Kansas just doesn’t like Hilton Coliseum very much. After losing their last three games in the building, it took the last two minutes of Wednesday night’s game against Iowa State to pull out an 88-81 victory.

The game was even closer than the score.

With 2:09 left in the game, two clutch free throws from Kansas junior Drew Gooden tied the score at 81. Senior Tyray Pearson missed two free throws and Kansas senior Jeff Boschee drained one of his four three-point baskets, bringing the score to 84-81.

“We don’t make free throws and they made a three, that’s how close the game was,” ISU head coach Larry Eustachy said. “It shows you what maybe our team is capable of.”

The No. 2 Jayhawks pulled away after a missed floater from ISU sophomore Jake Sullivan and two made free throws from Kansas junior Kirk Hinrich.

“We had an opportunity to grab a great win. It was a gallant effort but our execution throughout the game was not very good,” Eustachy said.

Kansas ran the floor throughout the night, racking up 25 points on ISU turnovers. Ultimately, it was Gooden’s 23 points and Boschee shooting four of four from the three-point line that iced the game.

“We played their game tonight,” Eustachy said. “They’re very much up-tempo and we got away from our game.”

Iowa State was led by Sullivan, who had 27 points, making five of seven from beyond the arc. Pearson added 17 and sophomore Shane Power tossed in 15.

“I thought our guys hung in there and never let them get too far away,” Eustachy said. “We made some spectacular plays on offense.”

After the game, the ongoing theme among Iowa State players was frustration from not being able to pull out a win against such teams as Colorado, Baylor, Oklahoma State and now Kansas.

“We just can’t feel like we can get one of these, can’t get over that hump,” Sullivan said. “It’s very disappointing.”

Iowa State dominated in some areas of the game such as blocks and steals, but Kansas’ transition game was just too much for Iowa State to handle.

“We just weren’t real good defensively,” Eustachy said. “Too many easy paths to the basket the whole game.”

All five starters scored in double digits for the Cyclones as junior Omar Bynum pitched in 10 points and 11 rebounds for his second double-double of the season and sophomore Marcus Jefferson scored 10.

“There isn’t any way you should lose if you got 81 points, and we did,” Eustachy said. “So we’ll try it again tomorrow.”