No. 2 Iowa State men’s basketball poised for another ‘great battle’ with No. 9 Kansas

AMES — The crowd delivers the decibels. The teams provide the marquee matchup.

When Iowa State meets Kansas in men’s basketball — either at Hilton Coliseum or at Phog Allen Fieldhouse — it’s long-been appointment television for college hoops fans.

So it’s no surprise that Wednesday’s ESPN2-televised 6 p.m. clash between the Big 12 powers comes with stirring drama and extraordinarily high stakes attached.

The No. 2 Cyclones (14-1, 4-0) achieved their highest AP ranking ever this week and own the nation’s longest win streak of 11 games. The No. 9 Jayhawks (12-3, 3-1) have won three straight games by double digits after being shocked by West Virginia at home.

So what should fans expect in the third top-10 matchup between the programs at Hilton in a series that dates back to 1908?

“A great battle,” said Ames native and All-Big 12 ISU point guard Tamin Lipsey. “I feel like every year it’s one of the games that both sides are looking forward to.”

Lipsey would know. The lifelong Cyclone fan-turned-gritty-star watched in awe as ISU won four of five meetings with Kansas in the mid-2010s. He winched when the Jayhawks beat the Cyclones seven consecutive times at the start of this decade.

Now Lipsey’s played a key role in two straight regular-season triumphs over Kansas — and narrowly missed a triple-double in one of them.

“It’s been a blast,” said Lipsey, one of five ISU players averaging double figures in scoring this season. “Every game, I look forward to (but) obviously there (are) games that you look forward to a little bit more than others.”

This time, the roles are reversed. The Cyclones are the higher ranked team and run a high-flying offense that ranks sixth nationally in adjusted efficiency, according to KenPom. The Jayhawks have hung their hat on defense, where they rank fourth in terms of efficiency.

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Kansas features elite rim protectors that holds opponents to just 42.6 percent shooting on 2-pointers, and athletic guards who patrol the perimeter and allow teams to shoot a dismal 28.6 percent from distance. So ISU head coach T.J. Otzelberger knows what his team’s up against.

“I believe right now that Kansas is the best version of (itself),” said Otzelberger, whose team seeks its second top-10 win of the season. “I think they’ve really found their identity, so it’s gonna be so important that we’re locked in from the start at being the physical aggressor and being the team that does the effort-based things better right away.”

Opposing teams used to fear the Jayhawks’ dreaded offensive runs. Now Kansas also is adept at causing prolonged scoring droughts — as it did in Saturday’s suffocating, 54-40, win at Cincinnati.

“I know with Coach (Bill) Self’s teams, they’re always (going to) execute out of time outs,” Otzelberger said. “They’re always well-coached, well-prepared. He’s got great players who have been in the program with (Hunter) Dickinson, KJ (Adams), and Dejuan (Harris), so you know that already — but I think they’ve really got an edge to how they defend.”

The Cyclones counter with a top-10 defense of their own, as usual, but also feature the highest-scoring nonstarter in the country in Curtis Jones. The standout senior guard is averaging 18.1 points per game off the bench while crafting a 42-to-11 assist-to-turnover ratio.

But his explosive efficiency comes, in part, because of Keshon Gilbert’s scoring acumen (16.1 [points per game), Lipsey’s floor-burn inducing play on both ends of the floor, and key contributions from forwards Milan Momcilovic and Joshua Jefferson.

In short, focus on stopping one or two ISU players, and the others still can beat you.

“I heard one of the pundits that I actually respect a lot say they thought Iowa State is the best offensive team in the country,” Self told reporters on Tuesday. “I probably agree that they’ve got the best three guards on the same team in the country — and their bigs are so much more skilled than what they’ve had in the past.”

So, as Lipsey said, expect another “great battle.” The usual eardrum-piercing environment. A game that could come down to the final possession — and generally never disappoints.

“We’re gonna have great fan support,” Otzelberger said. “We’re gonna have great energy and enthusiasm in this building, and we’re gonna put ourselves in great position to be competitive and be successful.”

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