Oklahoma City » Preparing to play Kansas State in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, the BYU Cougars were worried about what would happen when the Wildcats missed shots.

As it turned out, having Jacob Pullen make a bunch of outside shots was a bigger issue.

Kansas State did hurt BYU with offensive rebounding, as expected, but Pullen hurt the Cougars more with his three-point shooting.

Pullen finished with 34 points, highlighted by an 11-point flurry late in the first half when the Wildcats took control on their way to an 84-72 victory at the Ford Center.

Pullen scored 20 points in the half, while his teammates were going 6-for-24 from the field. He was responsible for keeping K-State in the game after trailing 23-13, and then he took over during the closing sequence when the Wildcats surged to a 41-31 lead.

"That's the thing about tournament time: When you're hot, you're hot," said BYU guard Jackson Emery. "You hope that some of those guys will miss some of those shots."

The Cougars absorbed a 26-point effort from Florida guard Kenny Boynton in a double-overtime win in the first round, but could not overcome Pullen's performance. Denis Clemente, K-State's other starting guard, provided some second-half help and finished with 19 points.

Pullen credited Clemente and K-State's post players for finding him when BYU's defense was preoccupied inside.

Pullen's most damaging stretch came in the last 2:15 of the half, shortly after he took a hard fall and injured his hip. "Your adrenaline is rushing, man," he said, explaining his decision to stay on the floor.

With the Wildcats leading 30-29, Pullen made five free throws and two three-pointers. He scored six points without BYU crossing midcourt, thanks to a Chris Miles foul for an illegal screen.

kkragthorpe@sltrib.com