Kansas State had to work hard to make sure Jacob Pullen’s homecoming was successful.

Pullen had an off night shooting but still managed to score 19 points and the fifth-ranked Wildcats pulled out a 68-60 victory over Loyola-Chicago Saturday.

A star at nearby Proviso East High School during his prep career, Pullen was just 5-of-17 from the field, including 0-of-4 from the arc. He still led the Wildcats (9-1) in scoring and was 9-of-12 from the line with nine rebounds and four assists.

Martavious Irving scored 12 points and Curtis Kelly added 10 for Kansas State, which has won five straight since suffering its lone loss of the season to top-ranked Duke.

Ben Averkamp led the Ramblers (8-3) with 17 points and Gabe Kindred and Geoff McCammon each scored 12 points.

McCammon had a tougher day shooting than Pullen, as he was 5-of-20 from the field, including 2-of-11 from the arc.

Loyola finished 20-of-64 (31.3 percent) from the field and made just 4-of-19 shots from the arc.