Three Takeaways: Kansas downs Iowa State in Big 12 Semifinals.

Yesterday's win over the Cyclones showed another set of options that the Jayhawks have to win against tough competition.

The Kansas Jayhawks have advanced to the Big 12 Championship finals thanks to a drubbing of the Iowa State Cyclones in the semifinals. Kevin McCullar left before halftime and did not return, but there were plenty of things that we learned in yesterday's victory:

The best offense is a good defense.

Flipping the famous saying on its head, the Jayhawks showed against Iowa State why Bill Self has always taken such pride in the defense that his team plays. Under Self, the Jayhawks have only ended the season with their defense ranked outside the Top 25 once.

And the Jayhawks used that defense to their advantage today, scoring 25 points off of 22 Cyclone turnovers. And it was clear after the game just how much pride they take in that defense. Jalen Wilson noted that Dajuan Harris "had a tough assignment, and to carry that out and also be the floor general that he is, that is a tough assignment." And he had a great defensive game, holding Gabe Kalscheur to just 3-12 shooting and 8 points without being called for a single foul.

The Jayhawks have turned their defense into offense all year long, and tonight was the perfect example of just how deadly it was.

This team is just so dang resilient.

Coming out of half, the Jayhawks saw the halftime lead start to slip away. But when Iowa State finally took the lead, they only held it for 18 total seconds. The Jayhawks started a 13-4 run to take a commanding lead and never looked back the rest of the way.

I asked interim coach Norm Roberts what he said to the team as Iowa State was making their run. "We knew they were going to make a run, they're too good not to. So they are going to make shots." He went on to talk about difficult the league has been, but how they have been able to prepare for those tough spots all season long. 

Udeh to the rescue

A big part of the run that the Jayhawks had to take control of the game came at the hands of backup center Ernest Udeh. In just over a thirty second span, he had a block, scored on an alleyoop dunk, then stole the ball and got fouled taking it to the hoop.  He sank both free throws, and both the crowd and the team was re-energized.

Udeh wasn't the only one, as MJ Rice and Joseph Yesufu both had big moments, but Ernest was the best example of a bench player stepping up in a critical moment. Especially as Kevin McCullar deals with a nagging back injury, these types of contributions will be the difference between a close loss and a close win.

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