Nice win by KU

Indeed, porthawk!

My two favorite stats were Dok's 80% FT (4-5, and they looked good!), and the teams 3PT shooting (10-19, 53%). Only Isaiah Moss disappointed in his 3pt shooting tonight.

Christian Braun is coming on strong. Such a great head for the game, especially for a freshman. The big 21-3 run tonight was accomplished after he entered the game when Garrett hurt his left ankle (so thankful Garrett seems to be okay!).

ISU has been one of the worst defensive teams in the league this season, and that held true tonight, but they had also been the highest scoring team in the Big 12 coming into tonight's game. Although the Cyclones started out red hot, hitting practically everything they threw toward the hoop (or so it seemed), KU's defense finally slowed them down, limiting them to a season low 53 points on 34.5% FG shooting -- my third favorite stat of this game.

There wasn't a lot of nervous excitement in the second half tonight, but it was fun to just be able to analyze the game instead of fretting about possibly losing it.

Onward!

Tonight's game was a good old-fashioned butt-whooping. After a bit of a sluggish start where we allowed the Cyclones to hang around, we put the pedal to the metal and just let it fly. So impressive on all levels.

Things I enjoyed the most that haven't already been touched on:

* Seeing Braun shoot the ball (which he avoided against WVU) and with aplomb! He has a very quick release, almost a flick motion, and his shots are beautiful. More, please! And just great floor presence overall, I would add. I mentioned the other night that, if he starts shooting 3s to go with the rest of his game, look out. Tonight he showed us what that looks like.

* D-Mac's thunderous putback. Wow. Just. Wow. That was an insane play. My son and I had to rewind it and watch it 3 times. Lol... He obviously took his limited minutes against WVU to heart and came out with massive intensity the entire game. Great hustle, and he added a lot to the team.

* Dok with some smooth passing from the paint outside, but also (nicely) finding D-Mac for the slam. Having those two behemoths out there when they're playing like this is a major plus.

* D-Mac with a really, really pretty turnaround jumper from around 15 feet on the baseline. It's a tough, low-percentage shot and he nailed it.

* Nice rebounding and (again) solid D. Our D is approaching past Self team levels (years back when it was our staple), and I absolutely love it! We will win a lot of games this year from that alone.

* Team 3-point shooting. I've said it from the jump...given our point guard prowess, our driving ability (DD and Garrett), and our beef, if this team develops solid, consistent 3-point shooting, we become elite. Tonight is (so far) a bit of an anomaly this year...but let's hope it's the start of a trend. Agbaji got in on it too, which was nice. Now if Moss can just get off the schneid and get some confidence going...

* DD outshining Haliburton, leading the team nicely. Not much more to say there, but he had a fantastic game. Great floor leadership, athleticism, and winning effort.

We don't get to relish massive KU blowouts in Ames very often. I'll do so with this one for awhile, even though we know this is a down ISU team this year. I'll still take it because this is their annual Super Bowl.

More of what we got tonight going forward, please! (Starting with Baylor on Saturday - tough, tough game, but our chance to start making our mark in the league and further padding our resume if we can get the W)

Rock Chalk...

Konza63, I believe Corpus has noted that so far this season this team is looking to be one of the best in Bill Self KU history, and just possibly one of the top D’s in Div 1 this season.

More notes, these from Shay Wildeboor of Jayhawk Slant (Link)

Shay wrote:
STAT OF THE GAME
52.9 – Kansas connected on 10-of-19 3-point tries, good for a 52.9% clip from beyond the arc. It was the best shooting performance of the season from deep for the Jayhawks, who entered the night hitting 35.6% from three. The 10 triples were KU’s most in a conference road game since sinking 17 threes at Texas on Dec. 29, 2017. Sophomore Ochai Agbaji connected on four of those 3-pointers, one shy of his career high.

NOTES

After the Cylones opened the game hitting nine of its first 17 shots (52.4 percent), the Jayhawk defense held ISU to just 26.8% (11-of-41) over the final 28 minutes of the contest.

Kansas’ 26-point victory was the largest by the Jayhawks in Ames since KU defeated Iowa State 50-17 on Jan. 17, 1919.

The 20-point lead by KU was the largest by a Jayhawk team in the Self era in Ames replacing a previous mark of 13 set on Jan. 23, 2010 when KU led 38-25 at the half. The lead was Kansas’ largest Big 12 road lead at the half since KU led Texas 47-23 in Austin on Feb. 29, 2016.

Iowa State’s 53 points was the fewest by the Cyclones against KU in Ames since ISU tallied 52 on Feb. 28, 1999.

KU limited its opponent to under 60 points for the eighth time this season. The Jayhawks are 7-1 in those games with a 175-2 record in the Self era.

Kansas’ 10 3-pointers were its most in a Big 12 road game since the Jayhawks sunk 17 at Texas on Dec. 29, 2019.

Devon Dotson Tallied 20 points, marking the 20th-straight 10-plus point game. The last time Dotson didn’t score in double digits was against Oklahoma on Mar. 5, 2019.