KU's 10th tourney title would exceed rest of the Big 12 combined
Iowa State upset Kansas on its way to a conference tournament title last year. Once again the top seed, the Jayhawks are looking to return the favor.
Ninth-ranked Kansas will try to eclipse the rest of the Big 12 by winning a 10th tournament championship against the No. 13 Cyclones on Saturday.
The Jayhawks (26-7) remain a force in the conference, winning 11 straight regular-season titles, while their nine tournament championships equal every other team combined.
Kansas, though, fell short of adding another last year, losing 94-83 to Iowa State in the semifinals before the Cyclones went on to beat Baylor 74-65 for their second crown.
The Jayhawks are willing to go to any lengths to avenge that loss. They certainly did that Friday, holding the No. 16 Bears to their fewest points this season in a 62-52 win.
Coach Bill Self made no excuses for instructing his team to muck up the game.
"I think sometimes when it's not very artistic, people say, 'You didn't play well,'" Self said. "But if we played a pretty game with Baylor, they would have beat our butts. I think it was more of a good defensive energy, rebounding-type effort, which is the formula for winning in the NCAA Tournament."
Kansas split two earlier meetings with Iowa State (24-8), but didn't need to resort to that bruising style in an 89-76 win Feb. 2, shooting 50.8 percent overall and hitting 15 of 23 from 3-point range.
Perry Ellis is averaging 21.5 points on 62.7 percent shooting in his last four meetings with the Cyclones. He was outstanding in last year's tournament matchup, missing just one of his 12 shots and finishing with 30 points.
The junior forward had a bit of a scare Friday, limping off and exiting for good late in the game. He had missed the previous two games with a knee injury.
"I could have put him back in late," Self said, "but I thought we had the game."
Wayne Selden Jr. was a major reason for that, scoring 20 points to go with a career-high eight rebounds. The sophomore guard also reached that point total against Iowa State last month, connecting on five of seven from beyond the arc.
While a win would give Kansas its first tournament title since 2013, it would also improve its case to be a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
The Cyclones are looking to spoil things again.
"It's an exciting feeling, especially knowing that we got a chance to win the Big 12 tournament championship," forward Jameel McKay said.
Iowa State may be improving its potential seeding for the NCAAs thanks to some impressive comebacks - and a bit of good fortune. The Cyclones rallied from a double-digit deficit for a fourth straight game Friday before 15th-ranked Oklahoma missed an uncontested layup at the buzzer to hand them a 67-65 victory.
"The comeback kids strike again? No, we believe in each other and have the will and the fight to keep fighting until the clock hits zero," forward Georges Niang said.
"I'm not saying being down double digits for those last couple of games is a good thing. Obviously, we need to get things in check, but there is no quit in this team and that's the biggest thing we need."
Niang led the Cyclones with 13 points and pulled down eight boards against the Sooners. He's averaging 22.0 while hitting 10 of 22 3s in his last four games against Kansas and scored 25 in last season's semifinal.
