Kansas outhustled in first road loss

Bill Self found exactly what he expected at Iowa State's Hilton Coliseum.

The place was packed, the atmosphere electric, the opponent determined. It was the most hostile environment his fifth-ranked Jayhawks had faced this season.

So how did they respond?

"Not well, obviously," the Kansas coach said after his team's 72-64 loss on Saturday.

"But I think Iowa State had a lot to do with that," he added.

Kansas (17-4, 7-1 Big 12) lost for the first time on an opponent's court this season and two numbers stood out for Self and his players: Iowa State had 36 rebounds, Kansas 23. Eleven of the Cyclones' rebounds came on the offensive end against a team that's leading the conference in rebounding margin.

"The reason they got us on the boards was I thought they outmanned us," Self said. "When your guards combine for four rebounds in the game and (the Cyclones) shoot long shots, that's a bad sign."

But even with Iowa State dominating the glass and even with Thomas Robinson having a rough game -- 5-for-11 shooting, five turnovers -- the Jayhawks hit their first six shots in the second half to open a 47-41 lead. They just couldn't sustain it.

Iowa State (15-6, 5-3) inched ahead midway through the second half, then turned things over to Royce White, a 6-foot-8, 270-pound matchup nightmare. White, who had hurt the Jayhawks earlier with sharp passes to the Iowa State shooters, scored eight straight ISU points to help the Cyclones build a five-point lead with under two minutes play, enough of a cushion to hold on.

"They've got their own kind of identity because Royce White is a matchup problem," Kansas' Tyshawn Taylor said. "You're not going to find too many guys his size with his skill level being able to do the things he does, with four or five guys that can shoot the ball around him. I think they're a really good team just because they create so many matchup problems."

White led Iowa State with 18 points, nine rebounds and five assists. All five Kansas starters scored in double figures, led by Taylor with 16 and Robinson with 10. But the Jayhawks got only five points from the reserves and Self saw his players constantly getting outhustled to loose balls.

"Our team's pretty good if we get 70 percent of the 50-50 balls," he said. "If we don't, we're not very good. We get average real fast. And obviously we didn't steal any extra possessions today. Iowa State was much quicker to the ball than us."

White, a 39 percent free thrower shooter in Big 12 games, hit a pair to put Iowa State up 64-59 with 1:47 left. Kansas then threw the ball away and Chris Babb drained a 3 to give the Cyclones an eight-point lead with 55.6 seconds left.