Rob Gray

Iowa State routed Kansas, 68-53, last season in Ames to end a seven-game skid in the series. The seventh-ranked Jayhawks visit Hilton on Saturday to face the 23rd-ranked Cyclones in another anticipated game broadcast nationally on CBS.

Kelsey Joens’ desire to excel is all-consuming. It’s a family trait her older sister, Ashley — Iowa State’s all-time leading scorer and rebounder — exhibited in five seasons as a Cyclone. But Kelsey Joens adds a unique twist to her family’s formula for success.

Iowa State standout wrestler David Carr is facing the last true road trip of his decorated career. The No. 4-ranked Cyclones will swing through Oklahoma to wrestle the No. 18 Sooners at 7 p.m. Friday before tangling with No. 5 Oklahoma State at 6 p.m. Saturday in Stillwater.

Forty-seven fouls were called. Elbows swung vigorously and occasionally maliciously. And in the waning moments of No. 23 Iowa State’s grinding 78-67 win Wednesday over Kansas State, even the head coaches got heated.

Iowa State not only survived, but thrived in its first game without standout point guard Tamin Lipsey. But can the No. 23 Cyclones do that again if the Ames native must also sit out Wednesday’s 8 p.m. home game against Kansas State because of a sprained shoulder?

Curtis Jones racked up seven steals to match an Iowa State men’s basketball record and then hit two crucial free throws to help the No. 24 Cyclones hold off No. 19, 73-72.

Diagnosing what precisely is causing Iowa State’s 3-point shooting woes early in Big 12 men’s basketball play didn’t prove to be difficult for Milan Momcilovic — and he started with a self-critique.

First, the good news for Iowa State: The 24th-ranked Cyclones didn’t even need to suit up to notch their sixth straight Big 12 Conference win. Now, the bad news: When ISU actually got to play a game, it suffered its first league setback of the season, 71-63, to Texas Tech in Lubbock.

Audi Crooks’ favorite word isn’t “score.” It’s not “rebound.” It’s not even “win.” No, Iowa State’s star 6-foot-3 center — the program’s first freshman to attain Big 12 player of the week honors on Monday — adores a different word that embodies all of the aforementioned ones: “Growth.”

No. 20 BYU utterly dominated the 24th-ranked Cyclones in every facet of the game — including defense, which is what Iowa State Coach T.J. Otzelberger’s team “hangs its hat on.”

Iowa State dismantled Oklahoma State, 66-42, before a paid, but blizzard-affected crowd of 14,267 at Hilton Coliseum. The Cyclones trailed 15-10 early before springing a 12-0 run on the Cowboys to help build a 37-26 halftime lead.

Iowa State upended No. 4 Baylor, 66-63, Saturday to move to 5-0 in the Big 12 women’s basketball standings. The Cyclones rallied from a 24-11 deficit at the end of the first quarter.

Demarion Watson has taken zero shots in seven of the past nine games he’s logged minutes. Why? The versatile 6-foot-7 Iowa State sophomore guard’s too busy supplying his team with hustle plays

Iowa State honored Bill Fennelly for winning his 600th game as the Cyclones’ head women’s basketball coach before Wednesday’s matchup with No. 24 West Virginia. But what his young ISU team did to conjure up win No. 601 stole the show.

Iowa State freshman Milan Momcilovic swished a fadeaway jumper in the final minute — and Hilton Coliseum erupted Tuesday night as the Cyclones eventually toppled Houston, the nation’s lone remaining unbeaten team, 57-53, before an officially sold-out crowd of 14,267