There were moments where this one was close, much closer than it needed to be.  Still it never really felt in doubt.  It wasn't like the Nebraska game or the Baylor game or any other game where Kansas seemed to be sleep walking and going through the motions.  Against Iowa State it felt like the ability to run away with it was there and everyone was waiting for the right moment.  One second Kansas was up just 3 but seemed very calm as a team, look away for a second and they sit comfortably ahead by 17.  Maybe that's an overly optimistic and simplistic view but that's the way this one felt.  Could it be that Kansas is slowly getting closer to hitting their stride?

Programming Note: Several junior day interviews due up today or tomorrow.  Also we've got a quick turnaround for A&M and KC will kick off our preview coverage with his "Early Thoughts" preview.

As a team Kansas didn't shoot the ball well.  The Cyclones doubled down immediately in the post which resulted in 27 three point attempts, only seven of which were converted.  Another bi product of that strategy being so effective for the Cyclones was a lack of trips to the free throw line for Kansas.  Again, they weren't "bad" shots and the Kansas bigs still stayed involved enough to make an impact, but it's hard to imagine this being a great combination for a tournament run. 

▴	Team	Split	PTS	FGM	FGA	FG%	2PM	2PA	2PT%	3PM	3PA	3PT%	FTM	FTA	FT%	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF
	ISU	Game Final	59	20	59	33.9	12	39	30.7	8	20	40.0	11	20	55.0	11	26	37	15	5	3	9	12
	KU	Game Final	73	28	66	42.4	21	39	53.8	7	27	25.9	10	12	83.3	13	34	47	15	5	5	9	16
	ISU	1st Half	26	8	29	27.6	4	19	21.0	4	10	40.0	6	12	50.0	6	12	18	7	5	2	3	5
	KU	1st Half	35	14	32	43.8	9	17	52.9	5	15	33.3	2	4	50.0	7	19	26	10	1	2	6	8
	ISU	2nd Half	33	12	30	40.0	8	20	40.0	4	10	40.0	5	8	62.5	5	14	19	8	0	1	6	7
	KU	2nd Half	38	14	34	41.2	12	22	54.5	2	12	16.7	8	8	100.0	6	15	21	5	4	3	3	8
	ISU	Offense Avg	73	26	58	45.2	19	40	47.7	6	17	39.2	13	21	63.7	12	26	38	14	5	5	13	15
	KU	Offense Avg	83	29	59	48.6	21	41	52.4	7	18	40.3	17	24	69.4	13	28	41	17	8	6	12	18
	ISU	Defense Avg	69	26	62	41.5	19	43	44.8	6	19	34.0	11	15	70.7	12	24	36	12	7	3	12	18
	KU	Defense Avg	62	21	59	36.5	15	40	37.9	6	18	33.4	13	19	67.6	12	21	34	12	6	3	14	20

Hands down one of the biggest problems of the day rests in the number of trips to the line.  Unlike the Colorado game Kansas was hitting the free throws at a more than acceptable clip, but with the bigs passing out of the double team nearly every time the ball hit the post, there weren't a lot of fouls underneath.  Now early on Kansas was getting easy shots when the 2nd big or one of the guards would cut to the basket, that needs to be the norm if they face a team prepared to play this same sort of defense in the future.

The individual statistics is probably the area that provides more optimism than anything in this one.  Xavier Henry, for the second game in a row, was very productive.  The "hitch" he seemed to have in his shot disappeared at times, he was aggressive in attacking the basket and he is starting to look once again like the freshman that made such an impact early in the season.

Marcus Morris continues his run of last, and while it was one of his less impressive performances in conference play he still contributed 11 points and 10 rebounds.  The biggest difference for him on the night was just not quite getting the shot to fall, shooting only 36%, well of his blistering pace for conference play.

Sherron and Cole were involved as always but it's also a welcome sign when the Jayhawks can find contributions from other areas and that seems more and more the norm of late.

		S	MIN	PTS	FGM	FGA	FG%	2PA	2PA	2P%	3PM	3PA	3P%	FTM	FTA	FT%	OR	DR	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	+/-	RR
	C. Brackins	*	37	18	6	19	31.6	3	11	27.2	3	8	37.5	3	6	50.0	1	9	10	5	2	1	0	3	-14	-14
	J. Hamilton	*	36	11	5	10	50.0	5	10	50.0	0	0		1	2	50.0	8	4	12	0	0	2	2	3	-8	-2
	D. Garrett	*	35	10	3	7	42.9	1	4	25.0	2	3	66.7	2	4	50.0	0	1	1	4	2	0	3	1	-12	-10
	M. Gilstrap	*	34	11	4	13	30.8	2	8	25.0	2	5	40.0	1	2	50.0	1	8	9	2	0	0	2	1	-7	0
	S. Christophers	*	25	5	2	4	50.0	1	3	33.3	1	1	100.0	0	0		0	2	2	1	1	0	0	2
	C. Colvin		21	4	0	4	0.0	0	2	0.0	0	2	0.0	4	6	66.7	0	0	0	1	0	0	2	1	-19	-24
	D. Buckley		9	0	0	1	0.0	0	0	0.0	0	1	0.0	0	0		0	1	1	2	0	0	0	1	-5	4
	A. Dorr		3	0	0	1	0.0	0	1	0.0	0	0		0	0		1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	-6	2
	ISU		200	59	20	59	33.9	12	39	30.7	8	20	40.0	11	20	55.0	11	26	37	15	5	3	9	12
		S	MIN	PTS	FGM	FGA	FG%	2PA	2PA	2P%	3PM	3PA	3P%	FTM	FTA	FT%	OR	DR	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	+/-	RR
	KU		200	73	28	66	42.4	21	39	53.8	7	27	25.9	10	12	83.3	13	34	47	15	5	5	9	16
	S. Collins	*	37	11	4	14	28.6	1	4	25.0	3	10	30.0	0	0		0	2	2	5	0	0	0	1	7	0
	M. Morris	*	33	11	4	12	33.3	4	11	36.3	0	1	0.0	3	4	75.0	4	6	10	0	0	1	0	2	12	10
	C. Aldrich	*	23	11	5	6	83.3	5	6	83.3	0	0		1	1	100.0	2	10	12	1	0	3	1	3	7	0
	X. Henry	*	21	16	5	9	55.6	2	4	50.0	3	5	60.0	3	4	75.0	2	1	3	0	1	0	2	3	13	12
	B. Morningstar	*	17	2	1	5	20.0	1	1	100.0	0	4	0.0	0	0		1	4	5	2	1	1	1	1	4	-6
	M. Morris		21	4	2	7	28.6	2	5	40.0	0	2	0.0	0	0		4	2	6	0	0	0	2	3	9	4
	T. Reed		21	7	2	3	66.7	1	1	100.0	1	2	50.0	2	2	100.0	0	4	4	3	2	0	1	1	5	-4
	T. Taylor		18	7	3	8	37.5	3	5	60.0	0	3	0.0	1	1	100.0	0	1	1	4	1	0	2	2	14	14
	E. Johnson		6	2	1	1	100.0	1	1	100.0	0	0		0	0		0	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	-1	-16
	J. Withey		3	2	1	1	100.0	1	1	100.0	0	0		0	0		0	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	-14