The last time the Iowa State and Kansas men’s basketball teams faced each other before Monday night, it was the Cyclones who walked away with a feel-good victory and the claim that they knew they could not win the Big 12 without winning that game in Ames, Iowa, on Jan. 17.
Monday, after an 89-76 loss to the Jayhawks in Lawrence, the Cyclones were not as interested in talking about the league race, which Kansas now leads by two games over third-place ISU. West Virginia sits alone in second, at 6-2.
“The season’s not over,” said ISU forward Georges Niang, who finished with a game-high 24 points. “I’ll just leave it at that.”
Despite controlling the first 12 or so minutes of the game, the Cyclones felt every bit of KU’s talent and home-court advantage during the loss.
“It’s tougher than hell to walk out of this building with a win,” said ISU coach Fred Hoiberg.
Hoiberg and his players lamented their 14 turnovers — particularly the nine that came in the first half — and also struggled with their inability to run past the KU defense the way they did during their victory earlier this season.
The Jayhawks (19-3 overall, 8-1 Big 12) made getting back on defense an emphasis throughout their preparation for Monday’s game, and the Iowa State players said KU’s improvement in that department was noticeable from the jump.
“They were getting back a little bit,” said ISU guard Naz Long. “They were preparing for that. They said that in a couple articles. With that said, I felt we could’ve pushed the ball a little harder. But credit to them for taking care of the scouting report.”
Rather than getting torched in transition the way they did in Ames, KU actually outscored the Cyclones, 14-12, in transition on Monday night, a feat that included keeping Iowa State (16-5, 6-3) from scoring a single fast-break point in the first half.
“I didn’t think we were as committed to running as we were in the first game,” Hoiberg said.
While the Kansas defense kept the Cyclones’ attack under wraps, the KU offense used one of ISU’s own weapons against it. KU shot 10-of-21 (48 percent) from three-point range, with sophomore guard Wayne Selden Jr. connecting on five of the seven three-point shots he attempted.
Of course, it was not just Selden who got hot from the outside on Monday night. Kelly Oubre Jr. and Brannen Greene each hit a couple of three-pointers early to help Kansas jump out to a late-first-half lead it would never relinquish.
“When they’re shooting the ball like that, they’re really tough to guard,” Niang said. “Greene is on a hot streak right now and when he made those tough threes it was really tough to come back from.”
So now, for what probably seems like the 100th year in a row, the Cyclones again find themselves in the position of having to chase down the Jayhawks. With the two head-to-head meetings no longer part of the equation, Iowa State, or any other team for that matter, is going to have to get some help to catch Kansas at the top. But the Cyclones did not leave Lawrence overly discouraged about their chances.
“It’s gonna be fun to see how this thing plays out down the stretch, with nine games to go,” Hoiberg said. “I think Kansas is playing as well as they have all season right now.”