No. 8 Iowa State had no answers for No. 16 Kansas in Phog Allen Fieldhouse. The Jayhawks stomped the Cyclones in a 69-52 contest Monday night, in which Iowa State could not buy a bucket.
The loss marks the third in a row for the Cyclones, who now sit at 17-5 overall and 7-4 in the Big 12, which pushes them outside of the top four in the conference standings.
Poor first-half shooting puts Cyclones in an early hole
Iowa State started the game cold. The first 20 minutes saw the Cyclones shoot 24% from the field and 1-for-12 from three. It was the lowest shooting percentage of the season and the least amount of first-half points for the Cyclones under head coach T.J. Otzelberger.
A lot of the looks Iowa State had were on second-chance opportunities. But, even with 11 offensive boards, the Cyclones only had six second-chance points.
One sequence saw junior forward Joshua Jefferson rebound a missed layup from senior guard Keshon Gilbert. However, when Jefferson shot it, he missed, proceeded to rebound his own shot and then missed again.
With three scoring opportunities in a row on one possession, shots like those needed to fall, but didn’t.
The solo first-half 3-pointer for the Cyclones belonged to Gilbert, who put up three shots from range. It was junior guard Tamin Lipsey who had some open looks but failed to make any of his five first-half 3-point attempts.
Though the defense held strong for a while, Kansas woke up later on. In the final eight minutes, the Jayhawks used a 16-4 run to take a 25-19 lead into the break.

Second half goes the same as the first
The second half saw little to no improvement for the Cyclones when it came to offensive production. With a shooting percentage of 39% in the final half, it meant Iowa State finished at a 31% success rate.
From deep, the Cyclones still couldn’t connect, going 2-for-9 to finish 3-for-21 in the game.
Lipsey, Gilbert and senior guard Curtis Jones all put up five or more 3-pointers, but only made one apiece. Lipsey and Gilbert led the scoring with Jefferson at 11 points apiece.
Jones’s struggles outside have now stretched across the past three games, all being losses. His seven-point performance marked the fourth game he has scored in single digits and it’s the second time it has happened in the past three games.
Jones was 1-for-7 after attempting the most 3’s for the Cyclones in the game. Across the past three games, Jones himself is 3-for-21, a stark difference from his performance at the start and middle portions of the season.
His poor shooting came at an inconvenient time for Iowa State with sophomore forward Milan Momcilovic out with a broken hand. After Jones had his career-high 33 points against Arizona State, he has not found nearly the same individual success, nor has the team.
Three straight losses
It hasn’t been since the 2022-23 season that Iowa State has lost three or more games in a row. Now, after an overtime loss to Arizona and blowout losses to Kansas State and Kansas, the three-loss losing streak has returned.
Kansas head coach Bill Self is stellar in Monday night games, and this win for his squad now puts him at 38-0 all-time in Big Monday games.
Iowa State’s defense could not hold down Kansas outside, as the Jayhawks went 9-for-18 outside, with guard Zeke Mayo leading the way at 5-for-6. Mayo also led all scorers with 17 points.
The biggest part of the three losses is because Momcilovic has been sidelined after he suffered a broken hand. Before tip-off against Kansas, he was on the floor putting up shots, which may be a sign that he could potentially return soon.
With the production dropping off after Momcilovic’s injury and shots not falling, a full offensive redux will be needed to get back in the win column.