On Wednesday night in Ames, Iowa, two Big 12 teams clashed in an exciting match up between Top 10 rivals.
T.J. Otzelberger and the Iowa State Cyclones welcomed Bill Self and the Kansas Jayhawks to Hilton Coliseum for the fifth game of the Big 12 regular season. The pair traded blows down the stretch, with the Jayhawks making multiple runs, but ultimately, Iowa State took home a win, advancing to 5-0 in conference play, while Kansas fell to 3-2.
With that, here are the top three takeaways on Iowa State’s 74-57 win over the Jayhawks.
T.J. Otzelberger Did it Right
Simply put, Iowa State Basketball is beautiful to watch. The team has no weakness. They defend, rebound, can score in a flash, and have the most energy of any team in the country. And that all showed up in Wednesday night’s win over KU.
Led by 25 points from senior guard Curtis Jones, 20 of which came in the first half, Iowa State handled Kansas nearly wire-to-wire. They found an even mix of production from players like Jones, Keyshon Gilbert, Joshua Jefferson, Dishon Jackson, and Tamin Lipsey. The five players recorded 69 of the team’s 74 points, 27 of their 43 rebounds, and 15 of the group’s 17 assists on the day.
Now sitting at 5-0, Iowa State turns their focus to a road trip in Morgantown on Saturday.
Related: Two Big 12 Basketball Teams in Top 5 Odds to Win 2025 NCAA Tournament
Adams’ Injury
One of the more interesting storylines to follow in the matchup dealt with the health of senior forward KJ Adams. Early in the second half, with both teams scrambling for the ball on a broken play, Adams collided with an Iowa State defender, bumping shoulders, which caused him to fall to the ground.
He was helped off the court and went back to the locker room with 15:42 to play, where he remained for three minutes. Adams hopped back into action at 12:47, where he provided some spark for the Jayhawks. Several minutes later, at 7:08, ESPN’s camera crew showed Adams returning to the locker room yet again. He would eventually return to Kansas’ bench at 6:40, where he remained until the end of the contest.
While Adams’ injury was a tough sight to see for Jayhawk fans, the team went on two of their biggest runs with the Texas native sidelined. They went on a 9-0 run in from 15:42-12:47 and later cut Iowa State’s 11-point lead down to five.
No Milan, No Problem
Ahead of the game’s 6:00 tipoff, Iowa State fans received word that their squad would be without one of its best players for their matchup vs. No. 9 Kansas. Sophomore forward Milan Momcilovic missed the game due to a hand/finger injury.
As noted by CycloneAlert’s Alec Busse, the timetable for Momcilovic’s return is expected to be four to six weeks. He would miss the team’s next eight games against West Virginia, UCF, Arizona State, Arizona, Kansas, No. 9 Kansas, TCU, and UCF (again) if he returns in four weeks, and would miss four games extra vs. Cincinnati, Colorado, No. 10 Houston, and Oklahoma State if he needs the full six weeks of recovery time.
He will be missed in the coming weeks as the Wisconsin native averages 10.3 points and 3.5 rebounds while converting a team-high 44.3% from three.
