Kansas vs. Iowa State
Kansas returns home to the friendly confines of Allen Fieldhouse to host Iowa State in Big 12 play. The Jayhawks are 20-5 on the season and 9-1 in Big 12 play. With its 85-74 win at Kansas State Saturday, KU has now won 20 or more games in each of the last 20 seasons. Kansas puts the nation’s longest home court winning streak on the line at 37 games. Iowa State is 13-12 on the season and 2-8 in conference play. The Cyclones have lost seven of their last eight games and are coming off an 86-67loss at Oklahoma State Saturday.
Denver's Thoughts...
A little breather if you will but hopefully the team doesn't take thing too lightly over the next couple games as they look ahead to a Big Monday matchup against OU. Iowa State is struggling, Kansas is not. Don't have a whole lot to say on this one other than you can bet Craig Brackens doesn't put up 42 again. With that in mind Kansas wins this one easily and my hope is we can get some semblance of a rotation back into our gameday routine. Also, hate to say it but with this not being on TV I might be missing the OGT, carry the torch my friends...I've got a plate of wings and a beer with my name on it.
Final Score: Kansas 83 Iowa State 65
| PPG | FG% | FT% | 3P% | RPG | ORPG | DRPG | APG | TPG | SPG | BPG | FPG | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
ISU | 65.2 | 43.5 | 69.8 | 34.4 | 36.4 | 7.7 | 26.5 | 14.6 | 12.0 | 4.0 | 3.7 | 15.9 |
 |
KU | 77.5 | 48.4 | 73.0 | 38.0 | 41.3 | 12.0 | 26.6 | 16.4 | 14.8 | 7.0 | 4.5 | 19.6 |
|
ISU Opponents | 63.8 | 40.3 | 68.4 | 32.9 | 37.6 | 10.1 | 25.3 | 11.3 | 11.0 | 6.3 | 2.0 | 16.1 |
|
KU Opponents | 65.1 | 38.3 | 71.1 | 32.4 | 34.4 | 11.6 | 19.9 | 12.4 | 14.2 | 7.1 | 3.2 | 20.4 |
more notes, stats and preview after the jump...
Ranks and Records
| Rank and Records | ISU | KU | |
|---|---|---|---|
| RPI | #140 | #12 | |
| Strength of Schedule | #95 | #23 | |
| Overall | 13-12 | 20-5 | |
| Conference | 2-8 | 9-1 | |
| Home | 11-5 | 14-1 | |
| Away | 2-7 | 5-3 | |
| Top 25 | 0-2 | 1-2 | |
| RPI Top 50 | 0-6 | 6-4 |
Kansas rebounded from its first conference loss of the season at Missouri with a gritty victory at Sunflower State rival Kansas State Saturday (85-74). The Jayhawks, 20-5 overall (9-1 Big 12), sit in second place in the conference standings, one game behind Oklahoma (25-2, 10-0 Big 12) and one game ahead of Missouri (22-4, 9-2). The Jayhawks are averaging 77.5 points per game and giving up 65.1 for a +12.4 scoring margin. KU leads the Big 12 in field goal percentage defense at 38.3 percent, rebound defense at 31.5 and rebound margin at +7.1. KU at 50.7 percent and Oklahoma at 51.1 percent are the only two league teams to shoot better than 50 percent in league play. Conversely, the Jayhawks also lead the Big 12 in field goal percentage defense in league games at 38 percent.
Iowa State is 13-12 on the season and 2-8 in Big 12 play. The Cyclones are 11-5 at home this season and 2-7 on the road. The Cyclones average 65.2 points per game and are giving up 63.8. Sophomore forward Craig Brackins leads the team in scoring at 19.7 points per game, which is second in the Big 12. He is also averaging a team-best 9.1 rebounds, which is third in the conference.
Improve Kansas to 21-5 on the season and be Kansas’ 20th-straight season with at least 21 wins dating back to 1989-90…
Make KU 10-1 in Big 12 play, its best conference 11-game record since the 2004-05 team was also 10-1…
Mark the 15th-straight season KU has won at least 10 conference games dating back to 1994-95…
Give Kansas its eighth straight win against Iowa State and its fourth-straight season series sweep…
Make the all-time series with Iowa State 166-58, including 85-15 in games played in Lawrence, 44-9 in Allen Fieldhouse and 21-7 in the Big 12 era…
Add to Kansas’ nation’s longest home court winning streak at 38 games…
Make Kansas 630-106 all-time in Allen Fieldhouse, including 92-6 under head coach Bill Self…
Improve Bill Self to 163-37 while at KU, 370-142 overall and 11-2 against Iowa State, 10-2 while at Kansas…
Make Kansas 1,964-790 all-time.
A Trip Down Memory Lane
A look at my favorite players in the series feel free to add your own in the comments
Larry Eustachy - The guy hated to fly, drank w/coeds and made Iowa State dangerous.
Johnny Orr - If you weren't around for this guy he was a class act, the opposite of Larry and rolled onto the homecourt in a vette on occasion..."Here's Johnny"
Fred Hoiberg - I actually met Fred when he was a high school QB and I was in 3rd grade. "The Mayor" could've played D1 football just as easily but turned in a solid basketball career.
Julius Mickalik - Not sure on the spelling but this European Import could shoot.
Victor Alexander - Here's another one of those guys that just had a great name for the arena announcer and had it called often.
Marcus Fizer - Brought back Hilton Magic, too bad Hampton showed up.
Dedric Willoughby - Never saw a shot he didn't like
Loren Meyer - A solid big man from the days of Big Country and the Big O Ostertag...he went toe to toe with both these guys.
Honestly I could go on and on...Iowa State has always been a team I enjoyed watching and growing up in Ames for a time I knew a lot about them.
Remaining Games
February
21 *NEBRASKA (B12) ............... 3 p.m.
23 *at Oklahoma (ESPN) ............ 8 p.m.
March
1 *MISSOURI (CBS) ................ 1 p.m.
4 *at Texas Tech (ESPN2) .... 8:30 p.m.
7 *TEXAS (CBS) ...................... 3 p.m.