No. 3 Kansas Edges Past Iowa State

Wednesday, January 12

Ames, Iowa

8:00 PM

Iowa State

13-4, 0-2

Kansas (Gold Rules)

16-0, 1-0

Kansas

Iowa State

01.12.2011 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: cyclones.com

STATS | NOTES | HIGHLIGHTS | MEDIA CONFERENCE | JOHNNY ORR TRIBUTE

AMES, Iowa - Marcus Morris scored 33 points to pace No. 3 Kansas to an 84-79 win over Iowa State Wednesday night in Hilton Coliseum.

Iowa State, which dropped its record to 13-4 overall and 0-2 in Big 12 play, kept the game close throughout, but Morris and his brother, Markieff, were too much for the smaller Cyclones to handle.

Diante Garrett was instrumental in keeping the Cyclones in the game, scoring 27 points, his fifth 20-point game of the season. Kansas, which remains unbeaten at 16-0, outshot the Cyclones at the free-throw line, 31-10.

The game was tight after 12 minutes went by in the first half, as a Garrett lay-up cut the Kansas lead to 26-24 with 7:43 left before the break. Iowa State then went into a drought, going scoreless in the next four minutes to allow KU to go on an 11-0 run and improve its lead to 37-24.

Jamie Vanderbeken ended the drought with a 3-pointer, followed by a Garrett trey to cut the lead to eight points (38-30). A Scott Christopherson hook shot in the lane was the final hoop of the first half, as the Cyclones battled back to a six-point deficit (40-34) at the break.

A Vanderbeken 3-pointer capped off a 10-2 run for the Cyclones to close the gap to 48-47 early in the second half. However, the Jayhawks had an answer, mounting a 13-2 run behind five points from Marcus Morris to take control of the game with 11:27 left at 61-49.

The Cyclones still battled tough, however. Iowa State cut the lead to three points thanks a 3-pointer from the corner by Jake Anderson to make it 68-65 with 7:19 left in the game.

It was still a five-point game with under four minutes to play, but the Cyclones misfired on a couple of opportunities to inch closer. Marcus Morris then made back-to-back baskets to give KU a comfortable 78-69 lead with under a minute left.

Vanderbeken finished the game with 19 points on four 3-pointers. Christopherson made just one 3-pointer in the game, keeping his streak of consecutive games with a made 3-pointer to 19 games. It's the third-longest streak in school history.

Melvin Ejim led the Cyclones on the boards with 10, his fourth double-digit rebounding effort of the season.

The Cyclones play host to Baylor on Saturday. Tip-off is at 5 p.m.