ISU beats Kansas 72-70

[YCN]

In a game that came right down to the wire. Two games, two Cyclone heart attack games.

[cyfanatic]

Glad to see we were able to pull a close one out at the end!

[two cents]

Yeah, getting that bugaboo out of the way early could be pretty important.

[Jimi]

They may be 0-2 but I don't think KU is the kind of team they were last year. I am not surprised they gave a good fight. If they don't lose heart they are not going to be an easy win for conference teams. Good job Clones.

[dem]

Should probably be mentioned (though I would prefer not to) that Kansas destroyed Iowa State on the boards, with a 43-24 rebounding margin. This was ISU's worst rebounding deficit in seven years. Iowa State's surprising edge in turnovers (13-20)was one of the keys to keeping the game as close as it was, allowing the Cyclones to pull it out at the end.

[two cents]

That is unfortunate, dem. I commented on Iowa State's rebounding woes early in non-conference play, but I hadn't checked to see if they persisted. I see the Cyclones held their own against Colorado, but then the Buffaloes got blasted on the boards by Kansas State (27/43). This does enhance the Jayhawks' prospects this season, and pinpoints problems that ISU and CU must solve quickly if they expect to be successful.

[mred]

Originally posted by dem:
Should probably be mentioned (though I would prefer not to) that Kansas destroyed Iowa State on the boards, with a 43-24 rebounding margin. This was ISU's worst rebounding deficit in seven years. Iowa State's surprising edge in turnovers (13-20)was one of the keys to keeping the game as close as it was, allowing the Cyclones to pull it out at the end.

I never thought I'd see the day where an ISU team won the turnover battle against a Marian Washington KU team.

Gahan and Welle provided a lot of offense for ISU (a combined 35.4 ppg last season), but I think the rebounding ability the two players had (a combined 18.9 rpg) may be missed even more.

[FeFiFoFum]

KU has several players that rebound well, particularly Fr Tamara Ransburg and Crystal Kemp. Ransburg is a skinny tall thing, but she seems to be everywhere when it comes to the boards. Kemp is a wider body and uses her booty to muscle in. What's also surprising is that our guards are also rebound hounds..Burras consistently gets her fair share. I was glad to see that KU's shooting % increased in the second half (I think it was 48% or something) and we were able to knock some 3's down. As for turnovers, that's been trouble for us all season long. Chalk it up to youth and players getting used to playing with each other. Getting our ballhandling down is key and keeping up the shot selection is going to help. Although they didn't get the W this time, I think they're going to get it together enough to sneak in and give B12 some trouble.