Related pages Coach Williams' comments Box score Season stats Possession analysis

Summary The Kansas Jayhawks survived a big road scare in Ames tonight against the Iowa State Cyclones and held on to win 88-81. Jake Sullivan led the way for an inspired Cyclone squad with 27 points on 8-12 shooting, including 5-7 from behind the arc and 6-6 from the foul line. Kansas had no answer for Sullivan most of the game, rotating defenders on him helplessly as he drove and shot his way to a career high in scoring. In the end, it wasn't enough as the Jayhawks pulled out their most gut-wrenching win of the year. It's becoming a common theme, but for completeness, I'd better report it: Drew Gooden and Nick Collison led the way for KU. Gooden scored 23 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, while Collison added 16 and 10. Two other Jayhawks were in double figures as Jeff Boschee scored 14 points (while not missing a shot), and Kirk Hinrich contributed 12 points to go with 9 assists. The Jayhawks moved their record to 16-2, 5-0 in the Big 12. This win, coupled with a shocking loss tonight by the Texas Longhorns at home to Texas A&M, propels Kansas to the top of the Big 12 standings as the only team without a conference loss. Next up for the Hawks is a showdown Saturday against that Texas A&M team in College Station (a plus for me is that's just 2 hours from Austin, so I'll get to take in the Jayhawks in person for the first time since the Illinois loss in the NCAA tournament last season). Analysis I'm going to change it up and do a player-by-player analysis for this game. I'm not changing to this style permanently or anything, I just think that this game was particularly conducive to this type of study. Here goes.... Aaron Miles - This was the second game in a row that Aaron has watched the important minutes while seated next to an assistant coach. I understood the thinking in the OU game, and I think I have a handle on it tonight, though it is a little less clear. Miles didn't play poorly tonight, 2-4 from the floor and no turnovers, but he didn't play great either (only 1 assist in 23 minutes). He made a couple of good defensive plays and seemed willing to take shots when they came to him. It just looks like Miles is going through a slump that most freshmen starters hit, and he doesn't look comfortable. I think Coach Williams has more confidence in Hinrich at the point right now, and we'll continue to see Langford in the game instead of Miles at critical junctures. Aaron is and will be a great player, so I hope no one is getting down on him just yet. I still agree with having him as the starter. He's the best equipped Jayhawk to defend quick guards, and Langford (who would start in his place) has settled in nicely as the offensive boost that any good team needs off the bench. Jeff Boschee - Absolutely huge. I wish he'd have gotten more shots (if so, the game might not have been as close as it was), but he took advantage of the ones that he did get. I don't think Jeff hit the rim on any of his 6 shots (4 from the floor, two from the foul line). Everything he shot tonight was true, with his last two 3-pointers being about the biggest shots of the game. We all remember the Sportcenter highlight one with 36 seconds left that gave the Jayhawks the lead for good. But, how big was the one a couple minutes earlier when Iowa State had gone up by 4 points (their biggest lead of the game). Boschee has long been one of my favorites on this team (Langford appears ready to assume the role next year), and it's his toughness that I love. Sure, he's a bit streaky and has been knocked for taking quick shots, but when the game is on the line, his heart is tough to beat. If I had to pick a player to attempt a game-winning shot (free throw or otherwise), he's my pick. Kirk Hinrich - Kind of a quiet night, but very effective. Scored 12 points, dished out 9 assists, grabbed a few boards. All-in-all a pretty average night for Hinrich. I'd like to see some more shots out of him (especially from behind the arc), but tonight he did a good job of getting the ball to teammates in a position to score. As much point guard as he played in this game, you can hardly fault him for not looking for his shot more. Drew Gooden - A pretty good night for Gooden. He scored 23 points and snatched 11 rebounds and was key down the stretch. The only blemish on the night was an ill-advised 3-point shot, followed by an attempted steal that resulted in an ISU dunk. If you cut those two possessions out, Drew was very good. I'm not sure (and no local T.V. means I can't check the tape), but I think Gooden earned some bench time for that exchange. He seemed to get the message as he took his game back inside for some big shots down the stretch. Nick Collison - Another player with a pretty solid night. Nick didn't shoot a particularly high percentage from the floor, but it looked to me like the game got very physical at times and some of Nick's shots didn't go because of it. I'm not saying the officiating was poor or anything, just that Nick missed some in traffic when he was getting bumped around a bit. Additionally, a big cheer for Mr. Collison for hitting both of his free throws. Wayne Simien - Played surprisingly few minutes tonight. I'll be very interested to read about why this was tomorrow. Wayne played just 7 minutes and turned it over twice, but didn't seem to be playing poorly enough to warrant a benching. There's not much to say based on playing just a few minutes. Keith Langford - Quickly, QUICKLY becoming a favorite player of mine. Langford scored 8 points and grabbed 4 rebounds in 22 minutes. Very solid play from the freshman again tonight. It will be a joy to watch him grow in his time in Lawrence. Jeff Carey - Jeff hasn't been playing much lately, but he contributed some good minutes tonight. Scored on an offensive rebound and got fouled down low two trips later to go to the foul line. He did a nice job of spelling the other front line players and contributed some positives while he was in the game. A nice night for Carey. Overall, I'm not too worked up about this game (because it ended up as just a near-miss... I was VERY worked up while it was happening). Kansas went into a tough arena, against a motivated team, and coming off 3 straight games against top 11 opponents. I would have liked for them to put the Cyclones away when they built the double-digit lead early in the second half, but Iowa State fought hard to stay in the game and eventually got that lead trimmed away. The positives to take out of this game are, Kansas pulled out a road win in the Big 12 against the adversity described above. The turnover numbers were way down, the shooting percentage was good from the floor, arc, and foul line, and the team did what they had to do to get the win. The kids looked a little flat, but after the stretch of games they've played, I'd expect them to be less than stellar. All good teams have games that are closer than anyone anticipates (though the Vegas line for this one was only 11). The great teams find a way to win them, while the good teams drop a few. I'll take that win under the circumstances and get ready for a Texas A&M team that showed signs of life tonight in an upset over the Longhorns.

Email the author

Rock Chalk.... Robert