Three takeaways from Kansas Jayhawks basketball’s dominant Big Monday win vs. Iowa State
Dominant might be the best word to describe the Kansas Jayhawks men’s basketball team’s performance on Monday night.
In a game featuring two teams desperate for a win, the 16th-ranked Jayhawks played with the sense of urgency that No. 8 Iowa State lacked. Using desperation as fuel, KU blew out the Cyclones 69-52 at Allen Fieldhouse.
From the opening tip, KU’s energy was the best it has looked in weeks. It was on full display on one play late in the first half — a season-best highlight so far.
Hunter Dickinson punched the ball loose from a Cyclone; then guard Dajuan Harris dove onto the floor for the loose ball, sliding for a bit before gathering himself.
But that undersells how dynamic this play was. In one motion Harris slid, collected the ball and passed it on ahead to Dickinson.
From there, Dickinson passed the ball to KU guard David Coit, who lofted an alley-oop pass from half-court to KJ Adams for a thunderous jam.
The Allen Fieldhouse crowd went wild, sounding the loudest it has all season.
And from there it was all Jayhawks. KU guard Zeke Mayo led the way with 17 points and eight rebounds; Hunter Dickinson finished with 14 points and nine rebounds.
Mayo was 5 of 8 from 3-point range.
The Jayhawks (16-6, 7-4 Big 12) wound up splitting their regular-season series with the Cyclones after losing the teams’ first meeting of the 2024-25 campaign in Ames, Iowa.
Kansas went into halftime Monday leading 35-19 after limiting ISU to 24% shooting from the field. Iowa State didn’t get within striking distance the rest of the way.
Up next: KU travels to Manhattan to face K-State on Saturday in another edition of the Sunflower Showdown at Bramlage Coliseum.
Until then, here are three takeaways from KU’s Big Monday home victory …
Flory Bidunga gets some love
Kansas freshman Flory Bidunga hasn’t been in Lawrence long, but he’s already become a fan favorite.
When Bidunga was not in coach Bill Self’s starting lineup to open the game, chants (mainly from the student section) rained down.
Refrains of “We want Flory ... we want Flory” could be heard during KU’s first couple of possessions.
The chants come after social-media discussion about whether Bidunga or KJ Adams should be starting for KU.
Bidunga entered the game at the 15:26 mark of the first half. But it was a quiet half for him: He had two points, three rebounds and one block in eight minutes.
Bidunga has played better games. He finished with four points, four rebounds and four blocks.
AJ Storr plays well
The AJ Storr experience is a roller coaster: mainly lows thus far, but there have also been some highs.
Well, he had one of his better outings on Monday.
Storr hit a 3-pointer in the first half — his first made 3-pointer since KU’s win vs. K-State on Jan. 18. He had eight points in the first half on 3-for-6 shooting from the field.
He didn’t shoot as well in the second half. He finished the game with eight points on 3-for-9 shooting with three rebounds.
Storr on Monday had a plus-minus of +16 — the second-highest on the team. That’s a positive sign: Storr usually has one of the worst per-game +/- figures on the team.
ISU shooting woes
This Jayhawks squad is undoubtedly built on defense, but ISU’s struggles to score went far beyond good defense by KU.
The opening half of Monday’s game was one of the most putrid a Kansas opponent has played all season.
The Jayhawks did a good job of forcing this ISU squad, which ranks No. 292 in 3-point rate, to take 3-pointers. The result was good for the Jayhawks, as the Cyclones shot a hideous 1-for-12 (11%) from long range.
When ISU got open looks, nothing fell. The Cyclones shot a frigid 24% from the field and at one point failed to score for five-plus minutes of game time.
The Clones warmed up a bit in the second half, but again it was too little, too late.
This story was originally published February 3, 2025 at 10:20 PM.
