It has been rare to ever see a Bill Self Kansas team be an underdog, yet when the undefeated No. 2 Iowa State Cyclones came to Allen Fieldhouse Tuesday night, it was hard to map out a route to victory.
However, Kansas found the best time to light up the skies in a dominant 84-63 win over the Cyclones.
Not only was Tuesday night a display of elite offense, which saw four players notch 10+ points (Flory Bidunga, Melvin Council Jr., Tre White, and Darryn Peterson), it was also a dominant display of defense that consistently stifled an offense that scored the nation’s 26th-best, 86.5 points per game, while also notching the country’s 9th-most efficient offense.
It's going to be really important if we continue to build and stack,” quoted Kansas head coach Bill Self late Tuesday night. “If its and buts were candy and nuts, we'd all have a better Christmas too. I think it was a must need win.”
The 23 points Kansas held Iowa State to in the first half were the lowest allowed against a power-conference team all season long.
Tuesday night saw a stark difference from last Saturday
Following Kansas’ 86-75 loss to the West Virginia Mountaineers last weekend, Self was adamant that Kansas needed to adopt a “junkyard dog” mentality, and it was clear that Tuesday night was a junkyard dog showing as Kansas launched themselves ahead of the Cyclones within the first few minutes thanks to a string of forced turnovers, which by the time the final buzzer rang, the Jayhawks had notched 17 points off of turnovers, compared to Iowa State’s paltry four.
As Kansas moves to 2-2 in conference play and to 12-5 overall, with the Big 12 getting underway, the competition will only get tougher, and the best thing to do after a landmark win is to stack another. Up next for the Kansas Jayhawks is the 11-5 Baylor Bears, who are currently managing a 1-3 conference record. The Bears will travel to the Fieldhouse this Friday, with tipoff set for 7 p.m. CT and streaming available on FOX.
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