Ending an eight-game winning run, which put you to heights unreached this season, will always feel like a sucker punch.
Losing it in a 74-56 blowout loss to the No. 5 team in the nation doesn’t take any of the pain away.
Every team will experience the days when the opposition just catches fire, and it feels like there is nothing you can really do, and Kansas fans will be hoping that is a one-off as Iowa State notched a second-half three-point rate of 57.1%, which included the Cyclones hitting five threes in the first 3:51 of the second period in the rout.
Leading Iowa State's ridiculous second-half sprint was forward Milan Momcilovic, who tagged 14 of his 18 points during the second period, all while hitting an 80% mark from beyond the arc.
Over the course of the season, this has been Momcilovic’s game. Heading into Saturday afternoon, the junior ranked 7th in the country in three-point rate with an outstanding 51.7% mark.
While Kansas would do its best to trim the once 24-point lead to 12, it never felt like the Jayhawks were really getting themselves back into the fixture; rather, making the affair look a lot tighter than it actually felt.
Kansas lacked to put on “game pressure”
“It's disappointing that we left out of here, not putting game pressure on. Because you can come up here and play great, not win. But certainly, we didn't put any game pressure on them that was significant at all. I didn't feel like it,” quoted head coach Bill Self following the loss.
For example, once Iowa State pushed their 37-27 halftime advantage all the way out to a 49-29 lead. Kansas guard Darryn Peterson swished a coolly taken three in an attempt to stutter the Cyclones’ momentum. Momcilovic responded with a shot that had already daggered the game that still had just over 16 minutes to play.
MILAN FROM THE CORNER 🤯🔥#Big12MBB | 📺 ABC pic.twitter.com/wfpTt1Joyc
— Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) February 14, 2026
“I didn’t feel totally helpless defensively until [Milan] Momcilovic made the one in the corner over Flory. That was a big-time play,” quoted Self.
The Jayhawks finished the game with just a 31% field goal rate, notching 19 of their 51 attempts, along with 13 turnovers, which were turned into 19 points for Iowa State.
Up next for Kansas is the Oklahoma State Cowboys next Wednesday, with tipoff scheduled for 8 p.m. CT and streaming available on Peacock.
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