against Nos. 24 UNLV and 21 Alabama.
Not only will all four opponents provide stiffer challenges than Fort Hays State, none will be coming off zero days rest, as the Tigers did having beaten Newman University 77-48 on Monday.
Of all the reasons for K-State to be disappointed with its effort against the Tigers, perhaps that was the most concerning. It held a size and talent advantage over an opponent that had no time to prepare, and K-State still struggled.
Martin once again saw few positives in his team's play. He actually said nobody played well. Not that he needed to share that with his team.
"If they need me to give them a message after that," he said, "then they need to find a new program, new coach and new players."
