No. 10 Kansas Jayhawks, without two key players, win at No. 20 Iowa State
.JPG "Kansas head coach Bill Self questions a call against his team during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Iowa State, Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2022, in Ames, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)")
Kansas power forward David McCormack stood in a cramped interview room, patiently answering reporters’ questions Tuesday night following the No. 10-ranked Jayhawks’ 70-61 victory over No. 20 Iowa State at Hilton Coliseum.
Polite as can be, the 6-foot-10, 250-pound senior who scored 14 points and grabbed 14 rebounds was anxious to hop on the team bus and call teammate Ochai Agbaji. The Big 12’s leading scorer, Agbaji watched the game on TV back in Lawrence as he combats COVID-19.
“As soon as I can get a signal I’m going to talk to him, celebrate with him,” McCormack said.
McCormack and his teammates were giddy after bouncing back from Saturday’s 18-point nonconference loss to Kentucky. There were many heroes in the absence of Agbaji, the first-team All-America candidate who Self said could conceivably be back as early as Saturday against Baylor, if he’s feeling up to it — he will have satisfied the league’s COVID protocols by then.
Also missing Tuesday’s game was Remy Martin, KU’s super-senior guard who will be held out an undetermined amount of time to try to get his knee bruise completely healed before he plays in a game again.
Sophomore point guard Dajuan Harris scored a career-high-tying 14 points with a career-high eight assists and career-high-tying four steals against Iowa State. Jalen Wilson and Christian Braun had 13 points apiece, while former Iowa State guard Jalen Coleman-Lands had six points off two early three-pointers. Seldom-used guard Joseph Yesufu stepped up to score seven points with five rebounds, four assists and three steals.
“We didn’t have our best player. We had to do other things, like get second-chance points,” McCormack said.
KU had nine second-chance points to Iowa State’s four.
“We knew we needed to get the job done for our brothers so they can celebrate with us,” McCormack said of Agbaji, Martin and Kyle Cuffe, Jr. McCormack said the Jayhawks had no trouble bouncing back after Saturday’s loss to Kentucky.
“There’s no need to sulk,” he said. “This was a big conference game. We knew what was on the line.”
KU coach Bill Self said that while Agbaji could return soon, Martin could be out up to a couple weeks as his knee heals.
“To win without Ochai speaks volumes, shows these guys’ character,” Self said. “And Remy could have helped us against their pressure as well.”
KU committed 16 turnovers the first half in building a 30-24 halftime lead. KU finished with with 22 turnovers to Iowa State’s 13.
Self said McCormack “was a presence. I told him he needed 20 (points), 10 (rebounds). He got 14 and 14 and didn’t miss a shot (7 for 7). We’ll take that.”
Self noted that “David shot great. Juan (Dajuan Harris) made some ridiculously hard layups. It may have been Juan’s best game all year.”
Harris hit 6 of 8 shots.
“Until (Iowa State’s Izaiah) Brockington got hot late, we did a good job on them individually,” Self said. Brockington scored 24 points on 11-of-28 shooting Tuesday. Of Yesufu, Self said: “The kid was fearless. He has to play more.”
Self said the Jayhawks “played to their personality, their identity. They seem to like big moments.”
KU completed a regular-season sweep of the Cyclones (16-6, 3-6). The Jayhawks beat Iowa State 62-61 on Jan. 11 at Allen Fieldhouse.
Iowa State defeated Missouri on Saturday in the Big 12/SEC Challenge and had won two straight since a loss at TCU on Jan. 22. KU won its third straight game at Hilton Coliseum and fifth of its last sixth there.
KU (18-3, 7-1) is set to meet Baylor at 3 p.m. on Saturday at Allen Fieldhouse.
Self did not say when Agbaji would return to action. Before the game, the coach confirmed that Agbaji and the redshirt Cuffe had tested positive for COVID.
“We had a couple players who had symptoms over the weekend,” Self said on his pre-game radio show, “and they tested positive and then we’ve done all the other precautions to make sure everybody else is good to go.”
“He (Agbaji) is actually feeling OK, but he’s going to be out for an indefinite period of time. We certainly hope that’s on a very short number of days as opposed to extended, but we don’t know that right now.”
Self also said Martin could be out “an extended period of time” as his knee heals.
This story was originally published February 1, 2022 at 8:20 PM.
