KU humbled at Hilton

? Kansas University now has something in common with every other men’s basketball team in the Big 12 Conference.

A league loss.

Iowa State took care of KU’s perfect league mark, overcoming an eight-point halftime deficit to down the Jayhawks, 68-61, Saturday before 11,205 frenzied fans at Hilton Coliseum.

“I would not say I’m shocked. A lot of people have come here and lost. It’s not the first conference loss we (ever) have had,” KU’s Michael Lee said after watching guards Curtis Stinson and Jake Sullivan burn the Jayhawks for a combined 27 points the second half.

The dandy duo hit 11 of 15 second-half shots after canning just three of 20 the first half.

“You’ve got to play every night, regardless of who you are playing. Once we understand that,” Lee added, “things will go a lot smoother.”

Another Jayhawk, however, wasn’t so forgiving.

“That’s about as poor as I’ve seen this team play,” said Keith Langford, who led KU with 20 points.

The Jayhawks (13-4 overall, 5-1 Big 12) believe they may have overlooked the Cyclones (13-4, 4-2) Saturday, despite the fact ISU entered undefeated at home.

“Myself personally, I was not focused like I should have been,” Aaron Miles said after collecting three points, 11 assists and three turnovers in 34 minutes. “I feel this loss … the majority was my fault, not being in the game defensively and, offensively, not getting others shots.”

KU coach Bill Self had a succinct reason for KU’s first league loss in six tries.

“The bottom line,” Self said, “is you are not supposed to give up 47 points in a (second) half after giving up 21. It’s the reason we lost the game.”

KU tried freshman J.R. Giddens and several other defenders on Stinson, a 21-year-old freshman from the Bronx who showed a lot of playground skills the second half in taking the ball to the goal en route to eight buckets in 10 second-half tries.

Self tipped his cap in the direction of Stinson, Sullivan and Will Blalock, who had 11 assists in 33 minutes.

“We tried a lot of guys on Stinson and Blalock and Sullivan. Those three guys totally dominated the game from a tempo standpoint,” Self said. “We didn’t have an answer for any of them. We didn’t keep Blalock and Stinson out of the lane and were not getting to Sullivan on threes. That’s as poor as we played in the halfcourt (defense) all year. The biggest thing is the ball screens were getting them in the lane.”

Sullivan hit five of 13 threes to KU’s 8-of-22 shooting.

Langford had four threes in seven tries,. Simien was KU’s second-leading scorer with 11.

“If it weren’t for Keith,” Self said, “we’d have been out of it earlier in the second half.”

The Jayhawks, who led by as many as 11 points the first half, trailed 64-54 with 2:49 to play, mostly because ISU blitzed through KU’s defense and scored on 19 of its first 30 possessions the final half.

Kansas University's bench players -- from left, Nick Bahe, Brett Olson, Christian Moody, Moulaye Niang, Omar Wilkes and Jeremy Case -- react to a missed free throw in the waning moments. Iowa State rallied for a 68-61 victory over the Jayhawks Saturday in Ames, Iowa.

Langford, however, hit a deep three, and Simien hit a field goal and foul shot to slice the gap to 64-60 at 1:54.

Simien hit another free throw after a Sullivan miss at 1:05, and KU was down by just three.

That’s when Stinson, with time running down on the shot clock, used a screen to race in to hit a running layup at :31, giving ISU a five-point lead.

Langford missed at :19, and Sullivan finished the scoring with a pair of free throws.

“It came down to one possession,” Self said. “It’s a three-point game with a minute left. All you’ve got to do is make a stop.”

Stops were missing all half as KU allowed 47 points off 60.6 percent shooting the second 20 minutes.

“It’s probably the worst defense we played all year,” Simien said. “It’s disappointing because we gave that one away. Giving up almost 50 in a half in a conference game … we can’t do that, especially on the road.”

KU's J.R. Giddens, right, tries to defend Iowa State's Curtis Stinson. Stinson burned KU for 19 points and 11 boards.

KU's Wayne Simien, who finished with 11 points and five rebounds, goes up against Iowa State's Curtis Stinson.