KU basketball vs. Iowa State recap: Jayhawks lose 68-53 in Big 12 Conference game

AMES, Iowa — Kansas men’s basketball’s 2022-23 regular season continued Saturday with a road matchup against Iowa State.

The No. 8 Jayhawks came in after a win at home against No. 6 Kansas State. The No. 13 Cyclones came in after a loss on the road against Texas Tech. Last season, Kansas topped Iowa State in both games — home and away — the two sides play against each other.

Was coach Bill Self’s Jayhawks’ squad able to pull off another regular season sweep of the Cyclones? Was coach T.J. Otzelberger’s Iowa State squad able to pull off an upset? Both teams are in contention for a Big 12 regular season crown.

Here's what's happened inside Hilton Coliseum:

FINAL: Iowa State 68, Kansas 53

Iowa State leads 65-50 against Kansas with 3:48 left in 2nd half

This is probably a situation in which Kansas would want to start to think about resting some guys soon, with a game coming up so soon. But the Jayhawks have so many players hurt it's hard to just empty the bench like that. Some starters are going to have to stay in longer than they should, most likely.

The second half has been relatively even so far, in terms of points scored, but with the lead Iowa State built up in the first half that isn't going to cut it. The Cyclones have even extended their halftime lead to this point. And Kansas is about to run out of time.

Iowa State leads 54-36 against Kansas with 10:08 left in 2nd half

This is Iowa State's largest lead of the game. The Cyclones are up 18 points with about 10 minutes regulation. And after this latest bucket, Bill Self called another timeout.

Kansas' bench will need to step up, especially now. The lineup Self is going with out of this break includes Bobby Pettiford Jr. and Joseph Yesufu. Both Gradey Dick and Kevin McCullar Jr. are on the bench.

Iowa State leads 47-34 against Kansas with 11:43 left in 2nd half

The Jayhawks need to make a run soon, or they're not going to have enough time to make a comeback. Kansas hasn't hit a field goal in more than four minutes. And it's allowed Iowa State to take a commanding lead.

Kevin McCullar Jr. is now up to four fouls, too, for the Jayhawks. It'll be interesting when Bill Self feels comfortable enough to put him back in. McCullar has fouled out three previous times this season.

Iowa State leads 42-31 against Kansas with 14:49 left in 2nd half

Kansas is very quickly down 11 points, and this is looking like a potential rout again. Iowa State is on a 6-0 run. The building's rocking.

One sequence that showed why the Jayhawks are in this position, was off a missed free throw. Instead of corralling the rebound, the Cyclones were able to get possession. And then Iowa State hit a 3-pointer.

Iowa State leads 36-31 against Kansas with 15:49 left in 2nd half

Kansas is on an 8-0 run, and trails by just five points early in the second half after trailing by as many as 13 not too long ago. Iowa State hasn't scored in almost three minutes. And while the momentum is still with the home side, the visitors have certainly ensured this game no longer looks like this will be a rout.

Jalen Wilson leads the Jayhawks with 16 points. No other Kansas player has more than six points. Without him, the Jayhawks would be in serious trouble.

It does not appear Zach Clemence will play again today

HALFTIME: Iowa State 33, Kansas 21

Iowa State leads 26-18 against Kansas with 4:22 left in 1st half

Kansas' depth may have just taken another hit, as Zach Clemence appeared to hurt his knee just now while going for a block defensively. The Jayhawks already came into the game without three scholarship players available in Kyle Cuffe Jr., Zuby Ejiofor and Cam Martin, two of whom are bigs like Clemence. Kansas can't afford to keep having this happen.

In the game, the Jayhawks trail by eight points. The Cyclones have all the momentum. And it doesn't look like that will change any time soon the way Kansas is playing.

Iowa State leads 17-13 against Kansas with 7:53 left in 1st half

Kansas has a couple players in early foul trouble, as both Kevin McCullar Jr. and Ernest Udeh Jr. have two fouls. It's led to more first half minutes for Joseph Yesufu and Bobby Pettiford Jr. than Bill Self probably anticipated. And it's been one aspect of what's been an underwhelming first half for the Jayhawks.

Still, though, Kansas is only down a couple possessions. The Jayhawks have Jalen Wilson to thank for that, in large part. He's nailed a few 3s to keep Kansas in it offensively.

Iowa State leads 13-8 against Kansas with 11:52 left in 1st half

The Jayhawks are still trailing a little more than eight minutes into this game. So far, they're shooting 25% from the field and 28.6% from behind the arc. And they have no second chance points or bench points.

The Cyclones are dominating in the paint, and are out-scoring the visitors 10-2 there. Six different Iowa State players have hit a shot. And overall they're shooting 50% from the field even though they have missed both of their attempts from behind the arc.

Iowa State leads 9-3 against Kansas with 16:42 left in 1st half

The Jayhawks are struggling to hit shots early, and trail by six points with a little less than 17 minutes left in the first half. Kevin McCullar Jr. just recently air-balled a 3-pointer long, as an example of that. And after another Cyclones bucket, Bill Self has called a timeout.

Kansas needs to keep doing what it's doing offensively, and just have faith the shots are going to start falling. Defensively, though, they need to be more physical. Iowa State is getting want it wants too easily at this point.

Here are the starters

The game is underway

Iowa State won the opening tip.

No surprises in who's available for Kansas

Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He is the National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas for 2022. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: KU basketball vs. Iowa State live updates: Follow this Big 12 matchup