KU's Collins Hits 1,000 Career Points, Leads Jayhawks Past Iowa State
Jan. 24, 2009
AMES, Iowa – Junior Sherron Collins matched his career-high with 26 points to help lead KU over Iowa State, 82-67, in men’s basketball action Saturday afternoon at the Hilton Coliseum. He became the 51st player in KU history to reach the 1,000 career point milestone. He entered the game with 999 points.
KU finished with four players in double figures as it improved to 15-4 overall and a perfect 4-0 in Big 12 games. ISU dropped to 12-7 on the season and 1-3 in league play.
Iowa State’s Craig Brackins scored 42 points for the Cyclones, finishing one point shy of a Big 12 Conference record. It was the most points by a KU opponent since Oklahoma State’s Randy Rutherford scored 45 points against KU on March 5, 1995. It was also the seventh-most points ever scored against the Jayhawks.
With a 44-38 lead entering the second half, Kansas extended its advantage to 14 points with a 10-2 run over a three minute span capped by a Cole Aldrich jumper at the 15 minute mark. A couple more buckets by Aldrich and a two-pointer from Markieff Morris gave the Jayhawks their largest lead of the game at 17 points with just 11 minutes left in the game.
Iowa State didn’t let up, answering back with a 13-2 run to cut its deficit to just six points at 66-60 and 6:33 left on the clock. Aldrich stopped the Cyclones’ momentum with a dunk on KU’s next trip down the court and with that, ISU never got closer than eight points as the Cyclones were forced to foul and send KU to the free throw line.
Aldrich scored 12 of his 16 points in the final 20 minutes of the game, while adding a team-high 12 rebounds for his 11th double-double of the season.
Sophomore Tyrel Reed and freshman Tyshawn Taylor were next in scoring for the Jayhawks chipping in 10 points a piece. Mario Little and Brady Morningstar were just shy of the double-digit mark as they each had nine points in the effort.
Little finished 4-for-4 from the field and has made 11 straight shots dating back to the 18:12 mark of the second half against Kansas State on Jan. 13.
Kansas hit 50.8 percent of its shots from the field (31-of-61) during the contest, the highest shooting percentage of an Iowa State opponent this season.
During the first half, Kansas hit three of its first four shots, including a pair of three-pointers from Collins, to open the game with an 8-0 run.
Iowa State whittled its deficit down to four points on several occasions, including twice in the last minute and a half, but Morningstar was able to grab an offensive rebound in the final seconds of the half and hit a shot at the buzzer to give KU a 44-38 lead at halftime.
Kansas continues its conference road trip at Nebraska on Wednesday, Jan. 28. Tip time from the Devaney Center is set for 6:30 p.m. and the game will be televised on ESPN2.
