Ames, Iowa ? ESPN GameDay, Hilton Magic and, oh yes, a dose of high-octane Iowa State basketball proved a bit too much for Kansas University’s Jayhawks on Saturday night in crazed Hilton Coliseum.
Iowa State (13-3, 3-1) repeatedly beat the (14-3, 3-1) Jayhawks up and down the court on the fast break, scoring inside and out in an 86-81 victory that tightened up the Big 12 standings big-time at this oh-so-early juncture of the season.
“They had way too many transition points. We didn’t get back. We were just being lazy,” KU freshman point guard Devonté Graham said on a night the Jayhawks were out-shot 50.8 percent to 42.7 percent. The Cyclones hit 58.6 percent of their shots the final half to KU’s 40.9 mark.
“It was definitely transition that hurt us so much. We didn’t get back,” junior forward Perry Ellis said after snapping a slump with 19 points and 11 rebounds. “I mean we were trying to send three back. It was an emphasis we had to get back on this team. They run and we didn’t do anything to stop them.”
Iowa State, which had six players score in double figures (Naz Long had 20, Georges Niang 15 and Dustin Hogue 14), were credited with 21 fast-break points to KU’s 10.
“They were a lot faster than us in transition,” said KU coach Bill Self, whose Jayhawks are a half game behind Kansas State (4-1) and tied with ISU (3-1) in the league standings. West Virginia and Oklahoma are 3-2 and Texas 2-2 in quite the logjam.
“I think they surprised us early in the game getting it out quick and beating us down the floor. We sent three back and two of the three couldn’t remember to get back. That was the biggest difference in the game, especially when we fought to make it a two-possession game,” Self added.
KU trailed 82-79 at :29 on a layup by Frank Mason III (career high 21 points). Iowa State’s Monté Morris hit one of two free throws at :25. However, Wayne Selden Jr. (12 points) was called for a charge at :14, Bryce Dejean-Jones hitting one of two free throws to up the lead to five. Selden missed a jumper at :07 as the Cyclones put away the victory.
“Whenever we had a chance to inch back into it and make it a close game, our inability to get back led to easy baskets they didn’t have to earn,” Self said. “It was like being down three was not enough, let’s make sure it’s seven. Our defense was not great. We knew they’d make nine threes (nine of 20 to KU’s nine of 23), eight, nine threes. That’s their average. You can’t give up the easy points.”
Self was disappointed in how his team responded to ISU’s loud crowd, which was energized with the GameDay crew in town.
“I didn’t think we played well at all. I didn’t think we handled it. We never ran a set we were supposed to run,” Self said. “We got sped up where we didn’t focus and execute very well.”
Mason topped his old career high of 20 points set against Temple. He played 35 minutes despite going down with a nasty case of cramps the second half. He received treatment and is OK.
“He seemed fine when he came back in,” Self said of Mason, who hit eight of 14 shots.