He’s still in shape: Jacob Pullen drills game-winner in TBT debut for K-State alumni
More than a decade since his K-State playing career ended, Jacob Pullen showed he’s still in shape on Friday night.
In his debut performance in The Basketball Tournament, K-State’s all-time leading scorer poured in 30 points and made a 30-foot, game-winning three-pointer to lift Purple & Black, a Kansas State alumni team, to a 75-73 victory over Lone Star Legends at Koch Arena.
Pullen’s heroic shot was reminiscent — same location at the top of key, just five feet deeper — of the dagger he made against Xavier in double overtime of the Wildcats’ Sweet 16 victory in the 2010 NCAA tournament, which spawned Gus Johnson’s iconic “He’s in shape!” call on the CBS broadcast.
This time when Pullen’s shot found the bottom of the net, the 32-year-old ran into the raucous, purple crowd at Koch Arena to celebrate with K-State fans a dramatic victory to send Purple & Black into the TBT Wichita region semifinals to face Bleed Green, a North Texas alumni team, at 5 p.m. Saturday.
Jacob Pullen.
EMAW legend @Jpullz0 pic.twitter.com/GoHPOORqLw— Taylor Eldridge (@tayloreldridge) July 23, 2022
“I made that shot and I turned around and saw all the purple jumping up and it made me want to run into the crowd, made me want to feel that college atmosphere again,” Pullen said. “That’s why I love playing in Kansas. That love, that excitement, I’ve played basketball all over the world and you don’t get that everywhere. So my reaction was a college reaction. I’m back in Kansas and I love it here.”
It made for quite the nostalgic night for K-State fans, even with the disappointment of no Michael Beasley.
Pullen kept hope alive that Beasley could still play for Purple & Black, potentially as soon as Saturday night’s game.
“We need 30 (Beasley) to get here,” Pullen told ESPN in his postgame interview. “If 30 makes it on his plane (Saturday), we’ve got a chance. 30, pull up, bro. We’re going to send a private plane and get him from Dallas to Wichita. The Catbackers and the sponsors are going to make sure you get here. Get on the private plane, we need you to win some games. K-State fans know, man, they’re going to make it happen.”
“Mike want to play, he misses this (stuff) too, don’t let him fool you,” Pullen later added in his press conference. “He’s just a busy person. He wants to play.”
Regardless of whether or not a Beasley appearance materializes, the Pullen show on Friday night was well worth the wait. The 6-foot guard scored 20 points on 7-of-12 shooting in the first half to carry Purple & Black against the Lone Star Legends, a random assortment of pros who are Texas natives.
But Pullen cooled off in the second half and momentum shifted away from Purple & Black, as Lone Star Legends held a 67-61 lead with less than a minute remaining until the Elam Ending.
Mike McGuirl rescued Purple & Black with back-to-back three-pointers to erase the deficit, but there were nervous moments when Lone Star Legends pulled back in front, 73-72, with the target score set at 75.
On Purple & Black’s first possession with a chance to end the game, Pullen came off a high ball screen from Thomas Gipson and a lapse in communication on defense left Pullen wide open — granted, he was seven feet behind the three-point line with his feet planted on the wheat of the WuShock logo at center court.
The crowd anticipated a make as soon as it left Pullen’s hand and sure enough, the ball flushed straight through the net, causing an eruption from the mixture of K-State and Wichita State fans in attendance.
“It’s hard to describe when you’re playing and you turn and see all of that purple and everybody is hype,” Pullen said. “I haven’t played in an atmosphere like this since college. You look around and see all of the purple and it’s like, ‘Man, there it go again.’ It’s like another engine cracks up in me.”
Purple & Black player-coach Jordan Henriquez was clutching his clipboard and had an end-of-game play drawn up ready to go, but opted against calling a timeout when Pullen was bringing the ball up the court.
“I honestly wanted to call a timeout, but I learned my lesson,” Henriquez said. “I just let them play. They’re professional athletes and I trust them out there.”
Gipson, who finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds, was also key in the second half in staving off Lone Star Legends, which was led by Jordan Allen’s own 30-point outburst.
“When it’s crunch time, we show up,” Gipson said. “We got the stops that we needed and the ball turned out in our favor.”
