AMES, Iowa – A young Iowa State team did something that very few teams have been able to do this season, and ran with Kansas for a full 40 minutes plus an additional five.

The Jayhawks escaped overtime with a 68-64 victory after being stretched defensively by the Cyclones.

“They are a pretty good defensive team, and did a good job inside,” junior forward Sasha Kaun said.

Iowa State’s goal was to cut off the passing lanes between the Kansas guards and big men. They worked to eliminate the angles that guards Mario Chalmers and Russell Robinson would usually pass through.

“I had to fake a pass, and they usually went for it. Then I could wrap around them,” Chalmers said.

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No. 6 Kansas vs. Iowa State

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When it came down to crunch time, though, one player stepped up and carried the Jayhawks to victory.

Brandon Rush hit a three-pointer to tie the game at the end of regulation, then had a pair of dunks that helped Kansas take charge in overtime.

“That’s what good players do,” coach Bill Self said. “They step up and make shots when it counts.”

Rush’s biggest contribution, though, may have come on defense. For the final six minutes of the game and overtime, he switched his defensive assignment to guard Iowa State’s Mike Taylor, who was the game’s leading scorer. Rush shut him down and prevented an Iowa State rally.

“Brandon is one of the best defenders one-on-one, especially late in the game,” Kaun said.

Self explained that he didn’t want Rush to have to match up with a guard for an entire game of running, especially because he usually plays the most minutes of anyone on the team – 39 on Saturday.

The Jayhawks move to 2-0 in conference play with the victory, and will now prepare for a Monday night showdown with Missouri in Lawrence.

“We’re all excited to play Missouri, and it will be exciting to see how we handle the pressure,” Self said.

Missouri coach Mike Anderson will bring his “40 minutes of hell” style of basketball to Lawrence for the first time since being named the Tigers coach. Tipoff is at 8 p.m. and the game will be televised nationally.

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The Jayhawks held the ball for the final shot of regulation, which would have won the game. The play was drawn up to go to Mario Chalmers, but the best Chalmers could manage was a long three as time expired. “If the shot had gone in we all would have been happy,” Self said, “But it wasn’t what we wanted to do.”

Saturday’s game was the first – and probably will be the only – time this season that Kansas did not have a dunk during regulation. In overtime, Rush threw down an alley-oop and then had a solo effort that put the Jayhawks up for good.

Iowa State’s first year coach Gred McDermott is going to be a hot commodity very soon. Within the course of a few months he has recruited his team, taught them to play smart basketball and turned them into a group of young players that can be competitive in the Big 12 every night.

Sasha Kaun played only seven minutes in the first half and turned the ball over four times before the first timeout. Things were so bad that toward the end of the first half the Ames crowd was chanting, “We want Sasha.” He said after the game that he didn’t hear the chant. He was able to put that behind him in the second half and finished as the Jayhawks’ leading scorer by avoiding what he described as “stupid fouls.”

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