Road woes continue for Kansas in loss at Iowa State

Bill Self looked away from the action toward his bench, to no one in particular, softly shaking his head.

This time, Wayne Selden had just been pickpocketed by Abdel Nader, who finished the run out. It was the fifth straight empty possession and Iowa State was on its way to a 85-72 victory in a game that the Jayhawks controlled early on.

The Nadar basket was part of an 11-0 run, a stretch that included the game’s only lead change.

It occurred with 9:08 remaining when Deonte Burton, the Cyclones’ reserve shooting guard, nailed a three-point laser for a 60-57 lead.

A Kansas turnover led to a Monte Morris run out and an Iowa State five-point lead.

The game had changed, and the fourth-ranked Jayhawks (16-4, 5-3) were on their way to a third straight Big 12 road loss.

As the Kansas offense broke down after halftime, about all that was left was Perry Ellis, who finished with 23 points, and did what he could to keep the Jayhawks close.

The Jayhawks were control in the first half, opening a seven-point lead at the break. They never regained their offensive proficiency in the second half.

The Iowa State comeback began in earnest when three-pointers by Matt Thomas and Morris around a Graham air ball drew Iowa State to 50-48 when Self called a time out with 14:19 remaining.

Moments earlier, Kansas had taken an eight-point lead when Jamari Traylor bounced a pass to Landen Lucas under the basket. After a brief fumble, Lucas, a workhorse on the glass all night, laid it in for his first points.

Thomas tied the game for the first time 53-53 when he curled off a screen a drilled a three-pointer at the 11:40 mark.

The teams exchanged buckets over the next few possessions when Burton came through, and Kansas’ first half, which ended with a flourish, was a memory.

He got little help after the break.

Graham blocked Morris’ shot on a drive with about four seconds remaining. The ball got to Perry Ellis who found a breaking Frank Mason at the basket. His layup fell through at the buzzer.

In contrast to its previous two games — a loss at Oklahoma State and a victory over Texas — Kansas started the game with plenty of energy. The Jayhawks scored the game’s first four points and led by as many as 10 before the break.

Ball movement was crisp and Kansas took advantage of open looks, making five of 11 three-pointers.

Kansas was seeking to avoid becoming the first team in the Bill Self era to fall to a conference opponent four times in a five-game span. A pair of Cyclones victories at the Big 12 Tournament help spur that run.

One of the T-shirt designs in a yellow-soaked Hilton Coliseum surged the Cyclones to “Beat Kansas, Again.”

The determination was apparent from the outside. Early on, Kansas went to its more reliable source, Ellis, for a pair of baskets.

As the half unfolded, Brannen Greene buried two threes, Wayne Selden dropped in a deep rainbow from the top, and Mason and Graham were active attacking to the basket against the Cyclones man and zone, which they’ve dropped in with more frequency over the past few games.

Self also went deeper with his bench. In the victory over the Longhorns, only eight Jayhawks played. Monday, freshmen Carlton Bragg and Cheick Diallo logged frontcourt minutes when starter Landen Lucas and Jamari Traylor picked up two first-half fouls.

Iowa State entered the game as the best shooting team in the Big 12, knocking down 50.2 percent but the Cyclones struggled to make shots early. The second half was a different story.

This story was originally published January 26, 2016 at 5:43 AM with the headline "Road woes continue for Kansas in loss at Iowa State."