SALT LAKE CITY — Time is supposed to ease the pain of past embarrassments.
The way Kansas State guard Jacob Pullen sees it, though, there are some things you simply can’t forget.
Locked in Pullen’s memory is the way he felt on New Year’s Eve 2007 — the night his team got blown out by Xavier, the same team the second-seeded Wildcats face tonight in the West Regional semifinals.
“They laughed on the court, played around,” Pullen said. “You don’t forget things like that. So when you get the opportunity to play against a team like that, you always remember that.”
Kansas State got payback for the 26-point loss — the worst of coach Frank Martin’s short career — with a physical 15-point victory this season in Manhattan.
Now, one of America’s hidden little rivalries resumes. Kansas State (28-7) is two wins from its first Final Four since 1964. Xavier (26-8) has never been.
Xavier forward Jamel McLean doesn’t think anyone should get this confused with North Carolina-Duke.
“I don’t think it’s a real rivalry,” he said. “I mean, we played the past couple years. It’s a team we have a series with. We’ve got them, they got us. We’re about to go out there again and rally up and knock each other’s heads off.”
