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Kansas State's Jacob Pullen (0) puts up a shot under pressure from IUPUI's Jon Avery, behind, during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Nov. 28, 2009, in Kansas City, Mo. Pullen scored 25 points, leading Kansas State to a 70-57 win. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

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A quick note about yesterday's game:

We've been a notoriously slow-starting team so far this season, but I was surprised to learn that our 40 first-half points Saturday were the most we have scored in the initial period all year. Considering how poor our offense looked at times against IUPUI's matchup zone, we must have done a few things right.

Also, these numbers were striking:

*average per player

We clearly missed Jamar Samuels yesterday. I have to think he would have contributed at least 10 points and probably would have helped us top IUPUI on the boards. Furthermore, we really missed his energy and ability to create on offense, as well as the matchup difficulties he presents on defense.

But the bottom line is some other players on this team need to step it up. Our five best players can't do it all, and there's simply no excuse for no other player on the team scoring more than two points. That won't cut it against teams such Xavier and UNLV.

Anyhow, you can see how our other opponents fared yesterday after the jump. I'll even give you a hint: One of them suffered a pretty nasty spider bite... (chortle) ... And another one picked up a huge quality win.

If for some reason you absolutely need to know up-to-date numbers, I get them here.

Current Kansas State RPI = 15

Current Kansas State SOS = 24

Great Wins (RPI 1-50) = Loyola, Dayton

Solid Wins (RPI 51-100) = IUPUI

Bad Losses (RPI 100 or greater) = none

Quick discussion: Our numbers have not been this high in November in a long, long time. As long as we win three of the next five, and at least nine in conference play, there is very little doubt in my mind we will be in the Big Dance. The difference between last year's schedule and this year's needs to be measured in units of astronomical distance.

• Loyola (4-1) | RPI = 27: Win over St. Ambrose (81-42)
  
• Western Illinois (3-3) | RPI = 207: Win over Greenville (84-46)
  
• Boston (1-4) | RPI = 141
  
• Ole Miss (4-1) | RPI = 76
  
• Dayton (3-2) | RPI = 42: Win over Towson (74-69)
  
• IUPUI (5-2) | RPI = 84: Loss to Kansas State (70-57)
  
• Fort Hays State (3-0)
  
• Washington State (6-0) | RPI = 146: Win over San Diego (93-56)
  
• Xavier (4-1) | RPI = 106
  
• UNLV (5-0) | RPI = 8: Win over No. 16 Louisville (76-71)
  
• Alabama (3-2) | RPI = 91
  
• UAPB (0-4) | RPI = 249
  
• Cleveland State (3-4) | RPI = 191: Loss to Wichita State (69-54)
  
• South Dakota (3-3) | RPI = 95: Win over Dana (100-65)
  
• Missouri (4-1) | RPI = 96: Loss to Richmond (59-52)
  
• Texas A&M (4-1) | RPI = 25
  
• Colorado (4-2) | RPI = 127
  
• No. 3 Texas (4-0) | RPI = 71
  
• Oklahoma State (5-0) | RPI = 16
  
• Baylor (5-1) | RPI = 113
  
• No. 1 Kansas (5-0) | RPI = 52
  
• Nebraska (3-1) | RPI = 126
  
• Iowa State (6-1) | RPI = 161: Loss to Northwestern (67-65)
  
• No. 25 Oklahoma (3-3) | RPI = 214: Win over Nicholls State (81-60)
  
• Texas Tech (7-0) | RPI = 48: Win over Samford (74-53)