Kansas

Iowa State basketball: 3 takeaways from the Cyclones’ revenge win vs. Kansas State

Published

9 months ago

March 9, 2025

Iowa State basketball: 3 takeaways from the Cyclones’ revenge win vs. Kansas State

MANHATTAN, Kan. − With Iowa State basketball’s regular season concluded, all eyes are now on the Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City.

Before the action tips off, let’s take one final look at the end of the regular season and Iowa State’s 73-57 win over Kansas State on Saturday at Bramlage Coliseum.

The Cyclones will be the 5-seed in the Big 12 Tournament. They finished the regular season with a 23-8 record and 13-7 in Big 12 Conference play.

Curtis Jones led the way Saturday with 24 points, five boards, five assists and two steals. Joshua Jefferson had 14 points, seven rebounds and two steals, while Dishon Jackson added 11 points, four boards, three steals and a block.

Here are three takeaways from Saturday’s win:

Iowa State basketball’s role reversal of the Feb. 1 loss to Kansas State

The Wildcats left the Hilton Coliseum crowd speechless when they upset the Cyclones and broke their long 29-game winning streak at home last month. Kansas State had been struggling at the time and entered that contest without a single road win. The Wildcats won convincingly during the 19-point upset.

Iowa State came with a renewed effort on Saturday after losing three of its last four games.

The Cyclones won in crucial margins of the game in which the Wildcats previously bested them.

They forced 17 Kansas State turnovers, which they converted into 22 points on the opposite end. Iowa State trimmed its turnovers down to 11 for the game.

Offensively, Iowa State was more efficient, shooting 47.1% overall and 35.0% from deep, while Kansas State shot just 37.7% and a meager 2-for-21 (9.5%) from long range.

The Cyclones started strong once again and never let the Wildcats get back in it, unlike their previous showdown, and ended up winning in wire-to-wire fashion.

Kansas State did outrebound them, 32-30, but it was a better rebounding margin than the 10-board difference the Wildcats had in the first meeting.

They also limited the Wildcats to just eight second-chance points after they piled up 21 second-chance points and 14 offensive rebounds in the earlier meeting.

These were all key ingredients in helping Iowa State finish the regular season on a high note and spoil Kansas State’s senior day.

“Today, the pride kicked in − the pride on the front of the jersey, but for a lot of guys, the pride on the back of their jersey as well,” said Iowa State coach T.J. Otzelberger. “Playing for their name, their family, the work that they put in is important as well, and so I thought both of those playing for the name on the front and the back was present in our pride today.”

Cyclones allow defense to fuel the rest of their play

For a team that’s recently allowed offensive lulls to impact defensive execution, the Cyclones were consistently more physical and tuned in on the defensive end throughout Saturday’s game.

In the previous meeting, the Wildcats shot 10-of-20 (50.0%) from beyond the arc and 44.8% overall − the fifth-highest shooting percentage by a Big 12 opponent this season.

Outside of a few short-lived spurts, Kansas State never seemed comfortable on offense.

“Our physicality and our urgency to get stops,” Jefferson said. “We did a much better job sprinting back, stopping the ball and keeping them out of the paint. I thought that was a big difference in how we were approaching the game.”

Iowa State’s ability to feast off turnovers emerged once again.

“Those are big plays for us,” Otzelberger said. “We take a lot of pride defensively and being able to generate turnovers with our ball pressure and our rotations, being in gaps and our guys had a really good focus in that area. You get those points in transition, we had 22 points off those turnovers and we win that margin by 16 − that’s the difference in the game.

“We’ve got to continue to be that team every single night out. When we will and when we do that, we’ll be successful.”

Now it will be a matter of maintaining that consistency on the defensive end moving forward in the postseason.

“We’ve seen what our team can do when we’re playing well,” Otzelberger said. “We talk all the time about wanting to be at our best and that hasn’t happened yet. In order for it to happen, you just got to stack days.”

Keshon Gilbert missed Saturday’s game, but expected to be good for Big 12 tournament

Shortly before tip-off, the Register’s Travis Hines reported that the Cyclones would be playing Saturday’s game without Keshon Gilbert due to a muscle strain.

Gilbert is Iowa State’s second-highest scorer, averaging 13.8 points per game. He is also averaging 3.6 rebounds, a team-high 4.3 assists and is one of the Cyclones’ top defenders.

The 6-foot-4 senior played in the Cyclones’ double-overtime loss to BYU on Tuesday, logging 13 points, three rebounds, eight steals, two blocks and three turnovers.

He also played in Iowa State’s win over Arizona on March 1, but he was previously sidelined with a muscle strain for road losses at Houston (Feb. 22) and Oklahoma State (Feb. 25).

Otzelberger expects that Gilbert will be good to go for the Big 12 Tournament.

“He and I just talked in the locker room after (Saturday’s game) about him attacking practice on Monday morning, getting back after it,” Otzelberger said. “Our focus is to get him back on the practice court on Monday, him having a great practice, carry that over to Tuesday and then lead into the game Wednesday.”

Eugene Rapay covers Iowa State athletics for the Des Moines Register. Contact Eugene at erapay@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @erapay5.

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Kansas

High winds and reduced visibility close I-70 in western Kansas

Published

11 hours ago

December 18, 2025

Press Room

High winds and reduced visibility close I-70 in western Kansas

High winds caused the closure of Interstate 70 in Kansas.

According to the Kansas Department of Transportation, just after 11 a.m. on Dec. 18, I-70 was closed between the Colorado state line and US-83 highway, just east of Colby, after blowing dust caused reduced visibility.

Earlier that day, the National Weather Service in Goodland issued a High Wind Warning for several counties in the area until 6 p.m., with a Blowing Dust Warning issued until 3 p.m.

The NWS said severely limited visibilities are expected and travel in the area was dangerous and possibly life-threatening. The service cautioned that high winds also could move loose debris, damage property and cause power outages.

Precautionary and preparedness actions for this type of weather include to be ready for a sudden drop in visibility as plumes of blowing dust will create pockets of it. Those encountering blowing dust or sand on the roadway are advised to pull off the road as far as possible and put the vehicle in park, turning lights all the way off and keeping the foot off the brake pedal.

According to NWS, winds this strong make driving difficult, particularly for high profile vehicles and caution is advised if driving is necessary.

Finally, wind and dust could make for poor air quality, causing issues for people with respiratory problems.

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Kansas

Kansas veteran makes her mother proud before retiring to lay her to rest

Published

23 hours ago

December 18, 2025

Press Room

Kansas veteran makes her mother proud before retiring to lay her to rest

WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) – After figuring out that a career in nursing wasn’t for her, Oklahoma City native Rain’a Arnold found a new path with the Air Force. She learned to manage airmen by specializing in administration and personnel, and had the good fortune of first being stationed in her hometown at Tinker Air Force Base.

“I’m the only child, and it was just my mom taking care of me, so I was like, ‘I need to get back home, so let’s make this happen,’ so I was very happy to get my first choice,” she said.

Arnold said her time at Tinker consisted of helping airmen learn their assignments, do evaluations, receive awards and decorations, and process their ID cards.

After six or seven years, Arnold was transferred to Keesler Air Force Base in Mississippi, where she took on a new role: resilience training, which helps airmen adjust back to civilian life.

“It kind of opened up my eyes to let other airmen know that, ‘Hey, you are not the only one going through that.’ A lot of airmen thought that nobody knows what they’re feeling and they need to turn to suicide or something like that,” she said.

After her time at Keesler, Arnold was sent to Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom, and while she wasn’t on the battlefield, the skills she learned in Mississippi helped her understand and assist fellow airmen dealing with stress, pressure, and other emotions as they battled Al-Qaeda.

“There’s a higher scale of anxiety, aggression, depression, the whole nine yards, and there’s no time to play around or joke around,” she said.

Following Afghanistan, Arnold’s final stop of her active duty career was McConnell Air Force Base. This time around, she was doing admin work for the maintenance squadron.

In 2023, after 16 years of service, Arnold decided to retire early as a Master Sergeant and with good cause.

“My mom got sick, and she only had six months to live, so I had to decide how I wanted to do this,” she said.

Arnold says she made the right call and cherishes the time she spent with her mother before her passing.

Courtesy: Rain’a Arnold
Courtesy: Rain’a Arnold
Courtesy: Rain’a Arnold

Arnold then moved to Derby and found a job in human resources, which she says is right up her alley due to all her Air Force training.

“Being a veteran in Wichita is awesome! It’s wonderful. I get so much praise that I wouldn’t have even expected. You don’t see color. You don’t see anything. They are very nice to their veterans here, to their military members. Definitely, Wichita is a place to come live if you are a veteran,” she said.

If you want to nominate a veteran for our Veteran Salute, send an email to connect3news@ksn.com or fill out our online nomination form!

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Kansas

Ottawa, Kansas, offers $6,000 cash to attract new residents to the small town

Published

2 days ago

December 16, 2025

Press Room

Ottawa, Kansas, offers ,000 cash to attract new residents to the small town

KSHB 41 reporter Olivia Acree covers portions of Johnson County, Kansas. Share your story idea with Olivia.

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Would $6,000 entice you to move? If it does, consider Ottawa, Kansas.

The small town is rolling out the red carpet for potential new residents with a $6,000 cash incentive as part of the state’s first-ever relocation program.

Rural Kansas county will give you $6K to move to small town

Basically, the program is using $3 million in state funding to help local communities create “please move here” packages.

“Our community is really ready and primed to be able to grow. And hopefully this program allows the degree to kind of jump start that,” said Ryland Miller, Ottawa Chamber of Commerce president.

KSHB

Ryland Miller

There are just a few requirements to apply. Applicants must be from outside the state, have a job secured before moving and maintain a household income of at least $55,000.

Here’s the link to learn more.

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