In a marquee matchup against Big 12 rival No. 10 Kansas, the newly minted No. 2 team in the country didn’t miss a beat in its first game since grabbing the highest ranking in program history.

The Cyclones defeated the visiting Jayhawks, 74-57, on Wednesday night.

The win extends the Cyclones’ winning streak to 12 straight, which is the longest in the country. They also picked up their 28th straight home win.

Curtis Jones led the way with 25 points, including a 5-of-6 clip from long range, and six rebounds. Dishon Jackson added 17 points off the bench. Joshua Jefferson finished with a 10-point, 12-rebound double-double. Tamin Lipsey also had 10 points. Keshon Gilbert chipped in seven points and eight assists.

Here are three takeaways from Wednesday’s win:

More: Iowa State basketball: Cyclones fend off Kansas in top-10 matchup

Cyclones clamp down on Kansas

Outside of Zeke Mayo’s team-high 17 points, no other Jayhawk scored in double figures.

Even then, Mayo had to work for his 17 points, as he shot 7-of-19 overall and 3-for-9 from long range. The next-highest scorer was Dajuan Harris Jr., who had eight points.

Hunter Dickinson, who entered Wednesday’s game averaging a team-best 15.8 points and 10.5 rebounds, never got into a groove offensively.

Iowa State basketball: TJ Otzelberger on defense against Kansas

Iowa State basketball coach T.J. Otzelberger discusses his team’s rebounding and defense after their 74-57 win over Kansas.

Dickinson tied his season-low scoring output, with six points on 3-of-10 shooting. He also committed four turnovers.

The Cyclones held Kansas to 24-of-59 (40.7%) from the floor and 5-for-16 (31.3%) from deep. They also forced 17 turnovers, which turned into 23 points on the other end.

Although Iowa State finished with a 17-point margin of victory, Kansas made several pushes throughout the second half. The Jayhawks trimmed the Cyclone lead down to three or five points on several occasions.

Iowa State never relinquished the lead over the final 20 minutes though and defense played a big part.

After being bullied on the glass against Texas Tech, the Cyclones returned home with greater urgency and outrebounded Kansas, 43-33.

More: Iowa State basketball vs Kansas score today: Recap, game highlights from Cyclones’ win

“We knew those were going to be both incredibly important areas,” Iowa State coach T.J. Otzelberger said. “Dajuan Harris is a phenomenal guard, lives in the paint and is a great playmaker, so it started with keeping him out of the paint. Then, as they’ve gone with the two bigs lineup, their ability to offensive rebound and be physical in the paint and on the glass were really something that stood out to us.

“Those were two big challenges coming into the game that we knew were going to be difficult, so overall, was proud of our guys for the effort that they gave in those areas because our defense helped fuel our offense.”

Iowa State basketball: Milan Momcilovic injury update from Otzelberger

Iowa State basketball coach T.J. Otzelberger gave an update on Milan Momcilovic, who is sidelined indefinitely with a hand injury.

No Milan Momcilovic? No problem, it’s next-man-up

On Wednesday afternoon, Iowa State announced that sophomore wing Milan Momcilovic would be out indefinitely after sustaining a hand injury in practice.

After the win over Kansas, Otzelberger said that they hope to see Momcilovic evaluated by specialists to confirm a diagnosis and a timeline for return. Early evaluations suggest he could be sidelined for as much as four to six weeks.

More: Milan Momcilovic injury update: ‘Waiting on a specialist to look’ at Iowa State basketball star

Momcilovic’s absence bumped Curtis Jones into the starting five for the first time since the 2024-25 season-opener. Jones made each of his first six shot attempts and racked up 20 of his game-high 25 points in the first half.

Any shot attempt feels like a good one for Jones, especially when he’s been able to hit buckets from well beyond NBA 3-point range or knock down contested shots.

It doesn’t matter if he’s coming off the bench or starting, he’s a threat whenever the ball winds up in his hands.

“I just want to play a lot of minutes and win games,” Jones said. “I could do that both ways, with starting or coming off the bench. I guess it made a difference, but really − I was just doing the same thing I feel like I would do if I came off the bench.”

Momcilovic’s injury also opened up a spot in Iowa State’s eight-man rotation, which gave junior Demarion Watson an opportunity Wednesday.

The 6-foot-7 reserve hadn’t played since the Dec. 15 game against Omaha and was depended on to give minutes off the bench against a top-10 opponent.

Watson only scored one point, with one attempted shot throughout his 10 minutes of action. But he was active on the glass, grabbing five boards, and had an impressive chase-down block, swatting a layup off the backboard.

Otzelberger said he met with Watson on Tuesday when Momcilovic’s injury was looking like a legitimate possibility.

“He hasn’t gotten in the game for maybe a month and to be ready to step in and have such an impactful performance, you can tell how much our fans appreciate him,” Otzelberger said. “When he gets the block that he had and (to) have five rebounds in not even 10 minutes of play, when we’ve emphasized that the one area we need to be much better is on the glass speaks volumes on what a great job he did. Really more of a credit to Demarion that he stayed ready.”

Iowa State basketball: TJ Otzelberger on his starting lineup vs Kansas

Iowa State basketball coach T.J. Otzelberger explained why Brandton Chatfield started over Dishon Jackson in the 74-57 win over Kansas on Wednesday.

Why Iowa State’s Brandton Chatfield started over Dishon Jackson and how both players contributed against Kansas

Jones getting inserted into the starting five in the wake of Momcilovic’s injury seemed like a natural decision. But that wasn’t the only lineup change on Wednesday night.

Brandton Chatfield got his first start as a Cyclone, and Dishon Jackson came off the bench.

According to Otzelberger, the decision to swap the two big men was a result of Jackson missing a mandatory film session during the week.

“We would hope we don’t ever make a mistake or have a slip-up because the standard is so high,” Otzelberger said. “We expect everybody’s going to fulfill that standard. At the same time, Dishon, once he made that choice and that decision, it was out of his hands and he had to respond to it in a positive way. How did he practice? How did he prepare? What type of energy did he bring into the game? He gave us a great spark coming in off the bench.”

More: Iowa State basketball: Brandton Chatfield’s confidence growing at right time for Cyclones

After short outings against Texas Tech and Utah, Jackson delivered one of his best outings of the season Wednesday. He tied his season-high 17 points, which included numerous slam dunks that energized the team and the crowd. He also grabbed four boards and had a block.

As for Chatfield, he only had four points, including an alley-oop slam that ignited the arena, but was more of a defensive, physical presence in the lineup.

He helped slow down Dickinson and limit his effectiveness.

“The stat line doesn’t tell the story at all,” Otzelberger said. “The physicality that he plays with and push Dickinson out away from the spots where he usually catches the ball − if you look at the start of the second half, first two defensive possessions, we were able to generate turnovers and largely because of Brandt’s physicality and toughness. Good job by both bigs.”

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