As cold as the weather in the first half, KU rallies and completes sweep of Iowa State
Kansas men’s basketball coach Bill Self shivered as he exited the Jayhawks’ team bus and made the short walk from the parking lot into Iowa State’s Hilton Coliseum on Saturday afternoon in Ames, Iowa.
“This is a different level of cold. When it says minus-26 wind chill, minus-45 wind chill, that’s ridiculously cold,” Self, Kansas’ 18th-year coach said, referring to this weekend’s sub-zero, arctic temperatures during his pregame interview on the Jayhawk radio network.
The nasty weather proved a fitting backdrop for the ice-cold shooting performances put on by the Jayhawks during the first half of a 64-50 victory over the Cyclones, KU’s second victory over Iowa State in three days.
KU, which flowed offensively in a 97-64 victory over the same Cyclones on Thursday night in Allen Fieldhouse, missed 12 of its first 15 shots and managed just 10 points in the first 11 minutes of Saturday’s rematch. The Jayhawks were 10 of 35 from the field at halftime (3 of 10 from three), yet thanks to 15 Iowa State turnovers, managed a 24-24 tie at the break.
“It was brutal. We got off to a terrible start again,” Self said.
“I told the guys (at half), ‘We can’t be worse, but we also have a tie game and they have 15 turnovers (while hitting 9 of 20 shots for 45%). They couldn’t have been worse. Mr. Iba … that even set ball back with him,” Self added with a smile, referring to defensive-minded coach Hank Iba, head coach at Self’s alma mater, Oklahoma State, from 1934-70.
“If Dr. (Phog) Allen and Mr. Iba were playing a game in 1942, that would have even set ball back a little bit offensively. That’s what I told them,” Self added. “I also told them, ‘Right now it’s 0-0. It’s a tie game at halftime. The game starts right now.’’’
KU, which hit 28.6% of its shots the first half, did heat up to 43.8% the final half and thanks to the 22-point, 10-rebound outing of Jalen Wilson, outscored Iowa State, 40-26 the final 20 minutes to win going away.
“I’m definitely proud how we defended,” Self said. Iowa State hit 37.8% of its shots total (4 of 11 threes), while committing an unsightly 23 turnovers (to KU’s nine).
“I don’t know I’d be proud of how we shared the ball or executed offensively (the first half). We got off to another terrible start,” Self added. “But you look up and you are down four. When you play poorly, that’s a big difference. Three weeks ago, we’d have been down 14, so yes, we did guard. I don’t know if we screwed up one ballscreen coverage the whole night, which was much better for us. I’m happy about that.”
He’s also happy about the big picture. The Jayhawks are on a definite uptick.
KU, which has won three straight games since dropping out of The AP poll Monday for the first time in 12 years, improved to 15-7 overall and 9-5 in the Big 12 heading into Wednesday’s 7 p.m., game at Kansas State. Iowa State fell to 2-14, 0-11.
“I don’t dislike where we are at, I really don’t,” Self said. “We’d lost five in a row on the road (Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, Baylor, West Virginia in Big 12, plus Tennessee in SEC/Big 12 Challenge) but one was Tennessee. If you get that one at Oklahoma State that you should have got, we’d be sitting as good as we possibly could. It’s a different year. There are a lot of challenges and the guys have been great (during pandemic). We went through our rut. Hopefully our rut is over. Hopefully we’ll now play our best ball, keeping momentum, moving in the right direction.”
KU forward David McCormack shrugged off early foul trouble in scoring 13 points and grabbing eight rebounds in 21 minutes. McCormack had nine points and seven boards the final half.
“Definitely,” McCormack said, asked if he’s enjoyed winning three straight games all by double-digit outcomes. “It gives us peace of mind, a lot of rest, gives us recovery, gives us a sense of we can create separation. It doesn’t have to come down to the wire every game.”
He said it’s comforting to know the Jayhawks appear to be clicking defensively.
“Even though we couldn’t throw the ball into the ocean and had a slow start,” McCormack said of Saturday’s game, “we knew our frustration could be taken out on defense. If we can’t shoot or make shots (7 of 23 from three) we have to make sure they can’t as well. That’s where our energy and spark came from.”
Freshman forward Wilson gave the Jayhawks what they needed on offense. He scored 12 points and grabbed five boards the final 20 minutes as KU pulled away.
“This is what we should be doing. This is what we should have been doing all season,” Wilson said, referring to winning. KU’s current win streak includes Monday’s victory over Oklahoma State, plus the two in a row over Iowa State.
“We are focused now. We’re ready for the last games of the Big 12,” Wilson added.
Christian Braun scored 11 points to join McCormack and Wilson in double figures. Iowa State was led by Jalen Coleman-Lands and Rasir Bolton, who had 20 and 13 points respectively. Jaden Walker had 14 rebounds to go with two points.
McCormack gave an interesting take on the state of the 2020-21 team before boarding the bus for the 4-hour return trip Saturday.
“We have to maintain our positivity, encouraging each other, staying positive through the troubling times,” the junior big man said. “Now that we are into the positive slope, we want to make sure we reinforce that part, too.”
This story was originally published February 13, 2021 at 4:34 PM with the headline "As cold as the weather in the first half, KU rallies and completes sweep of Iowa State."
