Kansas too much for Cyclones

AMES – Hilton Coliseum had some of the magic last night that Fred Hoiberg helped bring when big-time opponents came to town.

But even a visit from former coach Johnny Orr and a national ESPN stage couldn't help Hoiberg preserve his perfect home record against Kansas and give the rookie coach his first Big 12 Conference victory. The third-ranked Jayhawks dominated the paint with twin towers Marcus and Markeiff Morris and was clutch down the stretch in an 84-79 victory over Iowa State in front of an announced crowd of 12,204.

“I know I'm going to be sick watching this game,” Hoiberg said. “The mistakes that we made that you can make against a team like Kansas….We had a chance. We were there.”

Each of the twins had double-doubles and killed the Cyclones down low as the Jayhawks (16-0, 1-0) led wire to wire.

Marcus Morris finished with a career-high 33 points along with 13 rebounds. Markieff Morris had 17 points and 11 rebounds and extended KU's series winning streak to 11.

“They are really good,” center Jamie Vanderbeken said of the brothers. “They are probably the best frontcourt in the nation.”

ISU (13-4, 0-2) stayed with the visitors for most of the second half and had chances to really make the unbeaten Jayhawks sweat.

The Cyclones closed to within five at 74-69, but Jake Anderson's 3-pointer rimmed out and a chance at one-possession game with 2 ½ minutes to play went by the wayside. KU closed the game out from there.

Point guard Diante Garrett led ISU with 27 points in playing the entire game.

Four Cyclones played at least 37 minutes.

“We had our runs and they had their runs. It went back and forth,” Garrett said. “We could never get a hold of that lead.”

Earlier, Vanderbeken's 3-pointer made it 48-47 with 15 ½ minutes to go and had the home crowd fired up. Seconds later star freshman Josh Selby swished a three of his own and sparked an eight-point run that squelched the Cyclone rally.

Kansas continually got to the free-throw line.

ISU had to foul late, but the Jayhawks finished with a 31-10 advantage in free-throws attempted. The Morris' shot 25 of those.

“They are beasts,” Hoiberg said. “They've made big strides the last couple of years. They are future NBA players. Those two guys out-muscled us I thought.”

ISU withstood an early run by the Jayhawks and closed to within 26-24 with 7 ½ minutes to play. The visitors then scored the next 11 points and took a 40-34 lead into halftime.

Garrett and Vanderbeken kept the Cyclones in it, as freshman Melvin Ejim was saddled with foul trouble and Scott Christopherson still nursing a sore elbow. Christopherson played through the injury and scored nine points while extending his consecutive games streak with a 3-pointer to 19.

Vanderbeken finished with 19 points, hitting four 3-pointers.

The Cyclones' last victory over KU came during the 2003-04 season, a 68-61 win during Wayne Morgan's first season.

They haven't beaten a ranked opponent at home since beating No. 25 Colorado on Feb. 5, 2006.

Orr was recognized before the game and honored earlier in the day with a bronze statue in the arena's concourse outside a donors-only sports bar named “Johnny's.”

The iconic coach of the 1980s and early 90s – still ISU's winningest coach -- won 9 of 13 games against the Jayhawks in Ames.

---- Hoiberg never lost to them at home during his playing career, a game that included an upset of No. 3-ranked KU his senior year where Hoiberg scored 32 points, 17 straight in the second half.