Print edition: 
TUCSON — The first day Kansas State sophomore center Jordan Henriquez-Roberts stepped on campus, there was someone waiting for him. A new teammate who wanted to make sure the freshman from Port Chester, N.Y., had everything he needed.
It was Jacob Pullen.
The emotions after losing to Wisconsin 70-65 on Saturday night in the NCAA Tournament were raw in the Wildcats' locker room, none more than when K-State players talked about Pullen and forward Curtis Kelly, their two outgoing seniors.
"That first day... he let me know that somebody would be looking out for me," Henriquez-Roberts said. "It just hurts to go out like this."
Asked what Pullen meant to him as a friend, Henriquez-Roberts had to compose himself before continuing.
"He means everything, he's more than a friend he's my brother," he said. "I can't believe it's over. I don't want him to not be my teammate anymore."
The Wildcats' locker room remained closed several minutes past the set time for media to enter after the game, the only entrant being TNT color commentator and former NBA All-Star Reggie Miller, who walked up to the door and told security he wanted to go in before anyone else. They let him in.
Several minutes later, K-State athletic director John Currie exited the locker room, followed by Miller, a teary-eyed Pullen, coach Frank Martin and Kelly. Pullen, Martin and Kelly walked toward the interview area.
Freshman guard Will Spradling, who spoke all week about not wanting his time with Pullen and Kelly to end, had a similar feeling as Henriquez-Roberts.
"I didn't want to stop playing with Jake and Curtis," Spradling said. "It's tough to say right now how I feel because I never let the thoughts of failing go through my head. This feels terrible. I feel terrible for the seniors."
Sophomore guard Nick Russell lamented the loss to the Badgers as being the last time this K-State team would all be together as a team.
"We've spent so much time together, this group, that it hurts to know that this is the last time that we'll all be together as a whole," Russell said. "You lose and you have to look those seniors in the eye and know that that's it for them. You know that your time with them is done and it's something you never wanted to feel.
"The people that are left in here, the people that are coming back have to get back to work for next year. We have to work even harder now."
