Kansas Basketball Showed Just How Good It Can Be Against Iowa State

Despite a solid non-conference showing and the news of star freshman Darryn Peterson’s return, the Jayhawks opened conference play struggling.

The team suffered two ugly losses to UCF and West Virginia, and barely scraped by TCU at home, thanks to an unbelievable comeback and poor execution down the line by the Horned Frogs.

It seemed the rough start would only get worse, as the Jayhawks hosted the No. 2-ranked Iowa State Cyclones Tuesday night; however, Tre White and Co. had other plans.

With the Cyclones entering Tuesday perfect through 16 games and Kansas struggling, it was a toss-up for how the game could play out. The Jayhawks have a ton of potential; they were just struggling to put it all together on the court.

But worries from fans were quickly shut down once 8 p.m. hit.

From the jump, Kansas came out firing from all cylinders. Bryson Tiller, who had been struggling to get going, came out quick with a pair of layups. On the defensive end, the Jayhawks had to be excellent as they had a big three to stop in Tamin Lipsey, Joshua Jefferson, and Milan Momcilovic, and they followed through.

For the entire 40 minutes of play, Kansas made one of the best teams in the country look extremely uncomfortable. It took Lipsey a whole half to get in the scoring column, and Jefferson put up 12 points but also added five turnovers to the stat sheet.

The Jayhawks did a terrific job guarding Momcilovic as well. The best three-point shooter in the country shot just 33% from beyond the perimeter in last night’s contest. Not to mention, four of the 12 total turnovers from Iowa State came in the first four and a half minutes.

Defense led to offense for the Jayhawks, and everybody was able to contribute. Tre White shot the lights out from three, and Council Jr., Peterson, and Flory Bidunga were all able to add double digits to the stat sheet for scoring.

Elmarko Jackson and Jamari McDowell were the only two players to come off the bench, and they made sure to wreak havoc. Both players found themselves all over the court, contributing on offense, but truly getting it done on the defensive side, which is an important factor for Kansas basketball.

It was noticeable from the jump that the Jayhawks were ready to go and wanted to play aggressively. If there was one play to describe Kansas’ play vs Iowa State, it would have to be when Jackson nearly turned the ball over, but was the first one on the floor and recovered it.

This led to McDowell receiving a pass from Jackson, then driving to the paint and finding White in the corner, who was open from a back screen set by Tiller.

It was all-around a beautiful basketball play, which helped keep the momentum on the Jayhawks’ side.

Best hustle play I’ve seen this year. Kansas guard Elmarko Jackson dove, head first, for a loose ball that Iowa State was poised to take the other way. Instead, it resulted in a KU three pointer. Big time play. @KUHoops @SportsCenter @ESPNCBBall pic.twitter.com/cIxBAXGkq8
— Jay Bilas (@JayBilas) January 14, 2026

With how well Kansas opened up, it never let the Cyclones even make it a game.

This was a great statement win for the Jayhawks, and truly shows the potential this team has when they play together and aggressively. It will be important for them to continue this play for the rest of conference play, as it will not get any easier.