Iowa State beatdown underlies a recurring conflict for Kansas

For the fourth time in the last five conference games, the Jayhawks were not able to come out on top. They looked completely outclassed by the Iowa State Cyclones, failing to take a lead in the game after just the two first minutes played. The final score was 68-53 in favor of the Cyclones.

There was no point in the game where it seemed as though Kansas was the better team. They turned over the ball a whopping 20 times, and 11 were in the first half. Gradey Dick and Jalen Wilson combined for 9 of them.

Of course, Wilson can not be blamed for the loss. His 26 points made up nearly half of the Jayhawks scoring production. He was hitting his shots and getting to the line, so why did Kansas play so poorly?

The Jayhawks have no consistent production on offense besides Wilson. Dajuan Harris Jr. has faltered on too many occasions — it was the fifth time in seven games that he has failed to score more than 3 points. When your team’s primary ball handler poses no threat offensively to the defense, it makes the offense stagnant, and that is exactly what we saw this afternoon.

The lack of three point shooting is also an issue. Gradey Dick is the only player who has been able to hit three point shots all year, even with some off games. Everyone else on the team has a jump shot that depends on a game-to-game basis.

Since the beginning of conference play, Kevin McCullar Jr. is shooting 35.3% from the field. The transfer from Texas Tech is also struggling from beyond the arc. He has been providing the Jayhawks with very little offensive help.

Iowa State has one of the top defenses in this country, but the lack of offensive production is a recurring theme for this squad. The bench lacks depth and does not have any shooters. For the Jayhawks to start playing better, they can not turn over the ball so much, and the threes have to start falling down.