Stifling 2nd half sends No. 16 Iowa State past No. 3 Kansas

AMES — Georges Niang had an easy explanation as to how Iowa State used a second-half surge to take down another top-five conference foe at home.

He just looked down the table to his left at Monte Morris. Credit for this latest Big Monday win could easily be spread around the Cyclones locker room, but Niang knew it had to start with his junior point guard.

'We go how he goes,' Niang said of Morris. 'This guy has carried us this whole season and I couldn't be happier for the kid.

'He's really doing a great job of leading this team so I would say Monte sparked the plug.'

Morris powered No. 16 Iowa State to an 85-72 win against No. 3 Kansas behind 21 points, nine assists, four rebounds and zero turnovers in 40 minutes. Coming off a two-week stretch where he averaged 19 points and was named Big 12 Player of the Week, KU coach Bill Self called him the best player on the floor Monday night.

Niang chipped in 19 points and six rebounds, Abdel Nader had 17 points and Matt Thomas had 13 points and six rebounds. Deonte Burton came off the bench and had nine points and four rebounds in 17 minutes. Perry Ellis led Kansas with 23 points.

'We've got experienced guys,' said Iowa State coach Steve Prohm. 'It's always a big game because it's the next game, but obviously Kansas brings a little something extra to it. We're dealing with starters that have all won championships — Big 12 tournament championships. Georges and Monte, they're as good as anyone at their position in the country.'

The Cyclones (16-4, 5-3) outscored the Jayhawks (16-4, 5-3) 49-29 after halftime — and after Kansas led by as much as 10 in the first half — but it wasn't until a mid-period run that Iowa State really hit its stride.

After Kansas took a two-point lead with less than 10 minutes to go, Iowa State went on an 11-0 run in 2:27 — forcing five KU turnovers — to take a 66-57 lead. The Jayhawks didn't get within four points the rest of the way and were down as much as 13.

Iowa State shot 64.3 percent from the field in the second half and held Kansas to 40 percent while forcing 10 turnovers after the break. Morris said the key was to work through Niang in the middle — the senior struggled in the first half with four points on 2-of-8 shooting.

Jameel McKay had six points and five rebounds in 27 minutes, but exited in the second half with a knee injury. His status is up in the air for the ISU game Saturday.

'He's our best offensive player and when he's got it going, we're hard to guard,' Morris said of Niang. 'We needed to get him involved and he made a couple big turnarounds and hit shots. It translated to the defensive end for us and when we see shots go in, it's easier to guard people because they're kind of tired too on the other end. I think that sparked it.'

Iowa State became the first Big 12 team to win four of its last five games against a Bill Self-coached Kansas team and now owns two AP top-five wins for the first time since 1994-95. With a trip to No. 5 Texas A&M on Saturday, this group of Cyclones is a far cry from the 1-3 team that kicked off Big 12 play.

'We've come a long way, huh? That's the Big 12,' Niang said. 'We have a pretty good stretch of teams down the line and it doesn't get any easier with this SEC Challenge. We're going to have to prep for that.'

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