The No. 9 Kansas Jayhawks saw their eight-game winning streak snapped Saturday afternoon, falling 74-56 to the No. 5 Iowa State Cyclones inside Hilton Coliseum.
Playing in front of a home crowd in Ames, the Cyclones (22-3, 9-3 Big 12 Conference) rebounded from Tuesday’s 62-55 loss at TCU by taking control early against Kansas. Although Iowa State opened the game making just one of its first 10 shots, its defense kept the Jayhawks from capitalizing. After trailing only 6-2 during that cold stretch, the Cyclones found their rhythm and used a 20-2 run late in the first half to build a 36-22 lead with 1:37 remaining before halftime.
Iowa State carried a 37-27 advantage into the break, then put the game out of reach with a blistering 20-7 run in the first 5½ minutes of the second half. During that decisive stretch, the Cyclones knocked down six consecutive three-pointers.
Kansas (19-6, 9-3 Big 12) struggled offensively throughout the afternoon. The Jayhawks shot just 37.3 percent from the field and were limited to 31.6 percent shooting in the second half, including 1-of-8 from beyond the arc. Turnovers also proved costly, with 13 miscues overall — 10 coming in the first half.
Milan Momcilovic led Iowa State with 18 points, while Tamin Lipsey, Joshua Jefferson, Blake Buchanan and Jamarion Bateman each added 11.
Melvin Council Jr. paced Kansas with 15 points, and Flory Bidunga contributed 11. Freshman Darryn Peterson returned to the starting lineup after missing Monday’s 82-78 win over the top-ranked Arizona Wildcats, finishing with 10 points in 24 minutes.
Kansas’ winning streak began with an 84-63 victory over Iowa State on Jan. 13 and included key wins over BYU, Texas Tech, and Arizona.
Saturday marked the seventh top-10 matchup in the all-time series between the Jayhawks and Cyclones, with the teams now having split those contests evenly.
Kansas returns to action Wednesday with a road trip to face the Oklahoma State Cowboys.
