Kansas basketball: Five things to know about Iowa State

Kansas basketball will take on the Iowa State Cyclones this Wednesday in their second Big 12 game of the season. Here are five things to know about the Cyclones.

Kansas basketball picked up a tough, gritty win over West Virginia last Saturday to open up conference play. Now, they’ll hit the road and face Iowa State in their first conference road game of the year. The Cyclones dropped their first conference game this season against TCU.

Here are five things to know about Iowa State:

1. The Cyclones take care of the basketball

So far this season, Iowa State is turning the ball over on only 15.8% of the possessions, which is good for fifteenth fewest in the country according to KenPom. The Cyclones also rarely get blocked on their shots. Kansas basketball will have to take advantage of the possessions they get because they won’t get many freebies from Iowa State.

2. Iowa State has lost three of their last four games

The Cyclones have been in a bit of a downward spiral as of late. After suffering an embarrassing home loss to Florida A&M, Iowa State responded by dropping their conference opener in overtime on the road to TCU.

3. The Cyclones don’t get to the free throw line often

Unlike Kansas basketball, the Cyclones are actually pretty good at shooting free throws, the only problem is that they don’t get to the line very often. According to KenPom, Iowa State is only getting to the charity stripe on 29.5% of their field goal attempts, which ranks 240th in the nation.

4. Tyrese Haliburton is a legit scorer

Point guard Tyrese Haliburton has been elite for the Cyclones, both as a scorer and distributor. The sophomore is averaging 17.7 points, 7.9 assists, and 2.6 steals per game this season, and in the Cyclones’ Big 12 opener, Haliburton notched a triple-double. It’ll take a solid defensive effort from Kansas basketball’s Devon Dotson to slow Haliburton down, but Dotson is more than capable.

5. Kansas basketball will be the Cyclones’ toughest game so far

Iowa State isn’t having the best of seasons this year. The Cyclones’ only have two quality wins against Seton Hall and Alabama, and Iowa State has struggled with teams that shouldn’t even be in the same gym as the Cyclones. Still, Hilton Coliseum isn’t an easy place to play, and the Jayhawks need to be ready.

Hitting the road to play any team in the Big 12 is tough, and Wednesday will be no exception. The Cyclones took down Kansas last season two out of the three times they played, and that cannot happen this season.

You can catch the Jayhawks on the road this Wednesday at 7:00 PM (CT). The game is set to be streamed on ESPN+.