Will this KU Jayhawks guard’s productive 1st half vs. ISU carry over to K-State game?
Kansas transfer guard AJ Storr scored eight points on chilly 3-of-9 shooting Monday as the Jayhawks beat Iowa State 69-52 at Allen Fieldhouse.
Storr, a junior in his first season with men’s basketball coach Bill Self’s KU team after transferring from Wisconsin, was 2-of-5 from 3-point range. His eight-point output marked his third-most productive outing in 11 Big 12 games, trailing only his 12 points Jan. 22 at TCU and 11 Jan. 5 at UCF.
The 6-foot-7, 205-pound native of Rockford, Illinois, did all of his scoring against the Cyclones in the first half. He was 2-of-3 from 3-point range and 1-of-3 inside the arc in 11 minutes as KU blazed to a 35-19 halftime lead en route to a 17-point victory over No. 8-ranked ISU.
“I think I had a pretty decent first half. I’m proud of my effort I put out there, just contributing to my team getting a lead in the first half,” Storr said after helping No. 16-ranked KU improve to 16-6 (7-4 Big 12).
Storr, who went 0-for-3 shooting and did not score while playing six minutes the final half, wound up grabbing three rebounds in 17 minutes, the third longest he’s played in a conference game in 2024-25.
He played 22 minutes versus TCU, 18 against Houston on Jan. 25 and 17 against K-State on Jan. 18.
“Obviously it was a great win for our team, just trying to get back on the right page, back on the winning side of things,” Storr said of a game played just two days after the Jayhawks squandered a 21-point lead in a 81-70 loss at Baylor.
This season has not gone smoothly for Storr, who has averaged 6.5 points and 2.1 rebounds a game heading into Saturday’s Sunflower Showdown against Kansas State.
Tipoff is 1 p.m. at Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan, with a live telecast on ESPN.
Storr has averaged 6.5 points (on 39.1% shooting) and 2.1 rebounds per game in In 22 games (four starts). In Big 12 action, he’s dipped to 5.0 points and 2.1 rebounds per contest. He’s made 36.8% of his shots in 11 Big 12 games while hitting 4 of 22 three-point attempts (18.2%).
Storr averaged a team-leading 16.8 points per game on 43.4% shooting at Wisconsin last season.
He said a key to his having one of his better halves of the season Monday night was “going out there and playing basketball, enjoying basketball, really understanding this is the game I love to play. I’ve been playing it since I was 5-years-old. I’m thankful.”
Storr was asked to identify ways to earn meaningful minutes the rest of the regular season into the postseason.
“Keep stacking days, keep going out there playing hard, keep listening to coach, do anything to help my team win. That’s the goal for me,” Storr said.
He said he’s felt the support of KU fans, who have been patient waiting for Storr to resemble the player that earned second-team all-Big 10 honors as a sophomore at Wisconsin.
“It was lovely,” Storr said of the crowd that attended the KU-Iowa State game. “I was looking at the soundbar thing (on scoreboard). It (decibel level) was probably the loudest since North Carolina. It was a great crowd. Obviously when I’m in the game I’m kind of tuned into the game. I’m thankful to the fans for all their support for the team. I appreciate them all.”
Storr said the Jayhawks need to bring energy from the start Saturday in Manhattan.
The Wildcats have won four straight games and are 5-6 in the league and 11-11 overall. K-State defeated Arizona State, 71-70, on Tuesday in Tempe, Arizona. The other three victories in the current win streak: at Iowa State (80-61) and at home against Oklahoma State (85-57) and West Virginia (73-60).
“I think it starts with our mindset,” Storr said, “jumping out on teams, not letting them get comfortable, not letting them get confidence. Taking away confidence early was the game plan (versus ISU), not letting them get going.”
KU coach Bill Self said Storr, who had seven points in 17 minutes in a 10-point victory against KSU on Jan. 18 in Lawrence, “was pretty good (vs. Iowa State). I thought AJ did some good things. He would have been our leading scorer at halftime without question with 10 (points) if he makes an uncontested dunk (instead of fumbling ball). It was good to see that he made a couple of shots and he was aggressive. He tried to guard.”
KU assistant coach Kurtis Townsend said on Thursday’s Hawk Talk radio show the Jayhawks coaches have told Storr, ‘“We’ve got other guys who can score.’ We need him to play on the defensive end. I think his defensive effort has gotten better the last two weeks.
“He’s a guy we’re going to need down the stretch, to give us a spark off the bench,” Townsend added. “I think he’s been better (of late). He’s tried his best.”
The Jayhawks will take a 3-2 road record in Big 12 play into Saturday’s Sunflower Showdown. The Jayhawks are hoping to string together some victories down the stretch.
KU after the KSU game will play host to Colorado (Feb. 11), travel to Utah (Feb. 15) and BYU (Feb. 18), play host to Oklahoma State (Feb. 22), travel to Colorado (Feb. 24), play host to Texas Tech (March 1), travel to Houston (March 3) and close at home versus Arizona (March 8).
“It’s one of the hardest places we play without question,” Self said of Bramlage Coliseum, where KSU has defeated KU two years in a row, both overtime games. “I mean a rivalry … if you were to ask them (Wildcat players and coaches) the toughest road places, I’m sure they would say Allen Fieldhouse and we should say the same thing about their building. Obviously when it’s good, it’s really good and it will be good.”
This story was originally published February 7, 2025 at 6:30 AM with the headline "Will this KU Jayhawks guard’s productive 1st half vs. ISU carry over to K-State game?."
