Game 14: No. 3 Kansas at Iowa State – Preview and Prediction

The No. 3 Kansas Jayhawks hits the road for the first time in conference play, and they start out with a tough one – Hilton Magic and Iowa State. Outside of Allen Fieldhouse, Hilton Coliseum is probably the toughest place to in the Big 12, but Kansas has a relatively veteran team so they should be up for the challenge.

• Wednesday, January 8, 2019, 7:00 pm CDT
• Hilton Coliseum — Ames, Iowa
• ESPN+
• Kansas leads the overall series with Iowa State, 182-66, but the teams have split the last 10 meetings (5-5), with ISU winning two of the last three matchups.
• The KU-ISU contest pits the top-two scoring offenses in the Big 12 with Iowa State at 80.2 ppg and Kansas at 79.5 ppg. The two also rank first and second in field goal percentage with KU at 50.9% and ISU at 46.4%.
• KU is ranked No. 2 in the NET rankings through games of Jan. 5. The Jayhawks’ strength of schedule is No. 1 nationally. San Diego State (5), Butler (5), Kansas (4) and Michigan State (4), are the only schools with at least four Quadrant 1 wins. KU is 4-2 against Q1.
• KU is 133-59 (69.3%) on the road in Big 12 play since 1996-97. The team with the next highest winning percentage in that span is Texas, which is 86-107 (44.6%) in conference road games.
• Kansas is No. 3 in the latest national polls. Kansas has been ranked in each of the last 210 Associated Press polls, the longest streak in the nation. The Jayhawks have also been inside the top-10 in 95 of the last 109 AP polls.
• Kansas’ two losses in 2019-20 have been by a combined three points and both against ranked foes.
• Through 13 games, five different Jayhawks – Devon Dotson, Isaiah Moss, Udoka Azubuike, Ochai Agbaji and David McCormack – have posted 20 or more points in a game this season.

Cyclones to Watch

Tyrese Halliburton – Sophomore, Guard, 6’5″
Halliburton has a chance to a be a lottery pick in this summer’s NBA Draft. He’s been the bright spot in a very average year for the Cyclones. He’s averaging 17.7 PPG to lead the team while dishing out 7.9 APG and pulling down 6.3 RPG. He does everything and makes his teammates around him better. He’s currently on a run of three-straight 22-point games. If ISU has a chance on Wednesday, they’ll need a huge effort out of Halliburton.

Rasir Bolton – Sophomore, Guard, 6’3”
The transfer from Penn State is making an impact in his first season in Ames. Bolton is second on the team in scoring at 14.8 PPG. He poured in a season-high 29 points in a losing effort to Florida A&M two games ago.

Prediction

No matter how bad Iowa State is, it is always a tough place to play, especially when Kansas comes to town. That said, Kansas is the better team and they should win this one. This is an Iowa State team with losses to Florida A&M, Oregon State and TCU. The Cyclones don’t match up favorably against the likes of Devon Dotson and Udoka Azubuike, and while they have the edge on the wing with Halliburton, Kansas is able to throw athletic defenders such as Marcus Garrett and Ochai Agbaji at him.

Kansas cannot afford another slow start like they had against WVU. If they start out fast and hot, it won’t be much of a contest. Give me the Jayhawks and a 2-0 Big 12 record.

Kansas 77, Iowa State 65
KU -5

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Season Record: 10-3 (6-7 ATS)