K-State's leading scorer takes ill, misses practice

Jacob Pullen, Kansas State's leading scorer, did not practice on Wednesday because of an illness.

The senior guard, who averages 19.5 points per game, came down ill Wednesday morning and spent the afternoon in his room at the team hotel in Tucson, Ariz.

K-State officials were reluctant to release details about his illness but said they expected him to recover in time to play against Utah State on Thursday in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

When pressed about Pullen's status, teammates suggested he was suffering from food poisoning.

Inglorious record Fran Dunphy, in his fifth season at Temple, has the longest losing streak of any coach in the history of the NCAA tournament.

He has lost 11 consecutive tournament games dating back to his time coaching Penn. He is 0-3 with the Owls.

Dunphy's NCAA tournament record is 1-12 and his .077 winning percentage is the all-time worst for a coach with at least eight games coached, according to STATS LLC.

Two players to watch • Morehead State center Kenneth Faried averages 17.6 points and 14.5 rebounds per game and is regarded as a first-round NBA draft pick. His 1,643 rebounds have broken Tim Duncan's record for the modern era in Division I, which dates to 1973. Morehead State plays Louisville on Thursday.

• Bucknell point guard Daryll Shazier is second in Division I behind only Wisconsin's Jordan Taylor in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.78). Bucknell plays Connecticut on Thursday.

Pearl's future Tennessee athletics director Mike Hamilton says he does not know if Bruce Pearl will be the Volunteers' coach after this season ends.

In an interview with WNML-AM in Knoxville that aired Wednesday, Hamilton said that he, the UT-Knoxville Chancellor Jimmy Cheek and school trustees will evaluate Pearl after the season ends.