Kansas Reminds The World Who They Are, Handing Iowa State A Rude Reality Check
If there is one rule in college basketball that gamblers and pundits alike tend to forget, it’s this: rarely is it a good idea to bet against Bill Self and Kansas when his back is against the wall. Coming off a frankly embarrassing loss to West Virginia and stumbling through a start to the season that had the faithful in Lawrence muttering nervously into their beers, the Jayhawks looked like a team in crisis.
They were staring down the barrel of their first 1-3 start in league play since the Reagan administration. The vibes were bad. The panic meter was ticking up. And then Tuesday night happened.
In a performance that felt like a vintage throwback to the relentless Kansas teams of old, the Jayhawks not only beat the second-ranked, undefeated Iowa State Cyclones but also dismantled them. The final score was 84-63, but honestly, it didn’t feel that close.
A Wake-Up Call at the Phog
Let’s be honest about what happened at Phog Allen Fieldhouse. Iowa State walked in with a sparkling 16-0 record, looking like the new kings of the conference. They walked out wondering what truck just hit them.
Coach T.J. Otzelberger, usually a bastion of calm, watched his team get blitzed by an 11-3 run right out of the gate. By the time he’d burned through two timeouts trying to stop the bleeding, Kansas was up 31-14.
You could almost see the spirit leaving the Cyclones’ bodies. Otzelberger called it “spooked.” I’d call it being shell-shocked. It’s one thing to be undefeated; it’s another thing to handle the noise when 16,300 people are screaming for your demise.
The Mystery of the Players-Only Meeting
There is perhaps no greater cliché in sports than the “players-only meeting.” It’s the desperate Hail Mary of a locker room in turmoil. Did Kansas have one? Bill Self claims he knows nothing about it (which is exactly what a smart coach says).
But Tre White, who apparently decided the basket was the size of a hula hoop while draining four early threes, spilled the beans.”It definitely made us more connected,” White said. Whatever was said behind those closed doors worked.
This wasn’t a team of individuals looking to rack up their own stats; this was a cohesive unit that smelled blood in the water. They talked about identity, and then they went out and proved they actually have one.
Peterson Plays Through the Pain
The biggest storyline, aside from the scoreboard, was Darryn Peterson. We’ve been waiting to see what this kid could do when he wasn’t hobbled, and we finally got a glimpse. He dropped 16 points and looked every bit the “elite scorer” Self promised he was.
Was he 100%? hardly. He was still massaging his calf on the bench like an old man with a bad hamstring at the YMCA. At one point, he grabbed his leg after a dunk, sending a collective gasp through the arena. But he played through the cramps. He played through the “not quite whole” feeling. That’s the kind of grit that turns talented freshmen into legends in this town.
Finding the Balance
For the first time in a long time, Kansas didn’t appear to be forcing it. Melvin Council Jr. added 15 points. Flory Bidunga chipped in 10. They led by 26 in the first half. Twenty-six! Against the number two team in the country!
When Iowa State made its inevitable little run to cut the lead to 11 in the second half—because college basketball is a game of runs, after all—Kansas didn’t fold. They didn’t revert to the panicked play we saw against UCF or West Virginia. They simply ripped off a 10-0 run and put the game to bed.
The Big Picture for the Big 12
So, where does this leave us? Iowa State finally has a blemish on its record, which was bound to happen eventually. Welcome to the Big 12, where perfection is a myth. They’re still a great team, but they just learned a hard lesson about preparation and atmosphere. For Kansas (12-5, 2-2 Big 12), the crisis is averted for now. They looked like a team that remembered they are Kansas.
They played with pace, they played with anger, and they played with a healthy-ish superstar. If they can keep Peterson upright and keep shooting like this, the rest of the conference might want to start worrying again. Reports of the Jayhawks’ demise, it turns out, were greatly exaggerated.
