Iowa State drubs No. 5 Kansas 77-60
AMES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa State served notice that it’s a Big 12 contender again after an ugly rebuild last season.
Marial Shayok scored 24 points, and the streaking Cyclones routed No. 5 Kansas 77-60 on Saturday for their most lopsided victory over the Jayhawks in 46 years.
Freshman Tyrese Haliburton made four 3-pointers and scored 14 points for Iowa State (12-2, 2-0), which opened Big 12 play with back-to-back wins for the first time since 2015. It was the Cyclones’ fifth consecutive victory overall.
Kansas (12-2, 1-1) committed a season-high 24 turnovers in its worst loss to Iowa State since an 89-65 blowout in Lawrence in 1973.
“They’re the standard in our league and the team we’re all trying to catch,” Cyclones coach Steve Prohm said. “It’s a great win. I loved the way they competed.”
Despite getting outrebounded 41-26, Iowa State — now one shy of matching its win total from a dismal 13-18 campaign a year ago — made surprisingly easy work of Kansas in part by shooting 9 of 13 on 3s in the second half.
“We were awful. But they were good,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “They manhandled us.”
The Cyclones opened their first double-digit lead when Haliburton made a corner 3-pointer with 9:59 to go. Lagerald Vick answered with a hasty 3-point try that bounced off the bottom of the backboard, and Lindell Wigginton connected from long range to make it 60-47 and force Self to burn his third timeout in 11 minutes.
Shayok’s 3 with just under seven minutes to go made it 65-49, and the rout was on.
“We came out playing careless,” said Kansas star Dedric Lawson, who had 13 points and 12 rebounds, but committed six turnovers. “I played terrible. … I didn’t get guys open shots. A lot of this falls back on me.”
Quentin Grimes scored 19 points for Kansas, including 14 straight for the Jayhawks in one stretch.
Kansas played without big man Udoka Azubuike, who was hit on the right wrist during Friday’s practice. Self said about an hour before tip-off that X-rays on Azubuike’s wrist were negative, but he was in too much pain to play.
Azubuike, who is averaging 13.4 points and 6.8 rebounds a game, is scheduled for an MRI on Sunday. Azubuike needed surgery to repair torn ligaments in his left wrist in 2017.
“It could be a one-game deal or it could be a season-ending deal. But there’s no indication that it’ll be the latter,” Self said.
THE BIG PICTURE
Kansas: Losing at Hilton Coliseum isn’t anything to be embarrassed about; the Cyclones are 5-2 against top-10 teams at home under Prohm, and Iowa State was actually a one-point favorite. But the Jayhawks were an absolute mess for stretches on offense — and they wasted a plus-15 effort on the boards without Azubuike. “We were just trying to play a little bit too fast,” Grimes said.
Iowa State: The Cyclones finally showed how much potential they have when they’re healthy. There’s little doubt that the rest of the Big 12 took notice of this result, because Iowa State has enough talent to do some serious damage in the league this winter.
THE NUMBERS
Kansas had just 12 assists on 24 baskets. Iowa State also had 13 steals, with Vick (seven) leading the way in turnovers. …Haliburton has begun his Big 12 career by shooting 8 of 11 from beyond the arc. … The Jayhawks opened play with a staggering 20-4 edge on the glass. But they still trailed by four at halftime, a sign of things to come. …Wigginton, coming off the bench for the third straight game, was just 2-of-11 shooting.
POLL IMPLICATIONS
Kansas, which has wins over Michigan State and Tennessee to its credit, likely won’t fall too far. The Jayhawks almost certainly will be joined in Monday’s poll by the Cyclones.
UP NEXT
Kansas hosts TCU on Wednesday.
Iowa State plays at Baylor on Tuesday.
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The Western Journal has not reviewed this Associated Press story prior to publication. Therefore, it may contain editorial bias or may in some other way not meet our normal editorial standards. It is provided to our readers as a service from The Western Journal.
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