ISU men get second shot at Kansas — and ending 13-game skid

AMES - It's been two weeks since Iowa State scored a rare near-miss at No. 5 Kansas, but instead fell 82-73 under the weight of a 17-2 second-half Jayhawks' run.

The fact the rebuilt Cyclones (14-6, 4-3 Big 12 Conference) led three-quarters of the game and dictated play against the now fifth-ranked team in the country brought no smile from Coach Fred Hoiberg.

“I thought it was a game we should have won,” said Hoiberg, whose team faces Kansas (17-3, 7-0) again in Saturday's 1 p.m. game at sold-out Hilton Coliseum.

Grade that effort an incomplete - with poor shot selection and spotty second-half pick-and-roll defense on Tyshawn Taylor dooming ISU to its 13th straight loss to Kansas.

Saturday presents an ESPN-televised shot at redemption, an opportunity Cyclone forward Royce White relishes.

“For us, the motivation is probably as high is it's going to have been for any game previously,” said White, who scored 18 points and grabbed 17 rebounds in the loss at Lawrence, but shot 3 of 8 from the free throw line. “And for me, personally, it's the most motivated I've been for a number of reasons, a number of different reasons that have to do with how people view them as a team, how people view us as a team, how this whole process goes with your goals as a team.”

But will the 14,000-plus fans on hand conjure the extra “magic” often required to topple Kansas?

Only if it's warranted.

“When we play smart we're capable of beating them,” ISU guard Scott Christopherson said. “When we don't play smart, they will kill us.”

ISU held dominant Kansas big man Thomas Robinson to a season low-tying four field goals on the road, but he still achieved a double-double (11 points, 14 rebounds), as did center Jeff Withey, who notched 13 points, 11 rebounds and seven blocked shots.

Taylor proved to be the Cyclones' downfall, however, with 20 second-half points.

“A lot of that was (him) coming off screen and roll action,” Hoiberg said. “He's on a tear right now and playing as well as anybody in our league.”

ISU's in that mix, too - and with a win would start the conference season with a 5-3 mark or better for the first time since 2000-01.

“I definitely think we have something to prove, said Cyclone guard Chris Babb, the team's best on-the-ball defender. “We put ourselves in a position to win, to beat a top-10 team on their home court, which a lot of people don't do. We had a chance to do that, but we had a couple lapses towards the end.”