AMES — Suffering a heartbreaking loss on the road against Kansas back on Jan. 14, Iowa State men’s basketball made sure things went differently back on their home floor.

The Cyclones took it right at No. 8 Kansas, taking a 68-53 win in Hilton Coliseum on Saturday.

From balanced scoring to an elite performance defensively, the Cyclones were firing on all cylinders over the weekend.

King in his throne

Tre King had shown flashes of what he could be throughout the season, but the matchup with Kansas showed truly how gifted he is.

King picked up a couple of buckets inside early, then went to his mid range shot and a fadeaway after.

King was subbed out for the rest of the half after that; however, he would re-enter and get right back to business with a floater. In just eight first half minutes, King compiled 10 points on 5-5 shooting.

King was lifting the offense while players such as Jaren Holmes struggled in the first half. Holmes was shutout and shot 0-4 in the first frame, yet King’s prowess allowed the Cyclones to lead 33-21 at the half.

When Holmes and Caleb Grill got going in the second half, it was too much for the Jayhawks to handle.

After the game, Holmes credited his second half performance to vomiting in the locker room.

“I went in the locker room and I threw up,” Holmes said. “I’ve been dealing with some sickness over the past week and a half.”

One-Jayhawk show

As much as head coach T.J. Otzelberger and the Cyclones preach balanced scoring, it can be equally important for the team to limit the number of opponents that have strong offensive performances.

When all else was failing for Kansas, Jalen Wilson was stepping up to the plate. Wilson was the lone Jayhawk to eclipse double-digits scoring, racking up a game-high 26 points on 7-16 shooting.

Gradey Dick, who put on a scoring clinic with 21 points during the previous matchup, scored just seven points on 2-6 shooting.

Wilson was hitting his shots, and would keep the Jayhawk offense moving, but with no one else contributing big numbers to the scoring, it was not enough.

“When you can impact somebody else’s balance offensively, I think there’s a lot of other things that come after that that end up being good for us,” Otzelberger said.

Hometown Heroes

Something about playing in Hilton Coliseum has brought the best out of the Cyclones all season long. Iowa State now holds a 12-0 record on their home floor, and have taken down No. 8 Kansas, No. 5 Kansas State and No. 7 Texas.

With full crowds for all three of the games, the atmospheres have played a large role in the home success.

One of the players who has proven to step up at home is freshman Tamin Lipsey. The home crowd has had plenty of moments to be excited about during Lipsey’s young career, and Saturday was another one of these moments.

Lipsey neared a triple-double, tallying nine points, eight rebounds and 10 assists. 

The Cyclones will not have this luxury on Wednesday, as they hit the road to take on West Virginia.