AMES, Iowa — Jaren Holmes scored all 15 of his points in the second half as No. 13 Iowa State rolled past No. 8 Kansas 68-53 on Saturday.
Osun Osunniyi added 13 for the Cyclones (16-6, 7-3 Big 12), who stayed within at least a game of front-running Texas in the conference standings. Tamin Lipsey added eight rebounds and 10 assists.
“Today, we came out and played desperate,” Holmes said.
Jalen Wilson led the Jayhawks (18-5, 6-4) with 26 points for his sixth straight game with at least 20. No other Kansas player had more than 8 points.
“It's not a formula for success for us,” Jayhawks coach Bill Self said. “We need balance from our starting five. If one guy feels like he's got to go do it all on his own, it crashes the offense.”
The Cyclones led for all but 1:14 of the game, building a 34-16 scoring edge in the paint. Kansas struggled early, making just two of their first 10 shots and committing 11 turnovers in the first 20 minutes.
Iowa State shot 46% for the game.
“From the beginning, we gave them some easy buckets,” Wilson said. “That's something we've struggled with (defensively) ... the easiest way to get comfortable is easy buckets, layups, stuff like that.”
Iowa State was up 33-21 at the break.
Holmes missed all four shots in the first half, but after getting sick at halftime, he helped the Cyclones stretched the lead to 42-31 early in the second half with a 3-pointer and layup.
“I felt a little nauseous the whole day," he said. “I've been dealing with some sickness over the past week and a half.”
BIG PICTURE
Kansas: The Jayhawks dropped to 3-4 during a stretch in which six of its seven opponents were ranked. The lone unranked foe was Kentucky. ... Kansas committed a season-high 20 turnovers Saturday. ... The loss to Iowa State was Self’s first in five meetings with second-year Iowa State coach T.J. Otzelberger.
Iowa State: Improved to 12-0 at home this season and 5-0 in the Big 12. It was also the Cyclones' fifth win over a top-10 opponent in the past two seasons.
UP NEXT
Kansas: Hosts No. 10 Texas on Monday.
Iowa State: Travels to West Virginia on Wednesday.
