After putting up an amazing fight against the No. 2 Kansas Jayhawks, Iowa State went out with a whimper.

The Cyclones played the game without the services of post players Reggie George and Robert Faulkner. George has been dismissed from the team for violating team rules, and Faulkner can’t dress pending an academic appeal.

Iowa State kept the game close throughout, but anytime they gained momentum, Kansas answered any hope of a Cyclone comeback. Iowa State fell 71-66 in front of a crowd of 13,009.

“I think if I was a fan I would think I saw a terrific game tonight,” ISU head coach Wayne Morgan said.

Cold-shooting, coupled with missed opportunities, spelled doom for the Cyclones.

“I thought both teams played their hearts out. I think Kansas came in here and gritted their teeth and said they were going to do anything they could do to win here in Ames,” Morgan said.

A Damion Staple dunk tied the game at 6-6, but Kansas responded by taking the lead on a Aaron Miles 3-pointer.

The Jayhawks never looked back in the first half and led by as many as seven points.

John Neal came off the bench and nailed a 3-pointer, which brought the Cyclones to within four with 4:56 left in the half.

Iowa State pulled to within one with 1:30 left on a Curtis Stinson free throw, and trailed by 38-35 going into the break.

Kansas shot 63.6 percent in the first half, while Iowa State connected on 44.8 percent of their shots.

Kansas jumped out to a 9-3 run after the break, but Will Blalock stopped the hurt by nailing a 3-pointer, pulling the Cyclones to within six points at 47-41.

“Basketball is a game of runs,” Neal said.

“There’s going to be a lot of runs and sometimes we’re going to be on the other end of the run.”

With nine minutes left in the game, a J.R. Giddens pass was intercepted by Blalock, who found backcourt mate Stinson on a fastbreak to pull the Cyclones within two points.

On Kansas’ next possession, Stinson intercepted another Jayhawk pass and took the ball down the court to tie the game at 52 apiece.

Two Stinson free throws gave the Cyclones their first lead since the opening minutes of the game, when the score was 4-2 Iowa State.

Kansas responded again with an 8-0 run, and keep the Cyclones at bay for the rest of the contest.

Stinson and Blalock led the Cyclones in scoring with 19 and 17 points, respectively.

Homan was the other ISU player in double-digits, scoring 10 points and pulling in a team-high 11 rebounds.

The KU defense kept Homan in check in the second half, holding him to only two free throws.

Keith Langford, Wayne Simien and Russell Robinson, all questionable before the game, played for the Jayhawks. Langford was Kansas’ leading scorer with 18 points, followed by Simien and Giddens who had 13 points each.

“I knew they all would play. I was asked that the other day, and I said they’d all play,” Morgan said.