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Taylor, No. 10 Kansas get past Iowa State

Jan 15, 2012 - 12:56 AM Lawrence, KS (Sports Network) - Tyshawn Taylor's all-around performance of 28 points, six assists and four steals helped No. 10 Kansas pull out an 82-73 victory against Iowa State.

Thomas Robinson ended with 11 points and 14 rebounds for the Jayhawks (14-3, 4-0 Big 12), who trailed by double digits multiple times during Saturday's contest, but battled back to win their seventh in a row.

"We didn't guard them in the first half. Of course, their bigs made four threes in the first half," Kansas coach Bill Self said. "It's hard to guard when their bigs are shooting like that because you have to pressure out on everybody else so much. I thought we did some nice things defensively in the second half."

They also remained tied atop the conference standings with fourth-ranked Baylor, which routed Oklahoma State earlier Saturday, by a 106-65 margin.

Kansas will host Baylor in a blockbuster matchup Monday night.

Royce White recorded 18 points and 17 boards for the Cyclones (12-5, 2-2), who have lost two straight after winning seven in a row.

The Cyclones got the jump on the Jayhawks by beginning the game with threes by White and Melvin Ejim, and were up 17-7 after scoring 11 consecutive points. Chris Allen and Anthony Booker drained back-to-back threes during the run.

Kansas followed with 11 of the next 13 points, but Iowa State pulled away again. By the time Booker drilled a three with 5:26 left, the Cyclones' lead stood at 37-27.

A similar set of runs occurred around halftime. Kansas pulled within three at the break, 43-40, but Iowa State began the second half with nine consecutive points. White's tip-in pushed the Cyclones' lead to a game-high 52-40 three minutes into the period.

"We went to a new offense today and I'm sure they hadn't scouted it since it was our first game running it," White said. "The point of the offense is to keep the spacing wide and high - and I think we did a pretty good job of that throughout the whole game."

But Kansas battled back once more, and this time it was for good. It pulled within 52-47 when Elijah Johnson and Taylor made buckets on consecutive possessions, and tied the game at 59 with 11:18 to play. Jeff Withey converted a three-point play, and Taylor knocked down a shot from beyond the arc to even the contest.

It was the first time Kansas wasn't trailing since the opening minutes of the game, and the Jayhawks took their second lead of the contest moments later when Kevin Young hit a jumper.

The shot was part of an 11-0 run that Taylor ended with a layup, making it a 70-61 contest with 8:29 to go.

Kansas didn't trail again, thanks in part to the fact that the Cyclones didn't score during a pivotal stretch. After they pulled within two on Ejim's jumper with 6:37 left, the Cyclones scored only one point for the next five-plus minutes.

That allowed Kansas to build a 78-71 lead, and the Jayhawks connected on 4- of-7 foul shots in the final minute to secure the win.

Game Notes

Allen finished with 17 points for Iowa State, while Ejim ended with 12...Withey had 13 points and 11 rebounds for Kansas, while Johnson netted 12 points...Iowa State shot 35.8 percent...Kansas scored 20 points off 16 ISU turnovers...The Jayhawks made only 12-of-24 free throws.