The Kansas Jayhawks defeated the No. 2 Iowa State Cyclones 84-63 on Tuesday night in front of a jam-packed, loud Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kansas. It was a historical win for the Jayhawks.
It was only the fourth time in the past 35 years the Jayhawks had been an underdog at home. The Cyclones were four-point favorites last night. Kansas had not hosted a top-five opponent while being unranked since 1989. In that matchup, No.1 Oklahoma beat Kansas 94-89. Under head coach Bill Self, the Jayhawks had only been underdogs at home twice, and they had won both of those games.
However, when it comes to the history of the Kansas and Iowa State rivalry, maybe we should have expected the outcome. Going into last night’s game, Iowa State was 0-7 when playing at Allen Fieldhouse while ranked during the Self-era at Kansas. The absolute domination from start-to-finish was the surprising part, considering how both teams have looked to this point in the season.
Iowa State entered the game ranked No. 2 and was 16-0 overall and 3-0 in Big 12 play. Kansas was 11-5 with a 1-2 Big 12 record going into that game last night. The Cyclones have been the model of consistency through the first half of the season, while the Jayhawks have been more of a roller coaster ride.
In non-conference play, Kansas had one of the best defenses in the country. Through the first three games in conference play, the Jayhawks looked like a different team, giving up an average of 89 points per game. On top of the poor defensive effort and lack of consistency in rebounding the basketball, all three of those conference games were played against unranked teams.
Against Iowa State, everything was clicking for the Jayhawks. Tre White led the way with 19 points, including hitting his first five three-pointers. As a team, Kansas finished shooting 50% from beyond the arc and 51% as a whole for the game. KU won the rebounding battle by one, but it was not allowing second chances early in the game that really propelled the Jayhawks to take control of the game. Bryson Tiller scored the first basket 15 seconds into the game, and the Jayhawks led the rest of the 39:45 that was left.
Self may have found his starting five: Tiller, White, Darryn Peterson, Flory Bidunga, and Melvin Council Jr., while Jayhawk vets Jamari McDowell and Elmarko Jackson look great as off-the-bench energy guys. Jackson was on the floor for loose balls, McDowell hit a big three to end the only run of the game by Iowa State. It seems like Self may have something to do with that lineup and finding a role for each guy. Peterson had great stretches, but he wasn’t the only thing going on offense for KU. When these guys start playing well together on both ends of the floor, maybe the ceiling is higher for this team than we initially thought over the first few games of Big 12 play.
It’s just one game, a home game for Kansas and a road game in a historically tough place to play for the Cyclones, so maybe we can’t have any big overarching takeaways from this one. More than likely, Iowa State will remain a top 10 team for the majority of the season. Kansas had more at stake and needed to show they could beat a top team not only in their conference but in the country. The Jayhawks passed that test, but will need to play more consistently the rest of the way if they want to make any noise in March.
