Iowa State @ Kansas preview
Allen Fieldhouse
Last Meeting ( Feb 4, 2017 ) Iowa State 92, Kansas 89
Kansas coach Bill Self knows he needs more production in the backcourt if the Jayhawks are going to secure a 14th consecutive Big 12 Conference championship. After slipping by Texas and TCU sandwiched around a loss to Texas Tech, the 12th-ranked Jayhawks will host an Iowa State team on Tuesday that ended their 54-game home-court winning streak - 51 in Allen Fieldhouse - last season.
Kansas was outrebounded 42-28 by the 16th-ranked Horned Frogs on Saturday and let a 10-point second-half lead disappear, but Devonte' Graham’s 28 points and eight straight free throws in the final two minutes helped Kansas secure an 88-84 victory. Graham added six assists and three steals, raising his averages to 26 points and 6.7 assists in conference contests, however, backcourt mates Lagerald Vick and Malik Newman have struggled, totaling 20 points and no assists versus six turnovers in the last two games combined. “We’ve got to get more out of (Vick and Newman). “I’d say Malik has not played as well as what he’s capable of playing,” Self told the Wichita Eagle of the 6-3 sophomore transfer from Mississippi State, who is averaging 9.9 points on 43.7 percent shooting this season. “We need Malik to be offense for us. We need him to be an adequate defender, individual defender, a good team defender, that kind of stuff.” Iowa State dropped to 0-3 in conference play with Saturday’s 96-87 overtime loss at Oklahoma State despite a career-high 30 points on 6-of-8 shooting behind the arc from Donovan Jackson, but the Cyclones have split the last six contests with the Jayhawks.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, ESPN2
ABOUT IOWA STATE (9-5, 0-3 Big 12): Jackson, a 6-2 senior who scored 12 points during a 17-0 run that helped the Cyclones overcome a 14-point, first-half deficit, has tallied 54 points and 12-3-pointers in his last two games after scoring two points against Kansas State in the conference opener. Junior guard Nick Weiler-Babb (12.3 points, 7.6 rebounds, 7.5 assists) fell a rebound shy of a triple-double with 12 points and 11 assists against the Cowboys but is shooting just 35.7 percent (20-of-56) in his last six games. Cameron Lard (11.1 points on 63.8 percent shooting, 6.5 rebounds, 1.9 blocks in 19.9 minutes), a 6-9 freshman, was put into the starting lineup against Oklahoma State but managed just nine points on 4-of-9 shooting and one rebound in 23 minutes.
ABOUT KANSAS (12-3, 2-1): Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk (16.5 points, 51-of-110 on 3-pointers), scored 20 points, drained five 3-pointers for the fifth time this season and dished out six assists against TCU. Sophomore big man Udoka Azubuike (14.9 points, 76.5 percent shooting, 7.8 rebounds) scored 14 points on a perfect 6-of-6 night from the field but fouled out in just 13 minutes. Vick has struggled of late, but the 6-5 junior is still averaging 15.7 points on 54.3 percent shooting, 5.9 rebounds and 3.3 assists.
TIP-INS
1. Kansas leads the overall series 179-64.
2. Graham had a string of 19 straight free throws made snapped against TCU - the longest by a Jayhawk since Sherron Collins hit a program record 36 in a row during the 2008-09 season.
3. Kansas reserve F Mitch Lightfoot made up for Azubuike's absence against the Horned Frogs with nine points and a season-high seven rebounds - six offensive - in 26 minutes. He tallied a career-high six blocks - matching the most by a Jayhawk in a conference game since Joel Embiid on Feb. 22, 2014.
PREDICTION: Kansas 92, Iowa State 75