Kansas humbles No. 2 Iowa State, 84-63, Tuesday night in Lawrence

It’s not often an opposing team strolls into Allen Fieldhouse ranked in the top five to face an unranked Kansas team.

It’s even rarer that said team leaves Lawrence with a win.

No. 2 Iowa State learned that history-based lesson the hard way Tuesday, as the desperate Jayhawks shined all night and saddled the previously unbeaten Cyclones with a humbling 84-63 loss.

Kansas (12-5, 2-2 Big 12) led by as many as 26 points in the first half as ISU (16-1, 3-1) fell at Allen Fieldhouse for the eighth straight time.

“They’re very well prepared, well coached; desperate, urgent to come out with a win — and you could feel that energy from the opening jump,” Cyclone head coach T.J. Otzelberger said on the Cyclone Radio Network after the game. “We didn’t do a good job of setting the tone with our defense and physicality.”

Instead, the opposite occurred. The Jayhawks raced to a quick 8-2 lead that featured two rousing dunks from their big man, Flory Bidunga, and two early ISU turnovers. The Cyclones turned it over 10 times in the first half and at one point were being outscored 17-0 in points off turnovers — a jarring number that usually skews sharply the other way. ISU didn’t get its first points off turnovers until high-energy guard Jamarion Batemon’s team-high fourth steal turned into a Tamin Lipsey layup with 3:54 remaining.

“(We had) four points off turnovers, about as low as we ever have had since I can recall,” Otzelberger said. “So that’s gotta be a big part of getting us back going.”

Batemon and Joshua Jefferson scored 12 points apiece to lead the Cyclones, who used a 24-9 run spanning both halves to pull within 11, at 5-42, with 13:30 left. But Kansas immediately responded with a backbreaking 16-2 splurge to quell any ISU hopes for a comeback.

“This isn’t the place you want to be trying to come from behind,” Otzelberger said. “You’ve gotta do a great job of staying in it from the start.”

The Cyclones clearly struggled in that regard, and their top three scorers, Jefferson, Lipsey and Milan Momcilovic, went a combined 11-for-38 (29 percent) from the field. Jefferson added seven rebounds — a team high matched by guard Killyan Toure — but also lost five turnovers while going 4-for-14 from the floor.

Kansas shot 51 percent overall, 50 percent from 3-point range (12 of 24) and led the final 39:35 of the game. Jayhawks guard Tre White notched a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds while going 5-for-7 from the 3-point line. Freshman phenom and possible No. 1 NBA Draft pick Darryn Peterson added 16 points on an inefficient shooting night (6-for-15) for otherwise lethally efficient Kansas, which improved to 1-3 this season against top 10-ranked teams.

“Unfortunately, tonight we came up short, and it was (because of) not doing the things that we’ve been consistently doing since we’ve been at this thing,” Otzelberger said.

Batemon served as the main bright spots for the Cyclones. The talented freshman guard played with confidence and poise, going 5-for-9 from the field. He also didn’t turn the ball over in 19 minutes of game action.

“His will and his want-to couldn’t have been better,” Otzelberger said.

ISU, of course, must be much better when it tries to regroup Saturday at Cincinnati (8-8, 0-3). Five of the Bearcats’ losses have come by seven or fewer points, and they’re elite defensively — especially on their home floor.

“We’ve got to set the tone with our defense, our physicality, our identity, the way that we do things,” Otzelberger said. “And when we do that on the defensive end, our offense just kind of flows.”

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