ISU basketball: No. 2 Kansas awaits with mystique on its side | DesMoinesRegister.com | The Des Moines Register
Lawrence, Kan. - Hundreds of Big 12 Conference basketball players have never left Allen Fieldhouse on the winning end of a final score.
Since the conference was formed in 1996-97, Kansas has an 82-7 record at home.
Iowa State's Rahshon Clark is in the minority. He was a freshman in 2004-05 when the Cyclones knocked off the No. 2 Jayhawks in overtime, 63-61, on Curtis Stinson's buzzer-beater.
"That was a great feeling,'' said Clark, who scored eight points and grabbed 10 rebounds in that game. "One of the best feelings I've ever had.''
That 2005 victory is the last time Iowa State has defeated a ranked opponent on the road. The Cyclones have another chance today when they play No. 2 Kansas.
Clark, now a senior, could get a bookend memory in a nationally televised game.
'"That would be great,'' he said.
Iowa State owns three of those seven Big 12 victories in Allen Fieldhouse, also winning in 2000 and 2001. Missouri, Nebraska, Texas A&M and Kansas State have won there once since the league merged members of the Big 12 and Southwestern conferences.
Kansas has had many good teams during that time. And some great ones. This year's edition (18-0) looks to be one of the latter.
"They're as good as any team in the country,'' Iowa State coach Greg McDermott said. "The more you watch them, the more you appreciate how good they are, how complete they are and how balanced they are.''
Kansas coach Bill Self lost just one player, Julian Wright, off a team that finished 33-5, won the Big 12 regular-season and tournament titles and got within a game of the 2007 Final Four.
"We have really good chemistry now because we're playing seven guys,'' Self said. "Our sixth and seventh (players) are really good.''
Four of five starters - forwards Darrell Arthur and Darnell Jackson and guards Brandon Rush and Mario Chalmers - are averaging between 11.8 and 13.2 points a game.
Russell Robinson is the other starter in the three-guard offense, with center Sasha Kaun and guard Sherron Collins first off the bench.
"There's six or seven guys on their team that can get 20 points on any given night,'' McDermott said.
Kansas ranks second nationally in field-goal percentage (.516), third in assists and third in steals. The Jayhawks' average scoring margin of 24.3 points leads the nation.
"A lot of people talk about their offense, but their defense is special as well,'' McDermott said.
Iowa State freshman Craig Brackins will find that out.
"I watched them on TV, and their ball pressure is crazy,'' Brackins said. "They're probably going to be the most physical, in-your-face team we've played all year.''
The Cyclones' Wesley Johnson calls the Kansas defense a half-court version of Missouri's full-court pressure that Iowa State handled well a week ago.
"You have to be ready to catch and pass, and be strong with the ball,'' Johnson said. "If not, they'll take it away from us.''
Add to that the tremendous home-court advantage the Jayhawks have, and Iowa State faces a tall order.
"We have no chance to beat them 90-88,'' McDermott said. "Could we beat them 70-68? Possibly. If it turns into a track meet, with the advantage they have on their home floor and the energy they get from that building, then we're asking for trouble.''
No. 2 Kansas awaits with mystique on its side 
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