Milan Momcilovic scored 18 points and made 4 of 9 three-pointers, and No. 5 Iowa State’s ferocious defense broke No. 9 Kansas’ eight-game winning streak, grounding the Jayhawks 74-56 on Saturday afternoon in Ames, Ia.
The overwhelming victory moved the Cyclones (22-3, 9-3) into a third-place tie in the Big 12 with the Jayhawks (19-6, 9-3).
Joshua Jefferson totaled 11 points, five rebounds and four assists for Iowa State. Tamin Lipsey had 11 points, four assists, three steals and three rebounds. Jamarion Batemon and Blake Buchanan (six boards) added 11 points as Iowa State made 11 of 30 (36.7%) from long range and forced 13 turnovers.
Kansas’ Melvin Council Jr. posted 15 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals. Flory Bidunga had 11 points and 13 rebounds, and Darryn Peterson had 10 points.
The Jayhawks made just 19 of 51 (37.3%) from the floor.
Kansas went up 6-2 early in the physical matchup as Bidunga, Peterson and Bryson Tiller made baskets, but the home crowd came to life when Buchanan viciously threw down a slam dunk off Lipsey’s missed layup at 12:11 to knot it 6-all. Killyan Toure then sank a 24-footer for Iowa State’s first lead at 11:43 to cap a 9-0 run.
Council sparked the Wildcats’ offense by canning a trio of three-pointers and added an alley-oop assist for Bidunga’s dunk with 13:19 left to give the visitors a 20-16 lead.
With his team struggling from long range, Jefferson drove past Bidunga on one series and then Peterson on another, and both Jayhawks fouled him on a made layup. Jefferson converted the three-point plays, the latter at 3:37 to make it 29-22.
The margin grew to 14 behind a 21-7 run to end the half, which the Cyclones, who forced 10 Kansas turnovers, led 37-27 at the break.
Momcilovic connected on his first two treys in the opening 90 seconds of the second half before Lipsey hit two more from deep for a 49-29 lead with 17:06 left as Kansas was outscored 12-0 to increase the deficit.
After going 3 for 16 from deep in the opening 20 minutes, the Cyclones made their first five – the last one Momcilovic’s third of the second half for a 52-32 lead with 16:09 to play.
Kansas only got as close as 12 points as Iowa State made its first six threes and rolled on to win for the sixth time in seven games.
–Field Level Media
