No. 8 Kansas never woke up during a 68-53 loss to No. 13 Iowa State on Saturday inside Hilton Coliseum.
The Jayhawks led for just over one minute, thanks to an early 3-2 advantage, before facing an immediate deficit after that. They were never able to dig themselves out of the hole, as the Cyclones cruised during a matinee matchup that could ultimately have Big 12 race implications.
Iowa State’s convincing win served as revenge from the nail-biter in Lawrence a few weeks ago, in which neither team led by more than seven points. This time around, the Jayhawks (18-5, 6-4 Big 12) could do nothing right and the Cyclones (16-6, 7-3 Big 12) made them pay for it.
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PHOTO GALLERY: Kansas at Iowa State
Box Score: Iowa State 68, Kansas 53
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Kansas struggled to hit a shot for 40 minutes against Iowa State’s swarming defense. KU finished 17-for-44 from the floor, including 6-for-23 from long range. If not for Jalen Wilson’s team-high 26-point performance, this game could have been a blood bath. No other KU player finished in double figures.
ISU did a great job of forcing KU into mistakes, as the visitors committed 20 turnovers in the loss. The Cyclones turned that into 19 points off those mistakes, and it somehow felt like way more than that.
KU’s best charge came to start the second half, when the defending champs cut it to five shortly after that break. The Cyclones didn’t falter, and stretched it back out to double-digits just two minutes later.
After that, the final 15 minutes were merely a formality. The result snapped a two-game skid for the Cyclones, who had dropped four of their last six games entering the weekend. The Jayhawks saw their two-game win streak, and will have a quick turnaround to put this game behind them.
Kansas will play host to Texas on Monday.
