BYU basketball: Kansas State coach can empathize with cancer ordeal of BYU's Rose

OKLAHOMA CITY — Big 12 coach of the year Frank Martin of Kansas State could easily relate to Dave Rose's situation when the Cougars' coach learned of his pancreatic cancer last June in Las Vegas.

Martin and Rose will square off Saturday in the Ford Center as No. 2 seed K-State (27-7) takes on No. 7 seed BYU (30-5) in the second round of the West Regional. The winner will travel to Salt Lake City for the Sweet 16.

Four years ago, just after Martin came to Kansas State, he got so sick that he had to go the hospital, and he's a guy who hates to see doctors.

"When I get sick, I'm the type of guy who takes some Advil, wraps up in a blanket and sweats it out," he told reporters on Friday.

But this was different. He was so sick he couldn't function. He was hospitalized for two weeks.

"There was all kinds of crap going on in my body," he said.

In addition to pneumonia, Martin found out he suffered from pancreatitis, a disease in which that organ swells up and can shut down other organs. When doctors did further tests, they told Martin the shape of his pancreas was a sign he could have cancer, an almost sure death sentence. "So, I'm laying in that hospital bed, and I looked at my phone and searched to see what it is and I found out; I believe it's 4 percent of people diagnosed with pancreatic cancer survive it," Martin said. "I lived with that fear for 10 days. I had to fly around the country, get a specialist to do more detailed looks at me. Knock on wood, the good man upstairs didn't give me that disease."

Martin said when he heard about Rose, it hit close to home. "His tumor is one that happens to only 2 percent — that can actually get cut out, and he's been healthy since," Martin said. "God is good to good people; I'm sure he is taking care of him."

Immediately after K-State beat North Texas on Thursday, Martin was asked about BYU and Fredette.

This was his take before a breakdown of film Friday: "Handful. I mean offensively, I told Dave Rose yesterday, I said I haven't watched them on tape as much as I needed to as of yesterday, but obviously I'll do that the rest of the day and tonight, but my initial observations is offensively, they're real good.

"That doesn't mean they're below average defensively. It's just that offensively, they're really good, and then Fredette is just — he's big time. I mean, you score 45 points in a conference tournament game, and you come back into the NCAA Tournament and stick 37 in the basket against Florida, you're doing something right, and he's a big-time shooter that knows how to play. It was funny because we're in the locker room, and someone said to me, 'He reminds me of Billy Donovan when he played at Providence.' I said that's exactly right. That's exactly what it reminded me of."

After 12 hours of watching film all night, on Friday Martin told the media: "I've come to the realization that our job is going to be even harder than I thought it was. BYU is a gifted offensive team, and Dave does an unbelievable job of getting those guys to do some things differently than most teams do."

WILDCAT NOTES: The series between Kansas State and BYU is tied at 3-3. … With the 82-62 win over North Texas, Kansas State's 27 victories are a school record. ... Four players scored in double figures in the Wildcats' 20-point, first-round win. … Kansas State held North Texas to its second-fewest point total of the season on 30.8 percent shooting. … Senior guard Denis Clemente led K-State with 17 points on 6-of-12 shooting, including 3-of-7 from 3-point range and 6 assists.

e-mail: dharmon@desnews.com