Iowa State basketball: Cyclones shoot season-low percentage in loss at Kansas

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LAWRENCE, Kan. − The Phog was thick around the basket on Monday night.

Iowa State got some solid looks, forced up others, but regardless of whether it was from beyond the arc or at the basket, the Cyclone men struggled to connect from anywhere on the court.

No. 8-ranked Iowa State fell to 17th-ranked Kansas at Allen Fieldhouse, 69-52.

It’s never easy playing at the Jayhawks’ home arena, and Iowa State shot a season-low 19-of-62 overall (30.6%) and 3-of-21 (14.3%) from deep.

“First off, all the credit goes to Coach (Bill) Self and the Kansas Jayhawks, their defensive intent, focus and how hard they played on defense put us in a tough spot, on our heels, in that first half,” Iowa State coach T.J. Otzelberger said. “Coach Self has been the gold standard in this league for many years, so you know any time that you come in here how difficult and challenging it’s going to be. They’ve had some tough games lately, we’ve had some tough games. They were the better team tonight and very well prepared.”

It’s the first time the Cyclones lost three games in a row since February 2023, when they suffered four consecutive losses to end the month.

Iowa State is now 3-4 without Milan Momcilovic, who remains out with a hand injury. He appears to be drawing closer to a return. Momcilovic was out of his cast after a successful surgery on Jan. 21 and participated in pregame warmups on Monday night, but didn’t dress and is still not cleared for in-game action.

Much like in recent losses, the Cyclones’ offense struggled to find a groove during his absence. Joshua Jefferson, Tamin Lipsey and Keshon Gilbert had 11 points apiece. Dishon Jackson added nine points and nine rebounds and was at the forefront of an improved team-wide effort on the glass after the Cyclones got beat on the boards against Kansas State.

Iowa State also cut down on turnovers, with just seven giveaways after coughing the ball up a season-high 18 times in back-to-back losses to Arizona and Kansas State.

Aware of teams looking to pack…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/iowa-state-basketball-cyclones-shoot-041341936.html

Author : The Des Moines Register

Publish date : 2025-02-04 04:13:00

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