Kansas guard Jamari McDowell (11) high-fives Kansas guard Tre White (3) after a three-pointer by White against Iowa State during the first half on Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026 at Allen Fieldhouse. Photo by Nick Krug

The Kansas men’s basketball team entered Tuesday night 4-0 under head coach Bill Self at Allen Fieldhouse against AP No. 2 teams, but then the Jayhawks had been ranked pretty highly themselves in each of those victories — No. 13 against Ohio State in 2011, No. 1 against Oklahoma in 2016, No. 3 and No. 17 when they hosted Baylor in 2017 and 2021.

KU entered its fifth such matchup in a dramatically different position — an underdog, unranked, reeling after a poor start to Big 12 play.

The Jayhawks responded in exceptionally impressive fashion with an 84-63 dismantling of the second-ranked, previously unbeaten Iowa State Cyclones.

“I was in a better mood coaching tonight because I thought the guys tried so hard,” Self said.

ISU cut what had been a 26-point deficit with 1:15 left in the first half all the way down to 11 midway through the second, but KU responded by stringing together 13 straight points to erase any hope of a comeback.

“Other than that seven minutes to start the second half, I thought we played pretty well the whole time,” Self said. “We shared it for the most part, and (were) aggressive, and our defense was well above what it has been, even though we still didn’t rebound it great. I thought our intensity level was at a different level than it’s been any time this year.”

It was a group effort: Tre White scored 19 on a career-high five 3s, Darryn Peterson turned in 16, Melvin Council Jr. played the role of closer with several key layups late and finished with 15 of his own and Flory Bidunga added 10. Every player who saw the floor for KU before the final seconds — a mere seven — scored at least eight points.

“We were aggressive with Darryn in the game and that’s the first time that’s happened this year,” Self said.

Peterson didn’t quite make it to the end of the contest, as he continues to battle cramps, but Self said it “wasn’t bad”: “He was like, ‘If you don’t need me out there, I’m not moving as good as I was earlier — let somebody else finish it off.'”

Peterson, speaking to the media postgame for the first time since Nov. 7, said he’s been improving every day, although noted that he had felt a bit better in KU’s game against TCU on Jan. 6.

“I was out for a while, but every game I feel like I’m getting better,” Peterson said. “Tonight was a great win.”

The Cyclones got five players to double figures, but Tamin Lipsey, Joshua Jefferson and Milan Momcilovic went a combined 11-for-38. ISU played better in the second half, but the damage was done after it shot 24.2% with 10 turnovers before the break.

“There’s not a coach and a program we have more respect for, and that was an absolute beatdown tonight from the start,” ISU coach T.J. Otzelberger said.

Despite his recent slump, forward Bryson Tiller came out aggressive early and made a short-range jumper and spinning layup for the first two field goals of the game. Jefferson countered with a tough bucket inside, but he also committed a pair of turnovers, and the Jayhawks jumped ahead 8-2 on two dunks by Bidunga.

“I love that, whenever they get going early,” White said of KU’s post players. “I feel like it has the defense sticking to them a little bit longer, creates a little bit bigger of a gap for (Darryn) and Melvin for me to drive and stuff like that.”

The Cyclones turned it over four additional times by the 14-minute mark. Jefferson made their second field goal, a 3-pointer, at 13:39 to make it 11-6.

That was part of a series of two 3s apiece by each team in rapid succession, followed by KU’s third from White, to extend the Jayhawks’ lead to 11 and force a timeout by ISU. During the stretch, Elmarko Jackson made a diving play to prevent a turnover and help set up a 3-pointer.

After consecutive buckets by Peterson, White connected from the corner to make it 29-14 with eight minutes left in the half. Bidunga threw in a hook shot inside to extend the run to 9-0 and prompt a second ISU timeout.

The ball kept bouncing KU’s way — and away from Cyclone players as they tried desperately to run anything resembling an offensive set. Jackson got a friendly roll on a 3-pointer from the left corner off a spinning pass from Jamari McDowell that made it 39-16 in KU’s favor.

After a series of misses by the Cyclones, Council added another straight-on 3. He then drove for a layup to counter a close-range score by Killyan Toure, who had stripped a rebound from the Jayhawks’ frontcourt.

ISU got a much-needed second-chance 3-pointer from Momcilovic with just over a minute left in the half, then another putback by Jefferson. But the Cyclones still went into halftime down 44-23.

The Jayhawks, meanwhile, were shooting 50% overall and from deep, led by White’s 12 points and five rebounds.

ISU scored several times in rapid succession to start the half, but KU responded with five quick points by Peterson. However, the momentum remained decidedly on the Cyclones’ side. With the Jayhawks ahead 51-33 after they turned an illegal screen call into a dunk by Tiller, they proceeded to allow a 9-2 run in the span of less than two minutes, as ISU drew within 11 points after trailing by as many as 26. Jefferson, Jamarion Bateman and Nate Heise threw in one 3-pointer apiece as KU seemed to lose its composure.

The Jayhawks also briefly lost Peterson after he missed a dunk and came up somewhat hobbled, grabbing his calf. But he returned after just two minutes. In the meantime, White’s fifth 3 provided KU some much-needed distance.

“We thought he was a great corner 3 shooter, but we didn’t know he would shoot it consistently like he has so far,” Self said.

Added White: “When you have great players on the floor that can attract two, three players, it’s nothing for me to get a wide open catch and shoot, so I got to knock those down. So just kudos to my teammates for being aggressive.”

With ISU mired in a scoring drought thanks to some ill-advised shot selection by Jefferson, McDowell drained another big 3 from the corner to make it 61-44.

The Jayhawks went back above 20 points on a coast-to-coast drive by Council, who fended off Toure and lofted a lay-in over center Blake Buchanan.

KU’s run extended to 13 straight before Lipsey, left uncovered and previously 2-for-13 on the night, knocked down a 3 to make it 68-47; McDowell promptly responded at the other end.

The Jayhawks, who improved to 12-5 and 2-2 in Big 12 play, will host Baylor in a rare Friday night matchup at 7 p.m. as they look to continue their resurgence.

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