OKLAHOMA CITY --- BYU's Jimmer Fredette got smacked in the face, whacked on the head and then sent home from the NCAA Tournament.
Jacob Pullen and Kansas State are moving on, thanks to a physical brand of basketball that was too much for even Fredette's prison-toughened game.
Pullen scored 20 of his career-high 34 points in the first half to help dig No. 2 seed Kansas State out of an early 10-point hole, and the Wildcats turned away Fredette and BYU 84-72 on Saturday night in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Pullen came alive with a scoring flurry shortly after he and Fredette got tangled up in transition in the first half, and K-State (28-7) wouldn't trail again in earning its first round of 16 appearance since 1988.
Pullen matched his career-best with seven 3-pointers and surpassed 30 points for the third time in his career. Down the stretch, he helped seal the victory with a 3-pointer and six free throws.
Equally as important as his scoring was his physical defense against Fredette, who had scored 37 points to get the seventh-seeded Cougars (30-6) past Florida in double overtime in the first round.
BUTLER 54, MURRAY STATE 52
In San Jose, Calif., Ronald Nored hit a tiebreaking layup and free throw with 25.4 seconds left, and Butler narrowly evaded 13th-seeded Murray State's second upset attempt in three days, advancing to the regional semifinals of the NCAA Tournament.
Nored scored 15 points and Gordon Hayward had 12 before making the decisive defensive play for the fifth-seeded Bulldogs (30-4), who extended the nation's longest winning streak to 22 games.
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