Hawking Points: Another Hot-Shooting Opponent Downs Kansas on the Road
The Kansas Jayhawks again returned to the road and again took a defeat against a hot-shooting team, this time to Iowa State 79-75.
Key Plays
Kansas struggled to score early and the first Iowa State points came off a KJ Adams turnover. Offensive rebounds by Iowa State led to the first five points before Hunter Dickinson got KU on the board. Then Kevin McCullar got a steal and finished at the rim to make it 5-4.
Iowa State took four threes in the first four minutes – but only made one. Meanwhile, Johnny Furphy hit his first three and fifth point to give KU an early 9-7 lead. The Cyclones tied it at nine before McCullar drew an and-one to put KU up three.
Kansas was the one forcing Iowa State turnovers early and a Dajuan Harris drive put KU up 14-9. Trey King was ISU’s only source of offense, scoring 10 of its first 12 points. ISU scored nine straight as Kansas went five minutes without a point. Harris ended the streak with a floater in the lane. McCullar crashing the boards tied the game after a missed Furphy three. Then Dickinson found Harris on a back-door cut to put Kansas back up 20-18.
Tamen Lipsey hit a three to give ISU the lead again but then after the Cyclones went zone, Parker Braun skied for an alley-oop slam. The lead changed back and forth throughout the rest of the first half. Furphy hit two free throws to go up 26-25. Kansas turned it over and Braun fouled Lipsey on a fast break, hitting him in the head and was ruled a flagrant one. And then Bill Self received a technical after the announcement of the foul. Lipsey only hit two of four free throws and got the ball back with 34.6 seconds left. Then Milan Momcilovic drained a three. It went from a one-point Kansas lead to four-point Iowa State lead without Kansas getting the ball back. McCullar missed another three and Kansas trailed 30-26.
Dickinson was aggressive to start, going hard to the paint and scoring. Adams then went to the line after a tough offensive rebound and tied the game. The next five combined points came off offensive rebounds, an ISU three and Dickinson put-back. Lipsey hit another three and ISU was quickly back up four. Then a Lipsey steal made it 38-32. The lead reached 40-32 before Dickinson drew a foul, though he only made one.
Trey King made his fourth three in six tries – he hadn’t made more than one in a game all year. Harris made a three but then the Cyclones hit another three, going 5/5 in the second half and extending the lead to 11. What was keeping KU in the game was that ISU couldn’t make free throws. The next shot from three was another make, the most Iowa State had made in a game this season. Furphy hit a three to answer, but still the Cyclones’ lead was nine with 11 to play. But then, you guessed it, a 12th Iowa State three.
Adams’ aggressiveness and free throws cut it to seven. Iowa State finally missed a three and McCullar drew a foul at the other end, but made just one. Iowa State’s and-one put it back up eight before Furphy buried a three. But Momcilovic immediately answered with his three. Dickinson scored down low and then Harris stole the ball and threw it ahead to Furphy for a dunk. Despite its hot shooting, Iowa State only led 67-63 with less than five minutes to play.
It went downhill after that as ISU extended the lead to nine. But then Dickinson immediately hit a corner three. The Cyclones turned it over the next possession and then McCullar came through with a three from nearly the exact same spot to make it 74-71 Iowa State with under two minutes. ISU missed a shot and Adams drew a foul but only made one. Still, it was a 7-0 run in 1:21. But Iowa State hit a three at the end of the shot clock and Dickinson missed a three. McCullar hit a final irrelevant three at the end.
Eye-Catching Stat Lines
The story of the season so far is that opponents are going to shoot well above their averages from three when they play Kansas. Iowa State shot the best it has all year from deep. The 14 threes were the most by ISU since 2021. Meanwhile, Kansas made only seven of 20 from deep.
Furphy and Dickinson led the Jayhawks. Dickinson recorded a double-double of 17 points and 15 rebounds while Furphy had 15 points and five rebounds. McCullar played one of his worst games of the year, shooting just 5-18 from the field (two of those field goals coming at the end) on his way to 16 points and six rebounds, but also five turnovers. Adams also had 13 – all in the second half – while Harris had nine.
Areas of Improvement
Iowa State doubled-teamed Hunter Dickinson early but Kansas couldn't take advantage of open shots, hitting only one of its first five threes. Inside wasn’t much better. McCullar was 2-10 in the first 12 minutes and Dickinson 1-6. Kansas only made 1-9 from deep in the first half and shot 34.4% from the field. McCullar alone was 3-13 in the first half.
The shooting didn't get any better in the second half. Kansas has to find a consistent outside threat, especially if opponents are going to continue to have career games shooting threes against the Jayhawks. Furphy alone is not enough of a deep threat.
Takeaways
The story of the year. An opponent shoots lights out from three and Kansas can’t score from outside consistent enough. The Jayhawks have to find a way to win on the road right now, because it’s ugly. Furphy continues to look great, but there’s not much help as of now.
