Kansas guard AJ Storr (2) pulls up for a 3 against Iowa State guard Keshon Gilbert (10) during the first half on Monday, Feb. 3, 2025 at Allen Fieldhouse. Photo by Nick Krug

Both Kansas and Iowa State entered Monday night desperate for a win after two inconceivable losses apiece in the past week.

In the first half, only one team’s desperation translated to making shots.

The Cyclones converted just eight of their 34 attempts from the field over the course of the first 20 minutes, and took far too long to develop any sort of shooting touch in the second. In addition, despite grabbing 17 offensive rebounds on the night, they converted those into a mere 10 second-chance points.

16th-ranked KU avenged its defeat at Hilton Coliseum, taking down No. 8 ISU 69-52.

Zeke Mayo struggled within the arc, but went 5-for-6 beyond it to emerge as KU’s leading scorer with 17 points. Point guard Dajuan Harris Jr., who remained in control most of the night against ISU’s high-intensity perimeter defense, added 12, and center Hunter Dickinson had 14.

Practically all the Cyclones endured off nights from the field, as guards Keshon Gilbert and Tamin Lipsey and forward Joshua Jefferson scored 11 points each on a combined 13-for-42 shooting. ISU also did not get a point from its bench until the final two minutes of play.

KU shook up its starting lineup, with Rylan Griffen making his ninth start of the season as Shakeel Moore came off the bench for the first time since New Year’s Eve. Meanwhile, KJ Adams returned to his starting position after missing three games due to injury and then coming off the bench for Flory Bidunga in two more. (The lineup head coach Bill Self ultimately chose moved to 6-0 on the season with Monday night’s victory.)

The move to put Bidunga on the bench was not well received initially by the KU student section, which chanted “We want Flory” in the opening minutes after a series of offensive rebounds by ISU.

The actual on-court action was even early despite the numerous second-chance opportunities the Jayhawks conceded (six offensive rebounds by the under-12 media timeout). Griffen missed his first four attempts from beyond the arc over the course of the first half, but AJ Storr scored five straight points in relief to give KU a 14-10 advantage.

With the Cyclones struggling from the field for a lengthy spell, Mayo drained his second 3-pointer of the night to put KU up nine points. ISU made just one field goal in the span of more than eight minutes, and even had an off-balance jumper by Keshon Gilbert waved off due to a shot-clock violation, before Gilbert threw down a fast-break dunk with two minutes and 22 seconds to go in the first half.

With KU up 31-19, a trio of Jayhawks engineered one of their best plays of the season. Dickinson turned the ball over to Lipsey, but the center combined with Storr and Harris to grab possession back as ISU attempted to get out on the break. Dickinson found David Coit, who lobbed an alley-oop all the way down the court to Adams, who soared over Lipsey for a thunderous slam.

KU managed to extend its lead to 16 points at the break, as Dickinson and Storr scored eight apiece.

In a stop-and-start second half marred by fouls on both teams, ISU did not gain much ground. Instead, the Jayhawks went up as many as 23 before a putback by Lipsey with 11:30 remaining. That kicked off a stretch of six straight for the Cyclones.

They found their shooting stroke past the halfway point of the second half, with both Lipsey and the long-dormant Curtis Jones draining 3s.

Mayo’s final 3, off a step-back move with three minutes to go, got KU enough of a cushion to coast the rest of the way.

The Jayhawks will travel to Manhattan for this year’s second installment of the Sunflower Showdown on Saturday at 1 p.m. In the meantime, Kansas State plays Arizona State on the road on Tuesday night.

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