No. 1 Kansas Rallies Past No. 21 Iowa State, 85-78

LAWRENCE, Kansas – No. 1 Kansas rallied a pulled away from No. 21 Iowa State in the final minutes to earn a 85-78 win Saturday afternoon at Allen Fieldhouse. Iowa State finishes the regular season with a 21-10 overall record, 10-8 in the Big 12. Kansas finishes atop the Big 12 with a 27-4 overall record, 15-3 in conference competition.

Georges Niang led Iowa State with 22 points, five rebounds and five assists, while Jameel McKay posted 19 points and nine rebounds. Iowa State led for a four-minute stretch of the second half, but saw the Jayhawks put together a big run in the final four minutes of the game to pull away from the visiting Cyclones.

How it Happened
With some strong work on the offensive glass, Kansas was putting itself in good position to pull away early, as they moved an 11-11 tie game to a 19-13 advantage. The Cyclones were efficient from the field, and used its smart shot selection to reel the Jayhawks back in at 19-19. Georges Niang was the catalyst of the Cyclone start, scoring 12 of the visitors' first 22 points, but he picked up two fouls on Perry Ellis and had to go to the bench.

At 26-26, KU went for five in a row to get ahead 31-26, but the Cyclones steadied the ship, establishing the post with Jameel McKay, who helped his own cause by taking care of business on the glass. McKay was the key without Niang, finishing the first half with 15 points and seven rebounds. Kansas maintained its lead for the rest of the half, but Monté Morris got the last laugh heading into the locker room as he hit a 23-foot 3-pointer as the clock hit 0.0 to cut the KU advantage to 37-36.

McKay immediately got Iowa State ahead on the first possession of the second half, and began a run of possessions in which the lead changed. Kansas eventually re-established a multiple-possession lead, building its lead to as many as seven points. Iowa State eventually worked its way back into a groove offensively, as a corner 3-ball by Hallice Cooke cut the Jayhawk advantage to a single point. The next possession, Iowa State got back ahead as Morris fed Deonte Burton underneath the hoop en route to an old fashioned 3-point play to get the visitors back ahead 60-58. Burton did it again the next possession, draining a three in front of the ISU bench to give the Cyclones their biggest lead of the game at 63-59.

The lead did not last long as Kansas ripped off five-straight points to pull back ahead, but ISU got a four-point possession, with Burton draining a pair of free throws after a flagrant foul on Ellis and a Niang bucket got ISU back ahead by three. Landen Lucas got a put-back out of the final media timeout to get KU back ahead 72-71. That lead became 79-71 when Devonte' Graham hit a 3-pointer in front of the home bench that put the Jayhawks ahead for good.

Cyclone of Note: Jameel McKay. The Cyclone big man was a reliable source for points for Iowa State, especially in the first half when ISU was without the foul-troubled Georges Niang. For the game, McKay finished with 19 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the field and nine rebounds.

Cyclone Quick Hits
*Jameel McKay recorded 19 points, his 15th game of the season in double figures and 31st of his career.
*Monté Morris finished with 13 points, his 26th game of the season in double figures and 63rd of his career.
*Matt Thomas has now recorded at least one 3-pointer in 21-straight games.
*Georges Niang scored 22 points, his 40th-straight game in double figures, a 13th game of the season with at least 20 points and 32nd of his career.
*Niang now has 2,111 career points, moving him past Kansas' Nick Collison (2,097) in Big 12 in career scoring.

Up Next
Iowa State will begin play at the Phillips 66 Big 12 Men's Basketball Championship at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Missouri next Thursday as the No. 6 seed against No. 3 seed Oklahoma. The game will tipoff at 8 p.m. and be televised on ESPNU.

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Team Stats

Georges Niang

Jameel McKay

Monte Morris

Matt Thomas

Players Mentioned

Deonte Burton

Hallice Cooke

Georges Niang

Sponsors

Iowa State University Athletics