He considers himself pretty good at judging whether the ball is going to go in or not. This time, he felt sure it was going left.

ISU head coach Fred Hoiberg saw the ball leave Ben McLemore’s hands. He was lined up perfectly with the release and the bucket. And once he saw it trailing left, he said, “We got it.” But McLemore’s shot banked in, tying the game at 79 and spurring overtime, which Kansas completely controlled riding a tidal wave of momentum and won 97-89.

“Well, it stills pains me,” Hoiberg said of last season’s overtime loss in Lawrence, Kan. “When it went off his hand it looked like it was three feet to the left, from my angle it looked so far left and then it banked and went in. It was a hard one to handle.”

Georges Niang had fouled out and was sitting at the end of the bench, ready to celebrate Iowa State’s first win at Kansas since 2005. From his angle, it was going left and his spirits temporarily lifted thinking a win was imminent. But McLemore’s shot banked in.

“I was sitting toward the end of the bench because I figured we had the game in the bag,” Niang, who hasn’t beaten Kansas in his career, said. “I sat there and thought that looks a little off to the left and then it hit the backboard and I was like wow that just went in.

“That loss still sticks with me to this day.”

Naz Long only played a single minute in the game, but he remembers it perfectly, sitting on the left side of the bench and feeling his heart jump —possibly the biggest win of the season was about to take place. But McLemore’s shot banked in. And Long’s heart sank at once.

“That’s something that all of us haven’t forgot,” Long said.

Melvin Ejim was the only player on this year’s team on the floor for the shot. He chased Kansas’ Elijah Johnson around a screen before he kicked to McLemore. Ejim crashed the glass in case he missed. But McLemore’s shot banked in. Instead Ejim found his way back to the bench with his head down through a scattered group of Kansas players celebrating the chance to go win the game in overtime.

“It was a crazy deal, but it’s happened to us before,” Ejim said. “It’s part of the game, guys make big shots and make big plays. You’ve just got to be able to come back and play. Last year we just didn’t have it, they just had the momentum and it was all in their favor.”

One year later, the road trip to Phog Allen Fieldhouse and its raucous atmosphere between No. 6 Kansas (15-4, 6-0 Big 12) and No. 16 Iowa State (15-3, 3-3) might not come down to something like a bank shot in at the end of regulation. Hoiberg believes it’s all about rebounding and getting back in transition.

In the first meeting of the season the Jayhawks dominated the glass, out-rebounding the Cyclones 53 to 36. A bulk of those came from Andrew Wiggins and Joel Embiid, both of whom are potential No. 1 picks for this summer’s NBA Draft.

The pair combined for 28 rebounds, 33 points and knocked down 14-of-24 shots on the night, helping Kansas to a 23-10 advantage on second-chance points.

In Big 12 play, the Jayhawks remain the only undefeated team and Hoiberg said they’re playing like the best team in the country, rolling through four-straight ranked opponents (Kansas State, Iowa State, Oklahoma State and Baylor) before cruising past TCU 91-69 on Saturday, but that didn’t stop him from saying they’re excited to go play the best at one of the best venues in the country. 

“I thought we had a great week of prep and practice and hopefully that will carry over with these couple days leading into this Kansas game, because you have to have [confidence],” Hoiberg said. “If you go down there and you’ve got your tail between your legs, you’re not going to have any prayer to come out with a win.”