Kansas basketball suffers frustrating loss at No. 2 Iowa State

Gary Bedore, The Kansas City Star on Jan 15, 2025

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AMES, Iowa — Kansas has lost three straight games at Iowa State’s Hilton Coliseum for the first time in the 22-year Bill Self era.

Senior guard Curtis Jones, a transfer from Buffalo, scored 20 points the first half — five the second stanza — as the No. 2-ranked Cyclones defeated the No. 9 Jayhawks 74-57 on Wednesday night before a sellout crowd of 14,267 in Ames.

Zeke Mayo had 17 points for the Jayhawks, who before Wednesday had a 34-12 overall record at Hilton under Self with no losing streak in Ames longer than two contests.

KU has won six of its last 13 games at Hilton with Self as Jayhawk coach. Overall, Self is 14-8 in Hilton.

Here are some takeaways from the game ...

KJ Adams returns after heading to locker room

KJ Adams had four points and six rebounds in 19 minutes when he went down with an injury with 15:46 left and KU down 42-37.

He suffered the injury playing defense. He was immediately taken to the locker room to be checked out. He returned to the KU bench with 12:47 to play and re-entered the game.

He again left the game at the 7:20 mark, heading into the tunnel (not the locker room) with KU’s trainer. He returned to the bench area but did not re-enter the contest.

Iowa State won without a key player

Milan Momcilovic, a starter who averages 10.3 points and 3.5 rebounds a game, missed the contest because of a left hand injury. The 6-foot-8, 225-pound native of Pewaukee, Wis., hurt his hand in practice this week and is out indefinitely.

The sophomore was averaging 10.3 points and 3.5 rebounds in nearly 25 minutes per game. He has made 44% of his 3s this season (31 of 70).

Momcilovic did not take part in warmups. His left hand was heavily wrapped.

Brandton Chatfield, a 6-10, 260 senior from Orofino, Idaho, started his first game of the season. He entered having averaged 4.0 points and 3.8 rebounds in 15 minutes per game. He started in place of Dishon Jackson.

Jones started in place of Momcilovic.

Curtis Jones was hot, Hunter Dickinson not

Curtis Jones, who had come off the bench in 14 of the Cyclones’ first 15 games, scored 14 quick points as ISU raced to a 24-17 lead. By halftime, Jones, a 6-4 senior transfer from Buffalo, had scored 20 points off 8-of-11 shooting (4 of 5 from 3), propelling ISU to a 40-30 halftime advantage.

KU’s leading scorer, Hunter Dickinson, had two points the first half off 1-of-5 shooting with four rebounds. He had two fouls in 13 minutes.

Dickinson had two quick turnovers to open the second half, then hit an 8-footer to cut a 12-point deficit to 42-32. Dickinson missed out on a rebound which immediately led to a Tamin Lipsey 3 with 4:10 left, giving ISU a 61-52 lead.

Dickinson finished with six points on 3-for-10 shooting.

Sloppy play early for KU

KU committed four turnovers in the early going as the teams were tied 7-7 with 12:51 left in the first.

The ISU fans were incensed when Bill Self called a timeout to prevent a traveling call on Zeke Mayo, who was stumbling near the center-court line. With 11:46 left in the first, Flory Bidunga blocked an inside shot of Chatfield but was instantly called for a travel and KU’s fifth turnover of the game with the Jayhawks leading 11-9.

The Jayhawks suffered their eighth turnover with five minutes left in the half, KU trailing 29-21 at that point.

At halftime, KU had 10 turnovers as did the Cyclones, who led by 10 points at the break. KU finished with 17 turnovers.

Hilton Coliseum full (again)

Hilton Coliseum (14,267) was sold out for Wednesday’s game despite the fact second semester classes have not yet started.

The two teams will meet again on Feb. 3 at Allen Fieldhouse. A Big Monday game, it will tip at 9 p.m. ET.

The students who did attend greeted the Jayhawks with chants of “(Bleep) KU” during pregame warmups.

Up next for KU

The Jayhawks, who are 2-2 versus Kansas State during the three-year Jerome Tang era, will play host to the Wildcats at 1 p.m. Saturday at Allen Fieldhouse.

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