No. 17 Iowa State takes down Kansas State 76-63

Most basketball teams see an uptick in scoring when they play Iowa State. Not Kansas State.

The Wildcats were unable to take advantage of open space against No. 17 Iowa State, the worst defensive team in the Big 12, and lost 76-63 on Saturday at Bramlage Coliseum.

No conference opponent has had a harder time scoring against Iowa State. The Cyclones allowed an average of 86 points in their first four league games, with Baylor and Texas each scoring 94. Before Saturday, Iowa State’s best defensive showing against a Big 12 foe was holding Texas Tech to 69. Only Colorado, which managed 62, has scored less against Iowa State this season.

K-State, 11-6 overall and 1-4 in the Big 12, found baskets harder to come by for myriad reasons. The primary factor was Iowa State, 13-4, 2-3, went with a zone defense much of the way.

The Wildcats have struggled against packed defenders all season, and the short-handed Cyclones —– playing without suspended reserve guard Hallice Cooke — went away from their usual man-to-man in an attempt to save energy.

The move worked to perfection, as K-State made 38 percent of its shots and freshman guard Barry Brown, the team’s leading scorer in Big 12 play, was held to four points.

“Zone isn’t their real thing,” K-State coach Bruce Weber said. “I didn’t think we attacked it well. We didn’t move. We didn’t flash. I always blame myself. I didn’t do a very good job with them. Some of it is basketball knowledge, savvy and feel. Some guys know how to attack a zone, some guys don’t. I guess we need to do a better job teaching.”

That may be an understatement. K-State will likely see exclusively zone defense in its next game on Tuesday at Baylor and face plenty of zones the rest of the season, or at least until it proves it can shoot teams out of them.

The only time K-State found an offensive groove Saturday was when Iowa State opened with its traditional defense and the Wildcats took a 6-2 lead.

Iowa State switched to the zone and it was all Cyclones. They led 26-9 with five minutes remaining in the first half and never allowed the Wildcats to pull closer than five.

Monte Morris led Iowa State with 19 points, while Georges Niang added 15 and Abdel Nader had 14.

K-State was unable to match that firepower.

“We had a lot of plays set for man that we knew would work,” said K-State guard Justin Edwards after scoring a game-high 19 points, “because they have worked against them in the past and they have worked against other teams. Then they went zone and changed it all up.”

Weber said he expected Iowa State to use a zone defense, given K-State’s failures against it, but he was confident his team could shoot its way over it.

That confidence seemed justified considering K-State was coming off its best shooting effort in months. Earlier this week, the Wildcats made 56.4 percent of their shots and 10 three-pointers in an 83-70 victory against Texas Tech.

Iowa State had lost three of its past four, and K-State was previously undefeated against the Cyclones at home under Weber. The Wildcats hoped that combination would lead to their first victory this season over a ranked team, but it didn’t happen.

“I thought after that win on Tuesday we would come out with a lot more energy and be happy to play a ranked team in our home gym,” Edwards said. “But, obviously, we came out kind of flat. We can’t give really good teams that big of a lead. It is hard to come back.”

The game went exactly how Iowa State, which played a mere seven players, hoped it would.

“We exploited some things they don’t do very well,” Niang said.

Edwards was K-State’s main source of offense, scoring 19 points and grabbing seven rebounds, but Wesley Iwundu added 11 points and nine rebounds, while Kamau Stokes had 10 points. The rest of the roster had trouble finding the bottom of the net.

Brown was uncharacteristically off, making one of 10 shots. It was his worst game in weeks.

A late series of plays summed up the day for K-State. The final seconds were ticking away and Iowa State coach Steve Prohm told his players to stop playing defense. Edwards and reserve forward D.J. Johnson responded by driving to the hoop only to miss back-to-back layups. The Cyclones eventually grabbed the rebound and dribbled out the clock.

“We can’t panic,” Edwards said. “I know we are going to bounce back and get our wins. We just have to keep practicing and put in the work. I feel like we are almost there, we just have to get over that hump.”

Right now, the biggest obstacle is obvious.

“They just used a straight old 2-3 zone,” Weber said, “and I don’t think they wanted to use it. They do it out of necessity, because they don’t have numbers and they want to stay out of foul trouble. Obviously, it was a benefit.”

No. 17 IOWA STATE 76, KANSAS STATE 63

Percentages: FG .509, FT .778. Three-Point Goals: 6-16, .375 (Nader 2-2, Morris 1-2, Ashton 1-3, Thomas 1-3, Niang 1-4, Burton 0-2). Blocked Shots: 4 (McKay 2, Niang, Burton). Turnovers: 12 (Niang 5, Thomas 3, Burton 2, McKay, Morris). Steals: 7 (Niang 2, Nader 2, Thomas, Burton, Morris). Technical Fouls: None. Fouled Out: None.

Percentages: FG .377, FT .684. Three-Point Goals: 4-21, .190 (Edwards 2-4, Stokes 2-8, Hurt 0-1, Budke 0-1, Wade 0-3, Brown 0-4). Blocked Shots: 4 (Edwards 2, Iwundu, Johnson). Turnovers: 13 (Edwards 3, Stokes 3, Iwundu 3, Hurt 2, Ervin II, Johnson). Steals: 5 (Edwards 2, Iwundu 2, Budke). Technical Fouls: None. Fouled Out: None.

Half: Iowa State 32-23. Attendance: 12,462. Officials: Ray Natili, Terry Oglesby, Bert Smith.

This story was originally published January 16, 2016 at 3:58 PM with the headline "No. 17 Iowa State takes down Kansas State 76-63."