The Lowdown

A first half full of turnovers and cold stretches of shooting led to a low-scoring, back-and-forth affair that ended on a Naz Long layup before the buzzer to put the Cyclones up 36-33. The second half — a flurry of points as the No. 11 Iowa State Cyclones (13-3, 3-1 Big 12) defeated the No. 9 Kansas Jayhawks (14-3, 3-1 Big 12) 86-81.

With the crowd into the game before tip, Iowa State was able to hit six second half three-pointers as Kansas got into foul trouble late, snowballing into a double-digit lead. 

But Kansas wouldn’t go away, applying a full-court press that forced late turnovers, which cut the lead to three points with under 30 seconds to go. A Georges Niang-drawn charge with 13 seconds to play sealed the victory as Iowa State iced the game away with free throws.

The win is the first over Kansas at Hilton Coliseum since 2012 and puts them in a tie for first atop the Big 12 with the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Jayhawks.

The Turning Point

Hanging on to just a 55-53 lead, Jameel McKay took over, scoring six of the Cyclones’ next eight points and blocking a shot to make it 63-55, forcing a Kansas timeout.

Naz Long and Georges Niang hit a pair of three-pointers to extend the lead to as much as 14 points just four minutes after the Jayhawks threatened to take the lead.

The cushion was enough to weather a last stand from Kansas in the final minutes, fueled by two drawn charges by the Cyclones to ice the game with free throw shooting.

The X-Factor

Monté Morris — Morris did what he does best, dish the ball off to teammates, so well that his point total of 11 points doesn’t come close to showing the impact made when not shooting.

When the ball was in Morris’ hands, the Cyclones had control of the game as he ended the night with 10 assists to just two turnovers and pulled down a team-high seven rebounds along with Bryce Dejean-Jones.

By the Numbers

6 — Players in double-figures

7 — Blocks by the Cyclones

40 — Points in the paint by Iowa State

60 — Percent shooting from the three-point line in the second half

98 — Combined second-half points