Kansas’ scoring drought dooms Jayhawks against Iowa State

LAWRENCE, KS — The last time the Kansas Jayhawks played on their home court (February 22, 2018), they pulled off a massive 66-59 upset over #25 Oklahoma State. Tonight, however they didn’t have such luck.

Iowa State’s strong fourth quarter play helped propel them past the Jayhawks in a 65-56 victory at Allen Fieldhouse. Junior/senior duo, Emily Durr and Bridget Carleton, combined to put up an astounding 44 of the Cyclone’s 65 points.

“Emily and Bridget did what they usually do for us...they carried the day,” said Iowa State head coach Bill Fennelly about the dynamic duo’s performance tonight.

Durr set a new career-high with 27 points while her teammate also set a personal best with seven assists on the night.

The first half proved to be a tight contest between Kansas and Iowa State, with neither team getting ahead of the other by more than six points over 20 minutes of play, and near even shooting — 13-31 FG’s and 33% from three for Iowa State compared 13-26 FG’s and 36% from beyond-the-arc for Kansas.

Tyler Johnson, who played a major role in orchestrating the Jayhawks win over Oklahoma State last week, contributed 13 of Kansas’ first half points over just 15 minutes of play to help propel the Jayhawks to a 35-31 lead going into the second half.

Things took a turn in the third quarter, however. While Iowa State turned on the heat and adjusted defensively to keep Johnson from getting the ball and distributing, Kansas went ice cold from all over the court and just couldn’t seem to find the rhythm they had in the first half.

“Tonight, especially in the second half, it’s about knocking out open shots,” Jayhawks head coach Brandon Schneider commented after the game.

The Cyclones took off on a 13-2 run over just 4:45 while the Jayhawks experienced a major scoring drought — going just 1-9 in FG’s and putting up only seven points in the quarter. This allowed ISU to regain the lead and enter the fourth quarter up 48-2.

Despite going on an 0-10 run over nearly five minutes of play in the fourth, the Cyclones were able to hold on to the lead — even as things got close in the final minutes of the game.

Kansas managed to get within four points of the Cyclone’s with only two minutes remaining, but Iowa State answered them with back-to-back trey’s to keep Kansas from taking the lead. Adriana Camber drained one from beyond-the-arc with a little over one minute remaining and Durr put up another with just 30 seconds left in the game.

Iowa State finishes their regular season 13-16 overall, while Kansas finishes just behind them at 12-17.