The Big 12 season kicked off in Hilton Coliseum in front of more than 12,000 fans and a nationally televised audience Monday as the No. 14 Kansas Jayhawks pounded a young Iowa State team, 83-54.

“They were very, very impressive,” head coach Larry Eustachy said. “They took us out of our offense …. We stood and didn’t simulate practice at all.”

Kansas made exactly half of its shots and held the Cyclones to just under 37 percent shooting en route to the victory. Iowa native Nick Collison had a career-high 31 points for Kansas, as the team’s second leading scorer, Wayne Simien, was out with a hand injury.

“I thought he was phenomenal,” Eustachy said about Collison. “He’s a different player than when he first got there, and he should be — he’s been well coached. I thought he was more focused than I’ve ever seen him.”

Kansas broke the game open with a 22-2 lead and the Cyclones didn’t get its first field goal until the 11-minute mark.

“What happened at the beginning was that we just kind of gagged,” Eustachy said. “We didn’t handle the situation very well.”

The Cyclones’ shooting woes showed mostly behind the arc, as the team made just one of 12 attempts.

“Our offense stunk tonight,” guard Jake Sullivan said. “I missed some easy shots at the start of the game. You’re down by 20 on Kansas — good luck.”

Sullivan ended with 13 points for Iowa State and Jared Homan put in 14 while grabbing ten boards and blocking three shots. Newcomers Tim Barnes and Jackson Vroman combined for just 13 points in their first Big 12 game.

“I’m not sitting here shell-shocked; I’ve seen this before,” Eustachy said. “I think we have to remember that Kirk Hinrich has a lot on Barnes and Collison has a lot on Vroman.”

Iowa State made small runs at times and brought the score within 15 points, but the Jayhawks were just too much.

“We really got out-toughed,” Eustachy said. “They got the loose balls. We really got away from our game.”

Freshman Adam Haluska had his lowest output of the season with just two points.

“We tried at times, but we got a lot to work on,” Haluska said. “Lack of experience really showed there.”

The tough schedule continues for Iowa State as the team heads down to Texas to face the Longhorns Saturday.

“I’m high on this team,” Eustachy said. “I know you are going to look at me like I got three heads on right now, but I’m high on this group of guys when we get them tougher, not if, when we get them tougher.”