AMES, Iowa — David McCormack and Dajuan Harris each scored 14 points, and No. 10 Kansas defeated No. 20 Iowa State 70-61 on Tuesday night.
McCormick made all seven of his shots and had 14 rebounds for the Jayhawks (18-3, 7-1 Big 12), who were without Ochai Agbaji.
The Big 12′s leading scorer at 20.9 points per game, Agbaji didn’t play due to COVID-19 protocols.
Jalen Wilson scored all 13 of his points in the second half. Christian Braun also finished with 13.
“We learned a lot about our team today,” Braun said. “We learned a lot of guys can step up. Obviously, we lost a big scorer and a great player, but we knew we could get the win.”
Izaiah Brockington led Iowa State (16-6, 3-6) with 24 points.
Kansas again struggled with turnovers against the Cyclones.
The Jayhawks committed 16 in a 62-61 win over the Cyclones on Jan. 11. They had 16 in the first 20 minutes on Tuesday.
Despite those struggles, Kansas built a 19-10 lead when Braun made a layup midway through the first half.
Iowa State used an 8-0 run to trim the margin to 24-22 but trailed the Jayhawks 30-24 at the break.
“David shot the ball great,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “And Dajuan made some ridiculously hard layups. It was a good team win.”
A Wilson layup pushed the margin to 40-28 early in the second half.
A McCormick jumper kept Kansas in control 56-44, with 6:34 remaining.
“I just kind of went into a free mentality, knowing coach put a lot of faith in me and my teammates put a lot of faith in me,” McCormick said.
“I just made it an emphasis to dominate the game.”
Kansas shot 56% for the game, while holding Iowa State to 41%.
BIG PICTURE
Kansas remains the only team with one loss in the Big 12 standings.
The Jayhawks were hoping to bounce back from Saturday’s 80-62 trouncing by Kentucky.
Iowa State was seeking a third straight win after losing four out of five during a midseason slump.
