Hawking Points: Jayhawks Edge Cyclones in Physical Game, 60-58
If you read either of the game previews for this matchup, you would likely have been surprised if I told you that the Kansas Jayhawks and Iowa State Cyclones put on a defensive clinic in their rematch at Allen Fieldhouse. But thanks to some fantastic defensive gameplans from Kansas head coach Brandon Schneider and Iowa State head coach Bill Fennely, that was exactly what we saw.
Kansas freshman S'mya Nichols was outscored only by the opposing star freshman Audi Crooks, as the Jayhawks were able to frustrate the rest of the Cyclones enough to escape with a 60-58 win on Wednesday. The win came despite some serious foul trouble for Kansas center Taiyanna Jackson, who only played 16 minutes.
Key Plays
The game started as a defensive battle, with both teams struggling to shoot in the first quarter. Franklin opened up the scoring with a three just 11 seconds into the game, but strong defense on both ends kept the score at 3-0 for a full 2 minutes. Iowa State took their first lead at 5-3 nearly 5 minutes into the game, and Kansas wouldn't respond until 2 minutes later. No player scored more than 1 basket in the first quarter, and the Jayhawks took a 10-8 lead into the break.
Nichols and Crooks battled back and forth early in the second quarter, but neither team was really able to push the lead. Jalynn Bristow made three straight baskets for 8 points to pace Iowa State, but Kansas got buckets from multiple players to trade the lead back and forth, with Addy Brown of Iowa State getting a late layup to tie it up heading into the half.
The Jayhawks took the early lead in the third quarter as Jackson got back on the board right away. But an early four point lead vanished after Jackson went to the bench with her third foul. While Danai Papadopoulou was able to hold her own against Crooks more often than not, her focus on the interior allowed a few other players to sneak in for layups. A quick 6-0 run for Iowa State gave them a two-point lead.
But after Iowa State took a four point lead, the Jayhawks went on a 6-0 run of their own, forcing three turnovers and taking advantage on the offense. The return of Jackson helped Kansas to lock back down on defense and end the quarter with a one-point lead.
The fourth quarter was exactly the back-and-forth that the other three quarters promised. Neither team was able to get up big, with the largest lead for Iowa State coming on a Nyamer Diew three-point play with 6:34 to go in the game. But Nichols clawed the lead back down to one before more back and forth.
A Nichols layup gave the Jayhawks the lead for good, but they had to work for it. Some fantastic defense by Jackson boxed Emily Ryan out of a layup to take the lead, and Crooks couldn't put the offensive rebound back. With just 16 seconds left in the game, double intentional fouls were called on Diew and Jackson, which fouled the Kansas center out of the game. But free throws from Ryan Cobbins and Franklin sealed the game, making the three pointer from Belanger with 0.3 seconds left inconsequential to the final result.
Eye-Catching Stat Lines
S'mya Nichols led the Jayhawks with 16 points on 7-15 shooting. She had 3 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals, all coming in some critical moments.
Taiyanna Jackson had 9 points in her 16 minutes, but more impressively she had three blocks on the night.
Iowa State Center Audi Crooks had 25 points in 24 minutes, but she needed 23 shots to do it.
With Jackson on the bench, Danai Papadopoulou filled in admirably. While she wasn't able to shut down Crooks, I did count at least 8 different times where she boxed her out or affected her shot, limiting the damage. Plus her 2 points, 4 rebounds, 1 block and 1 steal were still pretty impressive given the competition.
Area of Improvement
There is no area that really jumps out to me here, except for maybe foul trouble. But in a physical game like this, it's really hard to find a way to avoid the type of contact that usually draws fouls. The Jayhawks did seem to get a bit frustrated by the physical nature of the game, and the double intentional foul that forced Jackson out of the game isn't something that you can see often.
Takeaways
This is the kind of full game effort that we expected to see from this team. While Nichols is the most explosive player on the team, they have loads of veteran leadership, and they should be able to have these types of games every night. But the biggest issue is that these types of efforts don't typically carry over into the road environment.
As Coach Brandon said in the postgame press conference, they "need to play defense" if they want to start having the road success that they are having in Allen Fieldhouse.
Up Next
The Jayhawks head back out on the road as they travel to Norman, OK to take on the Sooners. Oklahoma was able to hold on for a 91-87 victory over #10 Texas on the road, so this will be a real test.
This win moves Kansas to 10-9 on the year and 3-5 in the Big 12. Oklahoma is 12-6 overall and 6-1 in the Big 12. Tipoff is scheduled for 6pm Central on Saturday, January 27th. The game will be broadcast on Big 12 NOW on ESPN+.
