Iowa State Falls to No. 6 Kansas, 75-64

Wednesday, February 27

Ames, Iowa

6:00 PM

Iowa State

14-14, 4-9

Kansas

25-3,10-3

Kansas

Iowa State

Iowa State Falls to No. 6 Kansas, 75-64

02.27.2008 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: cyclones.com

AMES, Iowa? No. 6 Kansas jumped out to a 22-point lead before holding back an Iowa State second-half rally en route to a 75-64 win Wednesday night in Hilton Coliseum. ISU, which falls to 14-14 overall and 4-9 in Big 12 play, shot just 37.3 percent from the floor.

"I really felt like we competed and I am proud of the way we started the second half," ISU head coach Greg McDermott said. "There were a couple of stretches where things did not go as we would like. You have to pick your poison when you play a team like Kansas because they are so talented."

KU raced out to an early 9-3 lead behind a pair of baskets from Mario Chalmers. ISU kept it close with a pair of baskets by Jiri Hubalek to make it a 16-13 game with 12:07 left in the first half. However, the Jayhawks, which had been struggling with their outside shooting in recent games, got hot. A 12-0 run behind treys from Sherron Collins and Chalmers pushed KU out in front 28-13 with 8:30 remaining in the opening period.

Hubalek finally ended the ISU scoring drought with a basket in the lane to make it a 28-15 KU advantage. Hubalek tallied another hoop after a Rahshon Clark free-throw to cut the lead down to 10 points, but KU answered with back-to-back hoops from Sasha Kaun and Darrell Arthur to improve its lead to 14 points (32-18) with 4:23 left in the first half.

KU went into intermission with a 36-23 lead. Hubalek and Wesley Johnson kept the Cyclones within striking distance, tallying 11 points each. The pair combined for 9-of-15 shooting from the floor and 22 of ISU's 23 points in the opening period, while the rest of the Cyclones were 0-of-15 from the field.

ISU came out red hot after the break, hitting its first three shots to go on a 7-0 run to cut the KU lead to 36-30 with 18:20 left in the game. Sean Haluska drilled a trey and a mid-range jumper off a curl to account for five of ISU's first seven points. KU quickly halted the Cyclone flurry with 10-straight points to move back into a comfortable 46-30 lead.

Brandon Rush later on hit back-to-back 3-pointers to push the Jayhawks out in front 52-34 with just under 13 minutes left in the game. KU's lead reached 22 points (57-35) on an Arthur score in the paint, but the Cyclones would not go down without a fight. ISU rattled off 12-straight points on two treys from Johnson and a triple from Bryan Petersen to cut the lead to 57-47 with 7:56 left in the game.

Rush then came up big again, scoring on a drive and converting a conventional 3-point play to stop the ISU threat. ISU cut the lead to single digits for the first time since the early part of the game on a Brackins lay-in, but Chalmers answered with a 3-pointer on KU's next possession to help the Jayhawks go back up 67-55 with 3:46 left in the game.

Wesley Johnson led ISU with 20 points, his seventh 20-point game of the season. The sophomore tied a career high with five 3-pointers, increasing his career total to 72, which ranks 16th in school history. Diante Garrett came of the bench to record six assists and no turnovers for the Cyclones. ISU committed less than 10 turnovers (8) for just the sixth time this season. Arthur led KU with 18 points.

ISU travels to Colorado on Saturday. Tip-off is set for 5 p.m.

Notes
- ISU has lost 10-straight games to ranked opponents
- ISU head coach Greg McDermott is 0-9 vs. ranked opponents as the Cyclone head coach.
- ISU is now 1-9 on the season when allowing its opponent to score 70 points or more.
- Jiri Hubalek tallied 11 points in the first half...he has scored in double figures in the first half in six of the last seven games.
- Hubalek reached 900 points in his career...he now has 909 career points.
- Hubalek and Wesley Johnson were 9-of-15 from the field in the first half...the rest of the Cyclones were 0-for-15.
- Rahshon Clark tallied one block...his 31 blocks ties for 19th on ISU's single-season blocked shots chart.
- Wesley Johnson tied a career high with five treys...he now ranks 16th on ISU's career 3-pointers made chart with 72.
- Johnson tallied his seventh 20-point game of the season with 20 points.
- Diante Garrett recorded six assists and no turnovers...it is Garrett's seventh game this season with five or more assists.
- Hubalek tallied one block...he now ranks 19th on ISU's career blocked shot chart with 48 swats.
- ISU tallied less than 10 turnovers (8) for the sixth time this season.