Cole Aldrich ties season high with 19 points, No. 3 Kansas cruises past Iowa State 84-61

No. 3 Kansas rolls past Iowa State 84-61

AMES, Iowa — Cole Aldrich tied a season high with 19 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, and No. 3 Kansas cruised past Iowa State 84-61 on Saturday for its fourth straight win.

Marcus Morris added 16 for the Jayhawks (18-1), who are off to their third straight 4-0 start in Big 12 play — with three of those wins by double digits.

Kansas had little trouble with the depleted Cyclones. The Jayhawks closed the first half on a 25-11 run and extended its lead to as much as 67-45 midway through the second half.

Kansas forced 17 turnovers and held Craig Brackins, who torched them for 42 points in Ames last season, to just 13 on 5-of-13 shooting

Marquis Gilstrap had 18 points and 12 rebounds to lead Iowa State (12-7, 1-3), which dropped its ninth straight to Kansas and its 17th straight to ranked opponents dating to 2006.

Iowa State, which is down to just eight scholarship players, saw their hopes for a second-half comeback dashed in a hurry.

Center Justin Hamilton — one of four available post players for the Cyclones — picked up his fourth foul less than a minute in, and Aldrich’s bank shot from the top of the key put Kansas ahead 50-32 with 15:59 left. Morris pushed the Jayhawks’ lead to 69-49 with a layup with 8:09 left, and it wasn’t long before many in the sellout crowd started headed for the exits.

The Jayhawks destroyed Iowa State inside behind Aldrich and Morris, outscoring them 50-24 in the paint.

Kansas set the early tone with eight points in the first 1:46, forcing Iowa State to call a quick timeout. The Cyclones bounced back and took a 14-13 lead, but the Jayhawks answered with a 17-4 run to jump comfortably ahead. Aldrich capped the spurt with a textbook turnaround jumper and a 10-footer to give the Jayhawks a 30-18 lead.

Kansas held the Cyclones to one field goal in the final 8:40 of the first half and led 38-25 at the break — despite hitting just one of their first 10 3-point tries.

Gilstrap brought the crowd to its feet with a powerful slam over Aldrich and a post-dunk flex with about 15 minutes left, but that was about the only highlight for the Cyclones.

The loss closes out a trying week for Iowa State, whose slim hopes for an NCAA tournament bid in coach Greg McDermott’s fourth season keep shrinking.

Junior guard Lucca Staiger, the team’s third-leading scorer and its top 3-point threat, stunned the team by announcing Tuesday that he was leaving the program to play professionally in his native Germany.

The move angered Iowa State fans — one held up a sign on Saturday reading “Thanks For Nothing, Lucca!” — and forced McDermott to lift a suspension on freshman Chris Colvin much earlier than he wanted.

The buzz surrounding Kansas this week swirled around sophomore Tyshawn Taylor and his Facebook page.

Shortly after Internet rumors began flying Wednesday night that Taylor had indicated on Facebook he might want to leave the Jayhawks, the page was taken down. Coach Bill Self shot down reports of Taylor possibly wanting to leave the program on Friday — though he acknowledged that Taylor was frustrated with his role on the loaded Jayhawks.

Brady Morningstar started over Taylor for the second straight game, scoring seven points and grabbing seven boards. Taylor didn’t check in until midway through the first half but had seven points and five rebounds in just 13 minutes.