Feb 3, 2025; Lawrence, Kansas, USA; Kansas Jayhawks guard Rylan Griffen (6) dunks the ball against Iowa State Cyclones forward Joshua Jefferson (2) during the second half at Allen Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images
LAWRENCE, Kan. — Keshon Gilbert strafed away the steal and jetted the other way.
Iowa State trailed Kansas by 12 points late in the first half and the standout guard seemed determined to ignite a run. Instead, he lost the basketball near the sideline. The Jayhawks’ Dejuan Harris seized it and delivered a perfect 50-foot pass to forward KJ Adams for a fast-break dunk.
That play — in a nutshell — typified the No. 3 Cyclones’ miserable night at Allen Fieldhouse.
No. 16 Kansas (16-6, 7-4) controlled the game from start to finish en route to a 69-52 triumph that saddled ISU (17-5, 7-4) with its first three-game losing streak since February of 2023.
“You make a great defensive play, and then it turns into a turnover, which turns into transition points for them,” said Cyclone head coach T.J. Otzelberger, whose team trailed by as many as 23 points and shot 23.5 percent from the field in the first half. “There’s probably not a team or a program that does a better job than what Kansas does in transition — if you have a turnover, and how they turn it into points. We had very few live-ball turnovers and you feel like every one that we had turned into a layup or dunk on the other end.”
ISU amassed 17 offensive rebounds partly because it missed so many shots, but it also got to the free-throw line 20 times and made just 11. The Cyclones also went a dismal 3-for-21 from 3-point range — and two of those makes came in the final eight minutes of the game.
“It sucks,” said ISU’s Curtis Jones, who scored seven points and grabbed six rebounds but shot just 3-for-11 from the field. “You know, losing is not ideal, but we did some things well tonight. We got 17 offensive rebounds. Only seven turnovers. It was really just shots weren’t falling.”
That’s become a troubling trend for the Cyclones, who shot a season-low 31 percent on the heels of a 36.5 percent performance in the blowout home loss Saturday to Kansas State. Jones said teams are scouting ISU better and better as floor-spacing forward Milan Momcilovic continues to rehab after undergoing hand surgery. Otzelberger said Momcilovic is likely still a couple weeks out from returning to the rotation — but he did get up some form shots and 3-pointers in warmups.
“It’s a day-to-day situation,” Otzelberger said of Momcilovic, who is shooting a team-best 44.3 percent from 3-point range. “Today was the first step in jus kind of going through and feel what it feels like to go through the game warmup just to get along those lines in that mindset. But we’ll see. I don’t want to rush him back. I want to be on the timeline that’s in his best health interest, and whenever that is, we’ll be ready to go.”
Point guard Tamin Lipsey and forward Joshua Jefferson led the Cyclones with 11 points apiece. Gilbert chipped in nine as did big man Dishon Jackson, who added a team-best nine rebounds. The bench total just three points and that paucity of production for ISU’s reserves has also become a discouraging trend — one that didn’t show up immediately when Momcilovic went down and the Cyclones handled Kansas, 74-57, two and a half weeks ago in Ames.
“We’re ranked No. 2 in the country (at the time),” Otzelberger said. “Our offense was probably among the top five in the country. Milan goes out, which shifts our winning formula a little bit. It didn’t show up when we played the last time. We played really well offensively but you could see it show up at times (since then). … We’re working really hard to get that formula back in place.”
Jayhawks head coach Bill Self is convinced the Cyclones will do just that despite their recent struggles — especially when Momcilovic returns.
“T.J.’s group, the last week has been rough for them,” Self said. “(They) beat Arizona if a guy doesn’t throw in a 70-foot shot. And then you have a hangover, probably, (against Kansas State), and then you turn around and come to Allen Fieldhouse. So it’s been rough but everybody’s gonna go through it in our league for the most part. So they’re gonna be fine. They’re still a team that can go to the Final Four.”
Otzelberger and his players feel the same way, even though they’ve struggled mightily lately.
“This isn’t a victim mentality or a woe-is-me (situation),” he said. “We know that adversity is part of playing in this conference and the teams we play. I’m confident in our guys and what we’re gonna do in practice the rest of this week and how we’re gonna move forward together.”
